New City Moving?
What you can do:
Pray for wisdom, guidance, finances...,
Give above your normal giving to help with the cost of the purchase and repairs,
Serve when the time comes for work and moving,
Ask an elder if you have questions, being sure that questions don't become seeds of discord or division with those in the body.
FAQs link
Last week the New City Church elders made an offer to purchase a nearby building which has been accepted by the building's owners. This has come after months of prayer, searching and questioning. It seems that God may be opening a door to a building that would better serve New City Church as both our home and the center for our mission. The building is the old Power Station nightclub located at 1015 Riverside Drive near the intersection of Spring Street and Riverside Drive.
Buildings are not missional, people are. It's true. I blogged on this not too long ago. You can read that HERE. Buildings do, however serve the church and her mission. We believe that the Power Station building will serve New City Church and our mission better than our current location and set up with The 567 in the following ways:
a portion of the onsite parking
1. Onsite parking.
As downtown continues to grow parking has become a growing problem. Sunday morning parking and event parking at The 567 leads to sometimes walking 2 to 3 blocks and we currently have no family drop off.
This is difficult for our families, but not just our families; it is also difficult for visitors who do not know where to park and are not accustomed to parking issues. Lack of parking or difficulty in parking is actually a mission obstacle and one of the top hindrances to church growth (ARTICLE).
Parking Entrance and Drop Off to Children's
Children's, highlighting check-in and nursery
2. Designated Children's Space
Our current children';s space must be shared with The 567. The Power Station would give us around 3,500 square feet of space designated for children. This would allow us to decorate for children, secure for children, and more permanently set up for children. This is of course a great benefit for existing children as it helps us more effectively teach them about Jesus, but it is also missional in that it will help us more effectively reach new families and new children. Families are looking for a church that offers a fun, secure and inviting space to their children, a place that their kids wants to come back to.
3. freedom of use
Our use of The 567 facilities is limited. The 567 is an art and music venue. Because the space is used for art classes, concerts, events and rentals, there are often scheduling conflicts between New City Church and The 567. Our men's study, Act Like Men, has run into several scheduling conflicts on Saturday mornings. Our Partner's meetings and dinners also regularly run into scheduling conflicts. The Power Station would allow us to operate wholly as New City Church, eliminating those scheduling conflicts. This is a great benefit for New City Church but is also a missional benefit in that it will make it much easier to schedule outreach events as well.
Partners walk-through
While we believe that there are benefits to moving to the Power Station and have the building under contract, this is not a "done deal." We have 90 days to get zoning, ask more questions, get estimates for repairs and complete inspections. At any time during the 90 days, things could change. We have the option of buying our current building and if things do change, and this is where God would have us stay, we are all in!
