Space Profile: The Teen Space

Our church has a heart for teens. And for a community our size, we've been able to impact a good number of them. Early last year we'd have about 5o adults show up on Sunday mornings. At the same time we were connected to about 50 middle and high school students between the Nite Life Cafe and our Sunday morning teen gathering. So when we looked for a new space it was important to us to have room for teens. (See where this is headed?)

Our new building was a health club in a previous life. At some point the owners added a 2nd story to accommodate an aerobics room. While our new facility will be multi-purpose and multi-functional, this is the area we're designating as student space. Here are a couple of panoramic looks at the nearly 1800 square foot room:



This is the spot where our middle and high students will gather on Sunday mornings, play video games on Friday nights at the Nite Life Cafe and hang out at other times. With the recent addition of a couple of great student ministry interns (hey John & Lindsay!) we're now offering unique groups for middle and high school students. This room is being divided to create spaces for each group. Here are a few shots of the framing:

A full view of the room:

The middle school area:

The high school area:

The 2nd story also has a great open loft area:

This is where all the cardio machines used to sit. While most of us could use a good treadmill session, we're thinking this area will be better used as a space for people (teens and adults) to connect with each other. (Think comfy seats, a pool table, etc.)

When we moved our Sunday morning gatherings over to Delightful Inspirations early in the fall it gave our church room to grow as a whole. However, it also meant that our teens had to temporarily give up their weekly Friday night hang out (Nite Life Cafe). While we appreciate their ability to be flexible and to think of the whole church, we're excited to give our students tons more space to get back to this vibrant ministry and to dream about other ways to help other teens connect with God.

Want to know more about our ministry to middle & high school students? Start HERE.

Space Profile: The Welcome Area

This week saw a lot of framing happening in our new building. It is exciting to see the different spaces getting defined as the walls go up. Of course, at this point the walls consist of metal studs (see the pic on left for an example). So you still have to use your imagination a bit. Drywall will happen towards the end of the renovation process.

In the weeks ahead we'll be filling you in more and more on the new facility. When it gets safe to do so, we'll have an open house and let you wander around and get a feel for things. For now, we'll feature different areas of the building on this blog and give you a sense of how they might be used. This week we'll focus on the Welcome Area (for lack of a better name).

We've had a bunch of people visit Connections this past year. Many of them have commented on the comfortable, community atmosphere they experienced. To me (Fred) this is a reflection of who we are as a people. Although walls and counters won't welcome anyone on their own, this part of our new building will help us connect people in a couple of different ways. Keep in mind that all cosmetic changes will come later.

As you enter the front door of the building you'll find the kid's classes on your right and left. They aren't pictured in this shot but would be on either side of what you see here. The adult and teen spaces will be straight ahead in the 2 story area you see in the background of this shot. (More on all of these areas later.) The Welcome Area is a central point for all groups and is just ahead on your left where you see the purple counter.


This counter will likely serve as a natural information or check in point for visitors and regulars- both on Sundays and as we open up the building to our neighbors during the week.


Walk past the info/check-in counter and you'll see the back side of the welcome area. This is where our coffee and snacks will end up- which means most of us will be stopping by this spot regularly and will be in a friendlier mood after we do so.


The view below is what you'd see if you walked past the counter into the area where our adults will gather on Sundays and looked back. The metal framing above the counter is for a curved wall that will hold lighting for this area, add some height and help with the acoustics of the space. You can also see the front doors and entrance hallway to the left.


Check back next week for a glimpse into another part of this great space God has provided for us.

Construction Zone & Open House

We are very excited about the progress taking place at the new church space. We realize that many others are anxious to see the space.

In the next few weeks we hope to have a time where we can give tours of the facility while it is under renovation. However, for safety and other reasons, please don't go inside the building unless you need to for ministry reasons and have cleared it with Fred or Shane.

General Photos of the Space

So many have heard about this project but have not had the chance to see the space.

I went over there today to check on the construction (some framing is already taking place!).

I have this nifty panoramic feature on my camera which proved to be quite useful. Click on any image to see a larger version.

The building doesn't look so big from the outside but it has over 13,400 sq feet on two levels.

Here is a photo looking down at the main "sanctuary" space from the balcony. To the right behind the glass windows is the former "yoga/exercise" room which will be the teen space.


Two photos of the teen space.




A look down from the balcony to the entry and welcome center. To the right is a room that is being enlarged to make a classroom.


And finally a shot of the sanctuary as you enter the room. You can see the walls going up on the "mother's room" under the balcony on the left. Under the balcony on the right will be a sizeable multi-purpose room.

The First Demo Pics

Back in the summer, a bunch of folks from CNX did a good bit of front-end demolition work on our future facility. We pried up old floor coverings (grunt), took down about 1000 mirrors (with only 1 emergency room trip), cleaned up the parking lot and even knocked down a few walls.  For posterity's sake, here's actual photographic proof:

The rest, we said, would be left to the professionals.  You know- those folks who are actually licensed to mess with electricity.  After months of waiting, the pros are finally getting their chance to tear some stuff up.

Yesterday (12/10) marked the first official day of work on the building.  Here are a few shots taken last night.  They may be blurry as I was a bit giddy and skipping around and taking pics with my phone.  Ok- maybe not skipping- more like bounding.

Walls are taken down to create a larger space for elementary kids.

Three old tanning rooms (sorry the machines were long gone) were demo'd to create an open gathering space for teens, small groups, etc.

Invading the old men's locker room to double the size of the nursery.  (We'll explain more later.)

Expanding the preschool space.

We'll post more pics as things progress.  For now, keep praying that things will go smoothly and safely and that God will keep preparing us for this next chapter.

Connections Church's Renovation of 1280 Buck Jones Rd

Those who have been around a little while will know that Connections has been growing at a pretty rapid clip as far as churches go. It became apparent about a year ago that we would soon outgrow our two storefronts at the Swift Creek Shopping Center (which we have and are at a temporary space until this renovation is complete). Although we had looked for new space before then, we really began in earnest searching for every possibility.

We're not your typical stained glass and pews church. We're pretty "organic". Come as you are. No need to "dress" things up to impress others. We're more interested in being the church than looking like a church. A lot of us are pretty considerate of the earth and our resources.

The thought of "recycling" a building had a great appeal for us so we were excited when a vacant fitness center (which used to be a movie theater before that) became available. The building is a little distressed having been vacant a while and we are going to breathe live back into it (kind of like what God does with us).

We are partnering with the current owners to renovate the building to bring it up to code (a sprinkler system, handicap ramps, etc) and to make it more habitable for our uses. Should all go well, we will be in by early Spring.

This blog will keep you posted on the progress.