I think one of the joys of church planting is the constant challenge of finding facility space. I believe in HMCC of Ann Arbor we used at least 7 or 8 different places for worship within the first 5 years of our church. It was quite an adventure but it was really hard to keep track. Thank God for the invention of the internet and e-mail.
We were asked to leave in the auditorium we were using on the Northwestern University campus. Even though we were a bit discouraged, we were not dismayed. I am a firm believer that one of the first and important lessons a new church has to learn is complete dependence upon God – and finding a gathering facility is one of the avenues to learn this lesson.
Can you imagine the life of the Israelite people as they were wandering through the wilderness?
As soon as they got settled in a place, Moses would tell them to pack up their things because they had to go where the fire and cloud were moving towards.
This is how we feel.
God has been gracious enough to allow a church close to campus use their facility right in the downtown Evanston area (still close to campus). I want to give a big shout out to Evanston Bible Fellowship for their generosity and their Kingdom heart. It is hard to find churches that have a Kingdom vision. Too many churches are busy building their own kingdom.
Well, we have been in 4 different places in the first year of this church plant.
It is exciting… and I am telling the leaders not to get too comfortable 🙂