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Ownership versus community centres

Having now become a church that uses temporary locations.....spaces rented off others who own them....I am keenly aware of some of the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Using a community owned and used space has helped us to grow, interact and communicate with the community so much better than what we used to. People know where we are, they see us, the interact with our programs...we are part of the community.

Downside is that we dont own the place! We get told off for this that and the other....even if we have done nothing really wrong. There has been a distinct period of the other people using the place getting used to us....One person in particular......(say no more!)
The person who runs the centre is great! Nothing but helpful, know that we know her and have been there a while.

But not being able to do whatever we want there...is a downside.

Ultimatly moving has been the right move for us. There is certainly pain. We have a lot of stuff to set up each week (3 times a week actually)...and not a lot of space to put it in.....but the upside is....we are starting to feel like a mission organisation, not a club.

5 comments:

  Anonymous

2:20 pm

It's an interesting transition to watch from the outside - where you don't have to deal with the nitty gritty details :) But I'm interested in whether you think it's had an impact on your profile in the broader community, and whether that's been all positive, mixed or negative (though I can't imagine it would be all negative). I admire the courage of such a move - whether it felt voluntary or not, and I look forward to hearing how it shapes your community.

I pray that God really continues to bless your church community.

  Mark Edwards

5:01 pm

huge impact on our profile.

  John Finkelde

2:50 pm

Go for best of both worlds - buying a property saves lots of hassles & builds equity for future generations.

Just make sure your building is used by the community.

On Monday I arrived at the (church) office to find local high school students everywhere doing an induction day & mums dropping off kids for kindy ... when I left later in the day parents were dropping kids off for our dance school. Most of these folks are unchurched but treat our building as a community centre

So we get to build equity & be an essential part of the community

  Mark Edwards

2:59 pm

that is what we are moving towards, I agree, it is the best model.

  Anonymous

10:21 am

So didn't the two churches that combined have church buildings?
shouldn't the money from that have helped to buy a bigger, better building...?

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