In the fall of 2011, we moved into our current space with two Sunday morning services. A third service followed the next fall and we added our 605 Sunday night service in February. All of these moves required additional staffing and volunteers, but nothing pushed us beyond our capacity to keep moving forward.
On Easter we saw our largest service in Embrace's short history. Now, a spike in attendance at Easter is not an abnormality for any church, but the trend at Embrace over the last several years is that the spike we experience at Easter becomes the new norm for us by the third Sunday in September at the latest. This set off alarm bells for us as leadership because we recognized that for the first time, we were in danger of having no more room for first time guests.
Almost immediately, senior leadership and our Lead Team began discussing options to make more room. Everything from building another sanctuary on site to heavily modifying the current sanctuary to multi-site satellite campuses to creatively squeezing every ounce of use out of the full building were considered as we looked for more room for Embrace to be able to reach the next person for Christ.
In order to communicate the heart of Embrace and start a discussion as a church about the road ahead and the need to do something, Adam (our Lead Pastor) gave a message titled "More Room" based on the parable of the great dinner in Luke 14 (to hear the message go here and go to about the 5:40 mark). In that message he spoke very well about the heart and vision of Embrace and the challenge facing us if we do not do something to make more room.
At the end of that message, Adam announced an all-church meeting to discuss a proposal to make some significant modifications to the current building. It was to be a meeting where the proposal would be laid out, discussed, and voted on as a church to set us up for the road ahead. Everything seemed to be moving forward until we got a call from the bank. The initial financing we discussed with them would have required us to raise $500,000 to secure a loan to do the work which, while significant, was something we were willing to pursue. The remainder would have come from Embrace's budget. The aforementioned call was to let us know that the initial amount we would have to raise would instead be $1,000,000.
Now, Embrace has grown to be a big church, but it's also a young church both in its history and its constituency. Most of our congregation consists of young couples and singles in their 20's & early 30's (with a few of us older folks to add spice and variety). As such, the majority are not in their prime earning years, are starting with school, home, and other debt, may just be re-engaging in their faith, and may have never given to a church as a regular spiritual discipline. $1,000,000 did not seem like a wise commitment for us to make at this point in time, so the purpose of the meeting changed from one that would require a vote to one that would consist primarily of information and vision casting.
The meeting was held last night and Adam again outlined the dilemma that we're facing, the potential cost of different proposals, the change in plans, and the road ahead. Early on, Adam made it clear that "Doing nothing is not an option. We are the hope of the world" (the Church universal, not just Embrace). The idea that just because we opted not to pursue the original plan, we wouldn't do anything in the short term was put to rest immediately.
Adam started with the recognition that there were four primary areas of concern for us to address with any proposal: seating, children's areas, parking, and lobby space. In order for a good solution to be found, the impact to those four areas had to be considered.
One option would be to build a new sanctuary. When Gloria Dei owned the building, they had blue prints that showed the long term plans for an additional worship space, so we knew it was a possibility. The price tag (somewhere in the ballpark of $5 million) was not a possibility and would have only addressed one of the four areas of concern.
A second option would have been a complete overhaul of the current sanctuary, primarily through additional seating in expanded balcony space. While providing additional seating, most of it would be in the balcony which would have been less accessible and less likely to be used. It also would have created some unique challenges for sound design and line of sight underneath the balcony seating. The price tag with that would have been over $3 million. Getting closer, but still not addressing all of the needs in each of the four areas.
A third option that we've been discussing for some time is starting a second campus. In all honesty, it's something that Adam has talked about since I first started at Embrace, so it has never been an "if," but a "when" on starting to go multi-site. The initial cost would be much less, but ultimately, we would anticipate around 10-12% of our current congregation to make a switch to a proposed site in Tea. While the thought that it would give us a sustainable presence to get something started there, it would not do enough to relieve the space issues in the current space without some work and still wouldn't address all four areas of concern.
A fourth option would have been to add Saturday night services or additional Sunday afternoon services. The issue there is that it is an enormous strain on staff and volunteers and very rarely winds up being a good return on investment that frees up space in the prime visiting hours of 10 & 11:15. It also wouldn't address all four areas of concern and would create a couple in the meantime.
Another option would have been to look for land to build something else. This is problematic on several fronts as that would mean needing to sell the current space and wait for a new space to be built or located and modified. There simply aren't that many spaces of a large enough size that would be available, let alone cost effective. In fact, Adam half-jokingly said in order to buy land we'd probably have to relocate to south of Canton (25 miles away).
