Moving In

It is finally here; September is the month we finally move into our new facility. Last year, on September 28th, St. Patrick held a ground breaking service on the property, and now on September 27th, one year later, we will invite the community of Collierville and our friends and neighbors to join us as we rejoice in God’s gracious provision for our communion and then host a huge feast.It still seems surreal, doesn’t it? When I came to Collierville to plant this church, I dreamed of being rooted in a place so that the church we planted would be in the heart of the town, and so that we could bless the town and be part of its cultural fabric. If you are new here, I thought that would happen years ago when we made an offer for the old Collierville Baptist Church on Walnut Street. I was sure that was where we would be. It was in the heart of Collierville, right off of the Square. I was certain this was where we would be, but that just didn’t happen, as the town opted to tear down that building and put in a park.So where did we go from there? We hired Commercial Advisors to help us locate property and told them we wanted to be in the “heart of Collierville.” The problem was that, when we had our first meeting with them, the five properties we looked at were all on the outskirts of Collierville. They were nice, but not in the heart of things. I remember leaving that meeting depressed and, I confess, disillusioned.The next day when I was driving home on Byhalia, I saw a for sale sign on the property at White and Byhalia. I couldn’t believe it; I almost wrecked my truck as I tried to pull over and call our realtor. In just a few hours we had money down and the rest is history.So, here we are in the geographic center of Collierville, a few days away from getting occupancy and moving into our new neighborhood. So let me give you some important dates to remember. Put these on your refrigerator and don’t lose them; there is much work to do in the next two weeks. Keep in mind that as you look at these dates below, something could happen that puts us back a week. We are going through final inspections right now in hopes of getting the hallowed “Certificate of Occupancy” by this weekend. However, as of right now, here is the schedule of everything this next month.September 8 Moving Day #1 - all large furniture, sanctuary, kitchen, and office set upSeptember 9 Moving Day #2 - youth room set upService of Prayer and Blessing (and Tune Up of our sound) at 6:15 pmSeptember 10 Moving Day #3 - classrooms and nurseriesSeptember 13 First Worship Service in our new building at 10:30 amSeptember 16 Wednesday Night Ministry and Community Group Kick-off at 6:15 pmSeptember 20 First Sunday School at 9:15 amSeptember 27 Grand Opening and FeastLet me explain the logic of the above dates. I will start with what you are most interested in - Sunday Worship. Our first service is on September 13 and is sort of a “soft opening.” Please invite your friends and neighbors who have been interested in coming; we want them at the service. But we are not putting up banners and inviting the town until September 27. The reasons are as follows:We need have our sound worked outWe need to have our systems in place and workingWe need to know where we need more volunteersWe need to work all the bugs outSo, for our members and regular guests, we encourage you to invite people you know, people who have expressed interest, and your friends to our first service on September 13th. We will put up a banner on September 14th that invites everyone to our grand opening and feast. You can also look at the local papers, as we will be having some stories run in the next few weeks.For the Grand Opening Celebration we will “guild the lily.” Our own folk will be cooking a feast and we will celebrate and serve our guests in a tent we have rented for the occasion. We also will have several inflatables for children. We will feast outside immediately after our Morning Worship.On the Moving Days, September 8-10, we will need a lot of help. If you can serve a few hours during the day or at night, that will be greatly appreciated. We will be making trips back and forth between the new and old facilities. It will be an exciting few days!This is a huge moment in the history of St. Patrick Church. This is a fork in the road. This is a provision from God and from the willing sacrifice of many, many folk who are committed to see our church reach more people with the gospel. I am more acutely aware of the brokenness of the world than I have ever been. And I am more convinced than ever that the only hope of human thriving is in a deep commitment to Jesus, as he has offered in the gospel. So batten down the hatches, buckle your seat beat, open your heart, and pray that God will use this new building to make Jesus more famous and bring hope and healing to lots and lots of our friends. It’s like the monkey said when he had his tail cut off, “It won’t be long now!”