Thursday, May 5, 2011

And the Search for a Building Goes On...

Following is a brief synopsis of where we are in the search for a more permanent location.
As I stated in my last blog, we have expanded the search to areas outside the City of Poway. We are looking in industrial area's that are more favorable to churches. Mainly focused on those right off the I-15.
Some may wonder why I feel such an urge to find a more permanent location?
Here are a few reasons

1. We are sent to minister to people. which means we must take into account the cultural mindset and attitude of the people we are trying to reach. As I look around I see that people have gone from a growth oriented, risk taking, money spending, looking to upgrade, latest and greatest lifestyle to one that is much more cautious and reserved. People are looking for safety and security. They value consistency and permanence. I see that the culture is wanting stability more than anything else. Stability in their finances, employment, housing, relationships and lifestyles. i also feel they are looking for stability in the location of their church.

2. Because there is more financial and emotional tension that we are all living with. It is important that we maximize our time together by creating more service options instead of spending our man hours with set up/tear down. We need to spend our time serving, caring for and encouraging one another. Between all the man hours and money spent to set up for church, last Friday's, youth events, Sunday school, children's events, music practices and all the other activities that go on. It's no wonder that we don't have much left over to do the caring we all want and need in our church community.

3. We have the ability and the calling to do church at a much higher level. Not that a building by itself will make this happen. But, I sense the Holy Spirit calling us to more God centered activities and to do those activities with more excellence. A building will provide the means for us to do that.

4. The word I keep hearing in my spirit is CONVERSATIONS. And so I feel compelled by God to move in a direction that creates more opportunities for conversations to occur. I feel like God wants us to have more authentic and relational interactions. I feel like God wants us to spend the time we do have together creating a stronger and more connected community of believers. A building would help us do this more naturally and consistently.
So where are we in our search?
1. We have looked at, what was the Maranatha church building that is now owned by the Pomerado Health Group. We were looking to rent it on Sunday's like we do the school with the hope that we could leave things up and store things on the premises. This would greatly reduce our set up and tear down time and would eliminate our need to rent a truck and transport equipment every week. The issues are 1. When do they plan to tear the building down and begin their rebuilding? 2. Would they allow us to leave things up and store equipment on the premises? 3. What will the monthly cost be?
2. We located a building that was used by a church that was leasing 3 separate buildings. The one we are looking at was used for their offices. It is located right off the I-15, between Miramar Rd and Carrol Canyon Rd - 9770 Carroll Centre Rd
3. We looked into the possibility of moving schools because of the parking issues brought on by the baseball usage and the upcoming building of a temple on the vacant land above the school. The school that is available is Shoal Creek Elementary.
The one option that is looking the most promising is the permanent location off the I-15 - 9770 Carroll Centre Rd. I did some mileage calculations and here's what I found.
  • From my house to the Carroll Centre property it will be 5.98 miles further than it is for me to travel to Pomerado elementary.
  • For Chris Anderson it will be 6.82 miles further.
  • For those coming North it will be 4.85 miles further.
  • For those coming south it will be 6.22 miles shorter.
  • For those coming from Ramona it is 6.47 miles further.
Just a quick synopsis of the building. It's around 6000 sq ft and will cost around $.95 per sq ft. It will take a little work to get it into the configuration we would want but the main things are already in. It has a men's and women's bathroom with 3 stalls in each. Air conditioning is already in throughout the building. We will be able to have around a 3000 sq ft auditorium with 14 ft ceilings. A nursery, kitchen, 2 offices, conf room and a 2nd large area for Sunday school of about 800 sq ft. I am presently talking with the city about updating the Conditional Use Permit.
As always, your comments and questions are welcomed.
God bless

1 comment:

  1. Pastor Rob,
    Thank you for being sensitive to the direction that you feel the Holy Spirit is wanting to take this(His) church at this time. Nobody feels the "pulse" of a church like the Pastor does. I will be continuing to pray that the decisions made by yourself, and the the other church leaders, are confirmed through the Holy Spirit that we are following His leading. It is an exciting time to be a part of this church body. God is "stirring" us up for greater moves of the Spirit and not having to rush out of the place we are gathering in on Sundays will GREATLY help us to linger in His awesome presence at the altar after the preaching of His Word. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!

    ReplyDelete