Description: Restoring Churches, People and Places
California Mission fathers traveled along the El Camino Real setting up mission parishes to reach out to both Spanish and Native populations. Missions were usually built about a day’s journey apart. One sits in San Luis Obispo, about ten miles south of my home and another in San Miguel, twice that to the north. An assistencia , or mission extension, grew up in Santa Margarita providing cells for traveling priests to stay the night, a chapel for Mass and a stable for their animals because the trip north from
That assistencia, one of the oldest stone and mortar buildings in California, is the defining building of our town. Its pitched roof and stone walls feel sacred; they feel like they hold more memories than mortar. A few years ago, we restored worship to the old building after over a century by gathering there on Easter Sunday. As we celebrated the resurrection, we also celebrated the restoration of hope to our town because God sent a church to bring gospel and good to the people and the place.
Here is why you can have hope for yourself, your people and your place this Easter season: Jesus has been resurrected and he will make all things new. Your God became a human, like you, lived in a real place, like yours. He died a sacrificial death, his dust and breath died . . . and that same dust came to life again. The breath of the Holy Spirit was breathed back into him and he stepped out of his grave to launch the redemption of all, not its destruction.