Oak Arbor was designed as more than a place to gather. Throughout the building, architecture, natural materials, and carefully chosen symbols reflect the spiritual journey of learning the Lord’s truth, living it, and growing closer to Him.
The magnificent altar rock was found under the oak trees just southwest of the building. Some 11-15,000 years ago, a great blanket of glacial ice receded from this area, leaving in its wake a sculpted landscape - lakes, hills, and valleys, and debris from the far north, including our rock. Our rock probably had its birth (and countless metamorphic rebirths) in the Canadian Shield, a mass of bedrock that goes back some 4 billion years!
When we look at the world around us, nothing compares to antiquity with rocks. This is one reason why the Word associates rocks with the Lord's eternal existence, His abiding love and presence, and His timeless truth. Our world changes, our lives change, our resolves come and go, but He remains constant. He is the Rock of our salvation!
Our altar stone is unhewn. It has not been shaped in any way by human hands. This is our way of respecting the fact that we need to honor His Word as He gives it, not changing the picture of Him it gives us, not reshaping its truth to fit our wishes, but rather seeking to understand it and live it.
We have three entryway doors you will pass through as you enter our sanctuary.
Over the doors are the Lord’s words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The way reminds us that the Lord calls us to change and choose to follow Him. The truth is what we come to understand and love, as it brings order and blessing to life. Life is found not just in knowing truth, but in living it, discovering that the Lord is the power, joy, and goodness within all we do. Entering this “third door” is our deepest response to Him.
The carvings reflect this journey: acorns on the ground show spiritual potential; sprouting acorns show growing understanding; and full branches with mature seeds show the fruitfulness that comes from living the truth and acknowledging the Lord.
Each doorway also allows more light. At first, we see little, but as we follow the Lord more closely, we gain greater insight and wisdom. Living His truth brings the greatest light and clearest vision of Him.
Our chancel furniture was all handcrafted for our church. There are many symbols of God from the Old and New Testaments carved into the wooden furniture, such as a lamb, a lion, and a vine. The doves on the baptism font represent innocence, and the 7 lampstands around our altar are a reference to the seven golden lampstands that surrounded the "One" (Revelation 1)