This blog entry is part of an 8-part series on “Seven Things in Seven Months.” It is all about the fact that God is growing The Orchard Church much faster than anyone expected or hoped. The LAST thing we want to do is to LIMIT that growth, so we are going to jump on preparing the ground by doing these “Seven things” over the next “seven months.” To see all SEVEN of the things (so far) just click here to list the Seven Things blog category.
We love children! What an awesome blessing we have in the ERA space right next to the movie theater! It provides a space that we can store our equipment in during the week, but much more importantly, it gives us a place to create an environment where kids can be secure, fall in love with God’s Word, and begin to discover their role in the Body of Christ!
Just in case you don’t know the situation, we currently rent that space on a month-to-month basis. We also sub-lease to the ERA so they can maintain an office and signage in Ellijay. (their main office is in Canton.) This works out very well for us, because we pay a greatly reduced amount for rent. BUT, we have a couple of drawbacks:
First, since we don’t hold a lease on that space, it is possible that the landlord could rent it right out from underneath us. We know the economy is bad, and that this isn’t that likely… But it is possible, therefore, it is a little irresponsible on our part.
Second, since we don’t hold a lease, we are unable to reconfigure the space to more fully meet our needs. It is very functional now, but with some wall-moving, it could really become sweet.
If we are going to have over 200 people in worship, we will just NEED to make more room for preschoolers and babies… SO, that’s why we really need to secure the ERA and reconfigure it. This will mean a significant jump in the amount of rent we pay each month, because the lease price is higher than the current month-to-month price. This represents a challenge to this young, young church. We haven’t reached the stability/maturity position of being able to pay that monthly rent money yet, and choosing this course will mean that we all have to step it up a little bit.
The GREAT news is that I have several church-planting friends who’s churches are meeting in schools, movie theaters, and other public venues. THEY are all paying TONS of money each month to rent their auditorium space, IN ADDITION to the money they pay to rent their children’s space. AND most of have to pack up everything the church owns into a trailer and haul it in and out each week. One friend of mine pays $500 each WEEK to rent out the school gym for their services, plus money for children’s space on top of that!
Our great friends, Jeremy and Hannah Towns own the East Towne Cinemas movie theater and are EXCEEDINGLY gracious to us by letting us meet RENT-FREE! This is SUCH a blessing, and creates a lot of breathing room in our budget to be able to do some other things.
Still, we are brand new, and our money is very tight. Please be in prayer that God will work this all out for HIS glory!