The Prayer Garden of Community Church

The garden is perhaps the last undeveloped space in the historic district. Plantings of donated shrubs and flowers, overuse by children, and soil erosion behind industrial fencing have been church problems with community implications. A survey of church members and ministry leaders identified 3 separate needs of the church for which the garden is a resource.

Uses include

play area for children
place of beauty and meditation for adults
additional reception area extension 3 season off the Upper Sanctuary

Issues from the past

 The garden has had problems historically.

• People have planted inappropriately and the church did not budget for landscaping so there are deep rooted bushes that aren’t part of any plan,
• a weed tree got out of control and caused a pear tree to grow to one side and partially collapse. The weed tree is also rotten in the core.
• the cherry tree roots have created uneven walking,
• the deep shade has kept grass from growing easily in some areas,
• benches were not heavy duty and have collapsed from weathering,
• the garden was never adjusted to match the neighboring property in height so much land is lost in the steep slope at the back of the property.
• and children playing has been hard on the grass.

Play area

 The garden needs one section designated for children that is fenced separately and meets city codes for use by school programs with special surface and age appropriate equipment. The garden will not thrive if children use all of it as a play area. The Millennium Plan has often described this area as the area directly behind the sanctuary on the 81^st street side. The play area should be lockable when there is no supervision to prevent abuse and liability problems.

Prayer Garden

 One garden that has been created by Mount Manressa Jesuit Retreat on Staten Island is a prayer garden with some fallen logs, crafted paths, comfortable benches, low maintenance bushes and flowers, and boulders that have words from scripture inscribed on them. St John the Divine has a Biblical garden with different Bible plants and St. Luke’s in the Village has another plan.

Some churches plan a maze. There are 1800 mazes in the United States, many located near hospitals and churches with an emphasis on healing. The maze at Community Church will be a 25’ concrete base with the Chartres Cathedral design cut into the concrete and then filled with colored resin. The resulting design is completely flat and can be used as a patio for public gathering or can be walked as a maze by following the design.

 The terrain is lowered at the back by erosion and the church will reclaim about 2000 square feet of space that has been an unusable slope.

Design elements include:

• trees with a maximum height in the 20 – 30’ range for cheaper maintenance,
• watering in ground system to reduce labor hours needed,
• benches that are too short to sleep on, but comfortable and sturdy for prayer and meditation during the week.
• 11 boulders with the 8 verses of the 23^rd Psalm inscribed for meditation as people progress through the garden.
• furnishings with a minimum life of 20 years,
• architectural barriers to prevent running and ball throwing .A key to a successful garden is the creation of natural barriers with benches, logs, boulders, paths and other devices that make it difficult to use as a play area.
• plantings that grow high enough to increase the sense of size (so that you cannot see the whole maze at once) and yet stay low enough to prevent private areas that are dangerous.
• Ground cover other than grass with a item to affordable maintenance
• Odor and color – some fragrant plantings and a cycle of flowering so that there are always flowers
• A pool or water feature with a recycler.
• Build up land around cherry tree and cover the roots
• An area where cremains can be offered and remembered.
• Prayer labyrinth of 25’ diameter that can also be used for public gathering.

The boulders with words of comfort – especially if done in various languages – will be a powerful symbol of the grace in the neighborhood. The prayer garden will be open to the public during daylight hours by registration at the reception desk so that its use is restricted to prayer and meditation.

Additonal Reception Area

The lobby area for modern churches is equal to the size of the sanctuary – much larger than Community Church or other churches built in that era. Community Church solves some of this problem by multiple hospitality areas on Sunday to use the hallway and library. Opening the library on to a patio will expand the reception area for 2/3 of the year. The cherry tree provides beauty and protection. Library access to the garden will include a ramp built down to the maze/patio.

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