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.

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.

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.