Holy Ground

I was struck this past Sunday when Scott said in his sermon that our church is built on holy ground.

Not simply because a church building can be a sacred space, but because long before our congregation was here, this prairie land had been blessed as holy ground by the Oblate Fathers who once owned it. I knew this history—that the land was originally owned by the Oblate Fathers—but I hadn’t really considered what it meant that this ground had been prayed over and regarded as sacred long before it became our church home.

Scott told the story of how the Woodmen of the World later built a tuberculosis hospital on this ground, accompanied by a chapel for the patients—the same chapel that remains at the heart of our campus today.

A place recognized as holy ground became healing ground.

The Woodmen of the World Tuberculosis Hospital, which operated from 1923 to 1956

As effective treatments for tuberculosis emerged and the hospital eventually closed, most of the buildings were razed. But the chapel remained. A small church plant meeting nearby purchased the property and found a home for what became Sunset Ridge Church of Christ.

For 77 years, this church has grown and changed, waned and grown again. Through all those seasons has been a call to embody God’s grace—and, in more recent years, an expanding vision of what it means to embody the presence of Christ in our neighborhood.

Healing ground became mission ground.

This past Sunday, we began a new sermon series called Welcome to Sunset Ridge, telling the story of where we have come from and how that story continues to shape who we are becoming: a community seeking to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.

Over four weeks, we’ll explore the four pillars of our community: incarnational presence, sacred creativity, radical hospitality, and Spirit-led life. We hope you’ll join us each week. At the conclusion of the series, we’ll gather for brunch on Sunday, October 4, for those interested in becoming members of Sunset Ridge Church and partnering with us in this mission.

If you’ve been with us for a while, you know most weeks Scott ends worship with a benediction that includes the reminder: “Now we do the most important thing we do when we gather together: we leave!”

I think that gets to the heart of incarnational presence.

In Acts 2:42–47, the Spirit forms the early church into a people whose faith spills beyond any single sacred space—into homes and shared meals, generosity and friendship, worship and daily life. God’s presence is not confined to a building. The church becomes a people learning to embody the love of Christ wherever they go.

Perhaps that is what this holy ground has been teaching us all along.

We gather here to remember that we are beloved. We worship, pray, break bread, and receive grace. And then we leave—carrying that love and hope with us into our homes, our workplaces, our neighborhood, and our world.

Holy ground. Healing ground. Mission ground.

And then, from here, we go.