A Vision for our Future?

A few weeks ago, Juli and I visited a church in Corvallis, Oregon that was completing the 15^th year of a successful church building program. This church had spent several years renting various school gymnasiums or cafeterias. They grew at a rapid rate and knew they needed a home of their own. Property opportunities came and went and disappointment along with them. Finally, they saw God working through the availability of a property that was part of an estate with the survivors in sharp disagreement about everything associated with the estate. The property was 56 acres of beautiful oak and evergreen covered hills with a house and barn. One of the boundaries of the property was the border of a State park. The contentious survivors of the estate were only able to agree on one thing: Accept the modest offer from a church wanting to build a new home!

With the property now settled, the church began to develop their plan. The first thing they did was to build an amphitheater on a section of hillside near the site where the first building (A multipurpose facility) was planned. They set up a sound system and a stage and began preaching “Sermons on the Mount!” The congregation continued to grow during this process as they canceled their rental agreement of the latest gymnasium to free up financial resources and simply met outside. People brought their own chairs and blankets. Staff was diligent to keep the Church Website updated with weather cancellations (They simply canceled services if it rained – this IS Oregon you know) but in the whole time the building was being constructed, cancellations were rare. They also planned simple hotdog and hamburger BBQ’s after church every Sunday! The first building is now complete and they were able to meet for church inside during the winter, but have made it plain that fair weather will bring the worship back outside.

In the time since our visit, we have contemplated the lessons learned there and ways Cornerstone could apply them. We contemplated our mission to reach the lost in our town. Who are they? Will they come to our church? Are the traditions of our church an asset or a liability? Is “the way we’ve always done it” the best way? What should we continue to do and what could we add that would attract people who would otherwise be uncomfortable in our “traditions?” Juli and I have come up with some ideas that we believe will appeal to the creative and daring spirit that originally brought the Evangelical Free Church to lost people in Yuba City back in 1955:

1. Buy plenty of land.
2. Develop a section for outdoor services before anything else.
3. Make it look like a park with green grass and palm trees. Think California.
4. Build colorful aesthetic shade structures like “Sail Shades.” Not full cover – A mosaic of sun and shade.
5. Build sidewalks for access to the meeting area for the elderly and handicapped.
6. The sidewalk theme could mimic our existing courtyard with its theme of crosses. i.e. create a gigantic cross centered in the meeting area with the platform at the top of the cross and the arms of the cross for wheelchair and elderly access. The long part of the cross being the center aisle.
7. Plan the area to accommodate our entire congregation in one service with plenty of room to expand. (Grow more grass!)
8. Build a restroom facility nearby, possibly with a primitive kitchen facility and strong/secure storage for portable sound equipment etc..

What are some of the benefits of this arrangement?

1. While not exactly cheap, it would be a lot less expensive than an actual multipurpose facility and would make use of the property almost immediately.
2. Meeting there would introduce our congregation regularly to the future site of our sanctuary and it would provide a constant visual reminder of the progress and needs of the building program.
3. Virtually unlimited seating capacity.
4. It would be attractive. Imagine driving by the property on a Sunday and seeing the beautiful sail shades in profile, the green grass, and a thousand people singing and worshiping the creator of the gorgeous blue sky they are standing under!
5. It could save operating cost of the “indoor” facility during fair weather – or it could serve as a “Morning Service” facility with a more traditional indoor “Second Service.”
6. Creative people with a heart for the lost would be able to dream up many forms of outreach through it such as outdoor concerts, kids programs, special speakers, etc…
7. IT WOULD ATTRACT PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT COMFORTABLE ENTERING A TRADITIONAL CHURCH.

Dream with us. Debate with us. Imagine with us. Plan with us?