We're Building So There Will Be Room for You and Those You Love
It's not unusual for people to ask, "Why do you keep building?" After all, we've finished three building programs in our 23-year history. Here's the answer.
When a church lovingly and consistently reaches out to its community with the life-changing message of Christ, it usually grows and keeps growing. Many people are naturally attracted to the divine love, goodness, and forgiveness they find in Christ. This is all the more true when they see this being lived out in the lives of people attending a particular church.
From the beginning, Grace Community has sought to be this kind of church—a church where people would feel loved, welcomed, and included just as if Jesus were here meeting them at the door. As a result, God has blessed us with an annual growth rate of about 20%.
The responsible thing to do in such a situation is to carefully plan for the future to provide for those God will be sending our way. Our Charter Members took the first step when they purchased 28.6 acres of land to assure that we would have adequate space on which to build and to provide parking. While our current Sunday morning worship attendance ranges at 600-700, projections indicate that we'll be a congregation of 2,000 within the next 10 years. Thus, we must begin taking concrete steps toward providing for a congregation of that size now.
Our Leadership Team (Strategic Ministry & Leadership Team and Elders) has recommended to our congregation that we build our new ministry facility in three phases over the next several years.
We've completed our first phase, which includes a considerably enlarged nursery and children's ministry area, and a number of large classrooms for adult education. We've also added a "Fellowship Mall and Cafe" during the second stage, where people feel comfortable hanging out (standing) and talking with one another. Additional parking and restrooms will be added for the comfort and convenience of a growing congregation.
In the next phase, we'll add a new Sanctuary that will seat between 800 to 1,000 people. A double morning worship service will allow us to be a congregation of 1,500 people by that time. We will also add office space to accommodate the additional pastoral staff we'll need to carry on an effective ministry to this many people.
In the final phase, we'll add the remaining 800 to 1,000 seats in the sanctuary (bringing it to a 2,000 seat sanctuary), and we'll add some final classroom space.
Throughout this project, we'll be continuously adding asphalt parking spaces with modern lighting to assure there will be enough parking for everyone who wants to make Grace Community their special place of worship and fellowship.
