Someone once said, "the hardest part of faith is the last half hour." This statement strikes a chord with me right now as we are finishing up this extensive renovation.
The new building is looking beautiful. The hardwood floors in the sanctuary are finished and all the detail work is coming together. Yesterday the carpet guys installed carpets in the kids rooms. About 90% of the painting is completed. The sanctuary lights are being installed. We're almost there.
We passed the city mechanical inspection and soon we will have the building, electrical, plumbing and fire inspections. We have some remaining work to complete to get ready for these inspections that we are aiming to finish as soon as possible.
We will again have a volunteer day this Saturday from 10am-4pm. Projects include painting, sweeping, organizing and a few skilled projects such as installing doors. Respond back to this email to let us know if you are coming.
I know everyone is eager to move into the new building and all I can say at this point is that we are pushing as hard as we can to get in. The last Sunday of March is a possibility. The first Sunday of April, Easter Sunday, could end up being our first service in the new building.
Some of you may be wondering what the plan will be on Easter. Last year we had about 400 people in our 2 services so we want to be ready for guests. If we are in the new location at 184 Broad we will actually have 3 services on Sunday to avoid crowding. The first service will be at 8am on the ground level in the cafe. There won't be special kids church for kids at this early gathering. This will be handicap accessible. The second service will be at 9:30am with full programs for kids 0-9. The third service will be at 11:30am also with full programs for kids 0-9. Each service will be one hour to allow sufficient time in between.
By the way, the one rather large costly project we simply can't afford right now is the elevator lift. The best quote we received is $28,000. It pains us to postpone installing this but we can't spend money we don't have. That said, I'm just throwing this out there, if anyone would like to make a significant donation toward this please do. To be honest my faith is a bit low at this point but I know that God could put it in someone's heart to help us make this happen.
Once we are settled into the space I just want to remind everyone that we will have one Sunday morning celebration each week at 10am. This service will have full children's programs 0-9. One of the reasons we are doing this is to ease the need for so many kids workers but also just to foster a sense of unity in the transition.
The sanctuary will be open each week at 9am for open prayer. What I mean by "open prayer" is that we will just put on some worship music and you will be free to pray as you want. You can pray quietly in a seat or a corner. You can pray with a friend. Basically the space is open for unstructured prayer to set an atmosphere and to prepare our hearts. All are welcome.
On Sunday evenings we will have a 5pm service on the ground level in the cafe. This will be a temporary solution for handicap accessibility. There will be worship and preaching just like the morning service but no special programs for kids (at least for now). We envision this gathering as a little different, more experimental and relaxed than the morning service.
Lastly, I just want to say how proud I am of the Ren community.
Volunteers have given hundreds of hours to renovate the building. Well over 100 people together contributed over $100,000 to make this happen. Many have prayed constantly for the pastors, designers and builders. Everyone has played a role whether by volunteering, giving or praying. Thank you! This has been a stunning display of the power of "collective generosity."
Let's not grow weary in this last half hour but let's finish strong !!!
–Pastor Scott A.