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View Full Version : Prayer for House of Joy Dilemma


russhutto
10-18-2007, 01:27 PM
Hey all,

Please be in prayer for us here at "The House"

Situation: We've been meeting in a theater for the last year and a half. The managers were kind enough to allow us to store the majority of our equipment for ALL departments on-site. We have 2 crews that either set-up or tear down each morning that consist of about 4 people each.

One of the managers just recently said that he was "unaware" that we were storing our stuff there at the theater, and that we would have to stop. He cited liability issues for his staff and facility, etc. (which is understandable).

BUT, we have MILLIONS of dollars of insurance that would cover just about any occurrence (theft, injury, etc). So that "liability" issue is kind of moot.

Anyways, it was just odd that after so long he finally became "aware" that we were storing stuff there.

Where it leaves us: Basically, if he doesn't change his mind, we will have to bring in and set-up EVERY area of ministry each Sunday from off-site. Problem is, we just moved to 2 services, so the "set-up" crew comes in early and sets up attends the early service and then is free to leave. We have a separate crew that comes in to the late service and tears down afterwards.

Each of the other main areas of ministry (Kids and Nursery) have a HUGE amount of set-up and tear down associated with their respective ministries as well, so basically we'd have to almost quadruple the number of people to come early and/or to stay late, which if you know anything about getting people to "serve" in this capacity isn't the easiest thing to do.

Our other option is to relocate. Which is kind of the stinky option because it has been going so well where we are. BUT in the big picture I'm leaning more towards this option if we're able to find a better location.

We do have some prospects, but we need God to work through the people who "control" the locations. One is one of the city schools performing arts center (which rocks, by the way), but the school system has a 3-month time limit on how long churches can "rent" their facilities, so we'd need that to change.

The other option is one of the cities "auditoriums"...It's a nice big space with several rooms that we could house our nursery and kids spaces in (which is HUGE).

The costs of each of these places would be about the same as leasing the theater.

One other option that would be miraculous if it worked out is the abandoned Winn Dixie building that sits right next to our current storefront office/teen facility. The owner lives in California and has a ridculous sell price attached to it. We're pretty sure God wants him to donate it to us, haha:D.

Thanks, for your prayers! We need some resolution in this issue and we need it fast. We've had the top 2 sundays of the year in visitor attendance the last 2 sundays and we'd hate for something like this to derail our momentum.

twc_admin
10-18-2007, 03:38 PM
Hey man -

Chin up - God LOVES a challenge!

El Ben
10-22-2007, 03:26 PM
Amen to that. Will remember you guys, dude.

russhutto
10-22-2007, 03:45 PM
Thanks guys,

So fast forward about a week later, and things are beginning to "appear" to move forward.

The manager decided to "bend" a bit, but we still have to "clean up our act" a bit - even though we weren't doing anything dirty! We're basically, going to try and work out a better system for storing our speakers permanently (behind the screens), getting drum/hardware cases, and storing as much as we can in one trailer.

The manager guy is coming in 3 weeks to "check" everything over and hopefully he'll give us the green light.

If so, it will be awesome!

chipshot0701
11-08-2007, 07:41 PM
So Hows it goin?

russhutto
11-08-2007, 07:45 PM
Still an issue, but they've basically given us until January to come up with a solution. What we've asked them to compromise on is the big stuff: speakers, power amps, etc...if they'd let us store those things, we'll be good to go.

chipshot0701
11-08-2007, 07:46 PM
At least you have a month to work it out. Come Christmas week you'll be so busy doin other things.....

russhutto
11-26-2007, 01:40 PM
So we're looking forward to a January 11th land auction here in Valdosta.

Land isn't cheap by any means here, so this might be a great opportunity for us to grab some.

We've been over 300 consistently in the month of november, which is awesome considering that we were at 150 avergage at the beginning of the year. We've grown into 2 services in our Theater location and our available time frame on Sundays won't allow for another service. So we really need to be looking anyways, so this may be a step in that direction.

Keep us in your prayers!

El Ben
11-26-2007, 02:55 PM
Sounds like a good problem to have at this point.

AD(J)
11-26-2007, 03:17 PM
Yeah, I love good problems. Every church has 'issues' you know, but some issues are almost encouraging to have.

Too many guitar players, services are getting cramped, too many prayer requests, too many new converts and you run out of follow up cards, etc...

That's the kind of thing that says you're doing something right.

I hope all involved can truly let go and let God. Sure it's a corny sounding cliche that's been overused, but it's also a pretty good idea.