Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church and Ramona United Methodist Church have plans to start sharing the Methodist Church sanctuary beginning Sunday, Aug. 4.
Congregations from both churches began mingling on June 23, when Spirit of Joy staff and went to Ramona United Methodist for a fellowship hour, said the Rev. Larry Hand, pastor at Spirit of Joy.
“Our initial step was for people to meet each other and build relationships with one another,” Hand said. “And we wanted our people to see their campus in person.”
Spirit of Joy has been preparing for the move by holding rummage sales of possessions that have been accumulating for the past 25 to 30 years at its location at 1735 Main St. The sales of kitchenware, books, games, arts and crafts, household supplies and furniture were held last weekend and will continue at the church from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 6.
Hand said the two churches are not merging, but Spirit of Joy will relocate to the Ramona United Methodist campus and they will develop a shared partnership.
Spirit of Joy has been invited to use the sanctuary and meeting space and to collaborate on activities such as Bible studies, youth ministries, and service projects in the community, he said. Occasionally, the two churches may hold t worship services during special occasions and some holidays, he said.
“Both congregations want to make a difference through service in our community of Ramona,” Hand said. “Our music programs will be collaborating with one another through t music leadership and t chorale collaborations. There will be times when we’ll do pulpit exchanges, with Ramona United Methodist Church Pastor Kristie Grimaud preaching at our worship services and I will preach at their worship services.”
Grimaud said she is excited about the idea of sharing resources and coordinating Bible studies, youth ministries and community service activities. Ramona United Methodist Church will rent its space to Spirit of Joy, she said.
“When we had the tour and a fellowship time together last Sunday with the two churches coming together, many people were surprised to see their friends and neighbors in the community that they already knew,” Grimaud said. “They discovered they weren’t strangers.”
The idea to bring the two churches together sprang from discussions about 10 months ago between four Ramona clergy who wanted to each other, Hand said. In addition to Grimaud and Hand, the Rev. Wes Ellis of First Congregational Church of Ramona and the Rev. Hannah Wilder of St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church had conversations about their directions.
At the time, Hand said Spirit of Joy was selling its property at state Route 67 and Highland Valley Road because it wasn’t able to secure the funding to build a new church at that location. The church was also looking to move out of the commercial property it was renting on Main Street.
The discussions about relocating to the Methodist campus became more serious in late April, Hand said.
“That led us to exploring possible changes,” he said. “We decided Ramona United Methodist Church would be the best fit for us as far as locating on the same campus. Our long-term goal was to have a church space of our own, but this opportunity gives us a sense of having a home space.”
The idea to share space was unanimously approved by both Church Councils, and after information was shared about how the relationship would unfold, both congregations unanimously ed it, Hand said.
“We wanted everyone to understand why we are doing this and what it would look like before having a vote to allow it to happen.” he said.
With the combined resources, Grimaud said the money saved on rent could go toward the ministries. So coming together could help them be good stewards of their resources, she said.
In the past, before COVID-19, Grimaud said Ramona United Methodist Church coordinated activities with Julian Methodist Church. She expects those interactions will continue — a member of the Ramona congregation, Dawn Christiansen, was appointed pastor of Julian Methodist Church as of July 1.
But the model with Spirit of Joy is a new experience, Grimaud said.
“We think this will be a good partnership and collaboration,” she said.
Hand said Spirit of Joy will maintain its Lutheran identity and Ramona United Methodist will maintain its denominational identity. But in 2009, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church voted to adopt a full communion relationship nationwide.
That relationship allows the two churches to share a campus, maintain the tenets of their own faiths and serve one another across denominational lines, he said.
“We’re not merging with the Ramona United Methodist Church but we are sharing the campus and resources and sharing ministries with one another in a closer, and we believe, in a more productive way,” he said. “We can be more together than we can through being by ourselves. We can do more together than we can do alone.”
