As the campus ministry I serve wrapped up its spring semester back in April, we were also wrapping up our time in the building that’d been UKirk‘s home since before I started here. It’s since been demolished, but that night, after reading some Scriptures about honoring important places, we shared in this litany of thanksgiving, and then took a page out of Samuel’s book and raised our own ebenezers, marking the meaningful parts of our space with stones.
In the end, there were rocks near the Communion table and the literal-bar-turned-dinner-buffet, but also resting at each person’s usual seat, by the sink where we washed our dishes, by the door that welcomed us in and sent us back out, and even by our busted-up bathroom with its sticky-note-and-googly-eyed sign (IYKYK). As we left, we each took a rock with us, too, to remember the ways God had met us in that place, and to honor the ways God will meet us still.
Blessed be this bar, the meals it has served and the prayer stations it has held.
May both our bodies and our spirits be nourished in days and places to come.
Blessed be these coffee tables.
May their peeling tops remind us of the ways this community has invited us to shed unneeded layers of ourselves.
Blessed be these mismatched couches.
May their worn, soft cushions reflect the weary and loving hearts they have held.
Blessed be our hand sanitizer and the lingering box of masks.
May they remind us of what we can make it through when we lean on each other.
Blessed be the Communion table.
May its bread crumbs, juice stains, and worn-out candle remind us that God sees us and loves us exactly as we are.
Blessed be that HVAC unit, complete with screeching amens.
May each interrupted prayer and the laughter that followed remind us of the ways your Spirit can surprise us.
Blessed be those polaroids that hang on the wall — 76 to be specific — and each child of God that they represent.
May we cherish the relationships born and nurtured in this place.
Blessed be the glitter that is stuck in our carpet, probably forever.
May it be a reminder of the sparkling and holy light at the core of each person who has made this community what it is and will continue to be.
Blessed be this air that has held words read, questions asked, joys and concerns and inbetween things offered.
May we remember that Lord, in your mercy, you do hear our prayers, and you accompany us far beyond any one physical space.
Blessed be this place.
Rev. Allison Wehrung 
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