Our church is growing. It is exciting to be a part of a church that is growing both spiritually and physically. But a growing church does not come without its own unique challenges. For us, the biggest challenge right now is space. We do not have the space to house the number of preschool aged children that we now have coming on Sundays. Twice already we have repurposed space to be used for that age group, but we’ve outgrown those spaces as well.
So we’re tearing down the walls (and building a new one). We are combining an unused room, taking over wasted hall space, and creating one giant room that will currently be used for our preschoolers.
Here are a couple of things I love about this. First of all, we haven’t grown without a plan. Our preschool coordinator has been planning this for a while now, but it is finally time to move on it. Already though, she talks about how things could move around to accommodate growth in other age groups.
Secondly, our pastor is a man who does things right. You know that I believe that even the smallest churches should achieve the highest quality possible in whatever they do. But I’m also a numbers guy and I don’t like to spend money. My pastor is a good balance of that. He will spend whatever it takes to do it right, as long as it’s available. The work is being done by a professional, which I think is important in a project of this magnitude.
Someday, I think our church will need a new building to house all of the people we are going to reach and who are going to want to be a part. Until then, we are committed to creatively using the space we have, tearing down walls when necessary. It is not about the building anyway.
Exciting problems to have. When we moved into our new building in Jan. 2010 we were all so excited to have the extra space. But we knew it wouldn’t be long if we were doing what we should be doing week in and out that we would outgrow our plan. That is where we are now…beginning to plan out how to best utilize what we have. What can we move around? How might we combine groups, etc. I just love it!!! God bless you guys as you face this wonderful challenge!
The key to growth is to plan at least one step ahead. It’s not always easy, because we naturally want to go into maintenance mode, but it is the only way to see consistent growth.