Last week, I told you about our Vision  Team and the progress they are making to help us develop and define our uniqueness as a church.  This week, I want to tell you about another important team that is just starting it's work . . . our Master Planning Team.  The job of the Master Planning team is to take the vision being developed and help an architect translate the words on the page into a drawing of our future sacred space.

 

That's right!  We're starting the process that will eventually end in an architect being selected and a drawing being created to help transmit our vision into reality.  This process will also help us know what the first phase of that project will be and an approximate cost and timeline for when we might be able to build it.  Exciting?  Scary? Inspiring?  Yes.  Yes. And yes.

 

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  A building may be several years away yet depending on how quickly we grow and how much money we raise in our capital funds campaign to officially buy the land in early 2011.  Still, it's nice to dream about what our new building will look like, isn't it????  So what will it look like?

 

Well, here's the answer.  The new building will look just like our vision says it should.  Buildings don't create vision.  Vision creates buildings.  And we're going to make sure we are crystal clear on who we are before the first drawing is ever even attempted.  In fact, the number one criteria for hiring an architect in this process is that they be able to translate our vision onto paper.  We're not looking for the church up the street.  We're looking for an eventual facility that will look like us and enable us to better accomplish our vision.

 

So what does that mean?  Well, it means that you need to pray for your Vision Team!  It means you need to also pray for your Master Planning Team!  Neither is complete without the other.  So I invite you to pray that God will show us our uniqueness and that we will be faithful.  Pray that this brutally clear vision will determine everything else that comes after it.  Pray that the Master Planning Team will listen carefully to our congregation and vision team as we attempt this exercise in clarity.  We'll be keeping you posted on our progress and obviously we'll be seeking your input this fall.

 

I don't know when we'll have a building.  Heck, we've got to pay for the land first.  But when it happens, please pray with me that it will reflect our uniqueness and serve as a ministry outpost for years to come! See you Sunday!