The proposal that we were hoping to pursue would have meant some big changes to the current space, but within the original financing quoted, would have been doable with a total cost of around $2 million. It would have involved increasing the parking lot by 160 spaces at a cost of $300,000, developing what is currently the staff offices to become the early childhood wing, taking over the education wing (currently leased by Snicklefritz daycare, whose lease is almost up) and revamping that to include new worship spaces and classrooms for (e)Kids, overhauling the current (e)Kids space (which was the original sanctuary for Gloria Dei) and using it as a second sanctuary for Sunday services, and making significant improvements to the amount of lobby space to allow for a less congested experience on Sunday morning. Because this proposal would have meant some modifications that would have been impacted by building codes, we would have to install a sprinkler system for an estimated $130,000 and increase the bathroom space in the building. Included also would have been investment in improving the quality of the cameras so that the sermon could be done on video in the second sanctuary which is a move we were already considering as a part of any move towards additional campuses.
This proposal would have hit on all four areas, given us the ability to add an additional 2-3 services with nearly 900 chairs available, set us up with additional parking, additional children's space, additional foyer space, and given us the tools for the next steps in being able to establish additional campuses. The only problem was that the funding didn't work out the way we had initially planned.
Adam made it very clear that even though this could be looked at as a set back, this is more opportunity for creativity as we look at the road ahead. He has a peace about not being able to move forward with the proposed changes at this time, though they remain a possibility for further down the road. He also said that the team's response to this setback wasn't a dejected "What do we do now?" It was more of a "What do we do know?" that you would hear from a group of problem solvers who believe there is a solution still undiscovered.
I appreciate this a great deal as waiting on God's timing to make changes is extremely important. The right move at the wrong time can be a disaster and vice versa. The change in terms from the bank was simply taken as a sign that we shouldn't move ahead as planned, but should continue seeking solutions.
Obviously, there are still some things that need to happen yet this summer and other changes may follow in the months ahead along the lines of the ones mentioned above. We will still be making some changes to the space currently leased by Snicklefritz to prepare those spaces to better serve our kids. We will also move forward on putting some pieces in to improve the tech needed to start a second campus and do the presentation of the message well. This also probably means that a Tea campus will be happening sooner rather than later if things progress. Finally, there are some slight modifications that we can make to the current sanctuary to add an additional 100 seats to the space. While none of these are overarching, fix all solutions to things, they do buy us some additional time while we consider what and when to move next.
Adam also encouraged us to consider modifications that we might make to help us through in the short term. He made it clear that as soon as we make a commitment to be a part of Embrace that it is no longer about us anymore. We can't continue to come and consume and ask to be catered to because it is not a reflection of God's heart, it is not our vision, it is not healthy, and it does not allow room for those who do not yet know Jesus to find him at Embrace.
He also talked about how the idea of reaching the next person for Christ can be a bit abstract until you think about it being the person you most want to see come to Christ. Whether it's your sister, your coworker, your spouse, your cousin who just got out of rehab, your brother whose wife just left him... Think of the person you believe needs Jesus the most. Now think of them showing up and there not being a place for them. My heart breaks to think of this and my hope is that the same would be true for all of us that call Embrace home.
As a part of the challenge to think about others before ourselves, Adam gave a few simple action steps. The first would be that if you attend the 10 or 11:15 services, to consider making a move to 9:00 or the 605 service where there is more room available. He suggested moving to the front and sides during services which are often seats that are left open. He added that if volume is a concern for people that those spots are actually among the most quiet in the room and might help them to find a more comfortable level. Lastly, he suggested parking farther from the doors or even on the side streets in the neighborhoods around Embrace so that people might be able to find parking spots. All of these are simple ways to contribute to our ability to continue to have room for the next person.
I've always been a fan of talking about vision. Vision is what compels people forward. Vision is what keeps them focused on what needs to be done to accomplish the tasks we've been given. Vision is what determines the when, how, and what of ministry to keep us aligned with the heart of God.
While the meeting took on a different purpose than what was originally intended, I loved that vision was breathed into the life of Embrace and people were invited into the conversation. I honestly have never been more excited for the future of Embrace and can't wait to see what God does to exceed our hopes, dreams, and expectations in the years ahead.
