Dedication Ceremony in Boyle Heights/East LA, CA

I'm not sure if I should give a little dedication or say a prayer or get down and kiss the earth because what has transpired on this site.  Nearly two years ago I came to this church and spoke of the value of creating a building that embodied the spirit of the people and the place - but there was no way I could have predicted the process and end result we now see before us.

Knowing that the dedication was today, late last night on my way home from dropping off a friend in San Bernardino County, I stopped by to see how the building looked in the heart of the evening - alone, quiet, at peace and waiting for the new day to arrive. Well at 12 midnight I found an incredible building, beautiful, strong, and new, but there was another work of design that dwarfed the building - there was a spirit here that only God above could have created.  There were over thirty people working away at midnight busily finalizing the building for today's dedication and blessing and what I thought would be a quiet Friday night... was just the opposite. There was a complete construction crew here. Where I live there are laws about when you can build and what time you can start to build and what time you have to stop building.  Those same laws exist here but I tell you that there was a spirit of those here that would not be detered by laws. This construction crew was determind to meet its objectives of completing this building for today's event. But this was no typical construction crew - there were moms and dads and children and friends and it may have been the happiest group of contractors I've ever seen.  Don't get me wrong, they were working extremely hard, and performing all types of different tasks, there was dust everywhere, water pipes shooting water, saws buzzing, tile being installed, concrete floors being cleaned and they were fixing flat tires, moving construction material, and bags of concrete and scaffolds and wood and they even had a lunch break for ten minutes at 12:30am.  This work continued until 5:30 am and then one of the group went off to purchase more material at Home Depot. This was no ordinary work force but the best bunch of contractors that this building could ever hope for. While most churches hire their contractor and about a year later they move into the building, this church began on such a course but the landscape changed.

The events that transpired between the leaders of the church and the general contractor took the project down a path less traveled. A path where there were no lights, no directions, no stop for help locations, just the Reverends, their vision and the support of their followers. It would have been easy to simply throw their hands up and walk away and leave the burden of completing a construction project of this magnitude to someone who was more familiar with construction, but they chose not to do that.  They were tested, their patience worn thin, their budget depleted and the mental strain and aching muscles firmly settled in ...but their SPIRIT... their spirit was intact.  This spirit was alive and well last night when I arrived at midnight and that was beautiful. So beautiful that I wanted to be part of it - so I stayed and worked with them.

You see, creating buildings is what I do everyday of my life.  I'm experienced at this however I have also come to realize that while designing buildings is a huge endeavor, the witnessing of the creation of a building from the spirit and collective power of humans will surpases any building design thrill.  Last night's construction crew was a group that shared a common vision and goal... the power of that spirit is unstoppable. Those folks that were here last night will tell you that what they did was not a huge issue... they were simply doing what they felt they had to do for the church and no one should make a big deal about it. This reminds me of the heros who rescue someone from a fire or some life threatening situation and when interviewed later, they say "... I was simply doing what I was supposed to do, I would hope that if ever my family or my friends were in a very bad or difficult situation that someone would do the same for them..."  To these people being a hero is not a goal, but a consequence of their actions. That heroic spirit is what I found here last night and guess what? It's still here... It lives here...  

When you decided to hire me as your architect, you put trust in me and what I do, and you planted the seed for something beautiful to grow. That something was this building and this great spirit that will forever be part of this place.   Although architects design buildings and much of what they do seems almost monumental in scale, it is everyday people like you who build the great spirits by which we live and conduct our lives. When you view this building today, do not think of it as this great monument that has been completed, but rather a vessel that has just been launched, just starting on its journey, slowly sailing on course while it nurtures and cradles that great human spirit that is in each one of you. While we celebrate this building as a great collection of stone, and wood and even shipping containers, the real celebration that I ask you to observe is the power of the human spirit that each of you possesses. I ask, "what can you do as individuals to plant a seed for something that is wonderful?" Just as the idea of creating this new building was nothing more than the dreams and thoughts of your Reverends years ago, and it has come to life as a building today, your dreams and ideas can come to fruition as well. This building is a backdrop to your spirit - your faith, ideas and love for your fellow man. That spirit is what dreams are made of.

Let this day remind you of your Reverends and their spirits... that they would not allow adversity to break. Leading by example is a scarce commodity in this current age and I would hope all of you pass the spirit of these Reverends onto your friends and family the way in which it has been passed on to me. I am honored to have been a part of the creation of this building and forever thankful to you.

God bless you and all who will ever enter this building. Amen!