Soft Openings and Major Transitions
Some thoughts on our upcoming move to the
new building
I have a couple of friends in the restaurant
business. They recently reminded me of a time-honored tradition in that industry
regarding the opening of a new restaurant. That tradition is that when a
restaurant first opens, there is a period they call the "soft opening" where a
lot of the kinks in the restaurant are still being worked out. The staff and the
customers have a period where they are learning how the new space functions, how
the kitchen can respond to rush periods, and how the dining area
"feels."
As we prepare, with great anticipation, for the opening of our new church building, it seems to me that we're headed for just such period too. Our initial opening, and our first few weeks (possibly months) will be a "soft opening" of sorts, in that much construction/transition work will still be ongoing.
Because of the nature of our building program --building on an existing site, rather than in a whole new location-- getting the new building into the shape we ultimately hope to have will take some additional time beyond the next few weeks. Not everything we expect to see will be in place on November 6th, when we have our first full worship experience.
Your hard working Building Committee has been getting this word out to us over the past month. First, in the newsletter and then on this blog, they wrote you about the driveway, organ, and other construction items that will come after we move in. (Find that information here). In last week's newsletter, and then again on this blog, they wrote about things inside the building that may still need completion after we move in. (Find that information here)
One of the hardest things to do is to remodel a house while you're still living in it. It can be done. But it's often a chaotic and disorganized process. In a nutshell, that's what we've been doing here at Northaven Church this past year and a half. We've been living in our house while we're remodeling.
But, thanks be to God for the decision to stay "on site" in our little "temporary space!" It's served us well, even if the acoustics and sight-lines have been less than ideal.
And thanks be to God for the incredible spirit of the Northaven community! During this transitional time, we have endured small, cluttered, rooms and hallways. We've been meeting on top of each other, and had to set and reset rooms just to hold basic meetings and activities in our church.
And through all of this, we have had very little complaining, and lots of incredibly positive "we can make this work" spirit. That in itself, is something of a miracle!
So, thanks be to God for the gift of our temporary space, and the gift of everyone's incredible attitude. I hope and pray that this same spirit of cooperation and patience will continue into our new space and our "soft opening" period.
As the move-in date gets closer, I have sensed that our emotions are growing more pronounced.
We are....
... excited about the future
... nostalgic about the past
... ready for a new building
... fearing the changes it will bring to our church
... moved by the beauty of the new space
... concerned about "living in" to it, and living "up to it."
While these fears and joy will wash over all of us in these next weeks, let's not forget how we got to this point. This entire process has been, first and foremost, a process of faith. Yes, hard work and planning has certainly guided us. But faith and God's grace built this building. That's why we called it "Building in Faith."
For some reason, a line from a most familiar of hymns came to me, as I was thinking about these coming few weeks. It's a line from "Amazing Grace."
"Twas grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."
It was faith and God's grace that led us out of our old home.
It's faith and grace that will lead us into our new one.
Grace and Peace,
Eric
As we prepare, with great anticipation, for the opening of our new church building, it seems to me that we're headed for just such period too. Our initial opening, and our first few weeks (possibly months) will be a "soft opening" of sorts, in that much construction/transition work will still be ongoing.
Because of the nature of our building program --building on an existing site, rather than in a whole new location-- getting the new building into the shape we ultimately hope to have will take some additional time beyond the next few weeks. Not everything we expect to see will be in place on November 6th, when we have our first full worship experience.
Your hard working Building Committee has been getting this word out to us over the past month. First, in the newsletter and then on this blog, they wrote you about the driveway, organ, and other construction items that will come after we move in. (Find that information here). In last week's newsletter, and then again on this blog, they wrote about things inside the building that may still need completion after we move in. (Find that information here)
One of the hardest things to do is to remodel a house while you're still living in it. It can be done. But it's often a chaotic and disorganized process. In a nutshell, that's what we've been doing here at Northaven Church this past year and a half. We've been living in our house while we're remodeling.
But, thanks be to God for the decision to stay "on site" in our little "temporary space!" It's served us well, even if the acoustics and sight-lines have been less than ideal.
And thanks be to God for the incredible spirit of the Northaven community! During this transitional time, we have endured small, cluttered, rooms and hallways. We've been meeting on top of each other, and had to set and reset rooms just to hold basic meetings and activities in our church.
And through all of this, we have had very little complaining, and lots of incredibly positive "we can make this work" spirit. That in itself, is something of a miracle!
So, thanks be to God for the gift of our temporary space, and the gift of everyone's incredible attitude. I hope and pray that this same spirit of cooperation and patience will continue into our new space and our "soft opening" period.
As the move-in date gets closer, I have sensed that our emotions are growing more pronounced.
We are....
... excited about the future
... nostalgic about the past
... ready for a new building
... fearing the changes it will bring to our church
... moved by the beauty of the new space
... concerned about "living in" to it, and living "up to it."
While these fears and joy will wash over all of us in these next weeks, let's not forget how we got to this point. This entire process has been, first and foremost, a process of faith. Yes, hard work and planning has certainly guided us. But faith and God's grace built this building. That's why we called it "Building in Faith."
For some reason, a line from a most familiar of hymns came to me, as I was thinking about these coming few weeks. It's a line from "Amazing Grace."
"Twas grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."
It was faith and God's grace that led us out of our old home.
It's faith and grace that will lead us into our new one.
Grace and Peace,
Eric
Posted: Wednesday - October 19, 2005 at 11:32 AM |
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Published On: May 05, 2008 04:46 PM
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Published On: May 05, 2008 04:46 PM