One Year Announcement from This Weekend

The following is the announcement made following a video - year in review - of our first year in our new building during worship this past weekend. I hope to post the video with blogger's new video add-on.

It’s been one year. It’s been one awesome year for the people of Charter Oak Church. It was one year ago this weekend that we moved into our current building. But you know what? It has never been about the building, it has always been about the people. What you just witnessed is a very small snap shot of our year in review. You caught glimpses of lives who have been touched by the love of Jesus. The words that Bishop Bickerton spoke a year ago continue to ring in our ears – people matter to God.

In the video you saw people of all ages and in all stations of life. We are in the people business – pointing people back to a relationship with God through Jesus. That is what drives our decision making process around here. It is why God choose to put the people of Charter Oak Church on this hillside for such a time as this.

The bishop was also correct – we have not arrived. A year ago we took our first steps into this building. We have grown a lot – both spiritually and numerically. And now we are beginning to take our next steps. That’s what we said would be our focus in 2007 – taking our next steps in our growing relationship with Jesus. No matter who you are there is a next step for you as you seek to become more like Jesus.

When we began the process in 1996 of listening to God’s vision for the future of Charter Oak Church, we knew that the fulfillment of that vision would take many building phases. We are ready for our next step at Charter Oak Church. I am here today to announce to you that we are putting into motion phase two of our multi-phase building project.

We have nearly ten acres of land that God has providentially placed under our stewardship.

As we narrow our focus on phase one, you can see our current building. On the upper level we have the Christian Life Center, Administrative Wing, Frye Chapel, the Rush Room for students, and a variety of classrooms. On the lower level we have many classrooms for children’s ministry. Guess what? We are running out of space. We have more and more children and youth wanting to know about the love of Jesus. They need a place to learn. We have adults who are finding their way back to God and need a place to grow. We have engaged couples seeking a special place for their wedding. We have families who want their love one memorialized in a larger traditional space.

Because of the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the realization of the demands on our current building, we are moving forward with phase two.

Phase two will complete the two side wings that face Frye Farm Road. The east side wing on the upper level will accomplish two purposes – a larger chapel and a larger connecting area. The east side wing on the lower level will bring more children’s classroom space. The west side wing will expand the Administrative Wing with more office space.

The completion of these two wings is absolutely critical because of the design of the Worship Center.

Phase three will complete the Worship Center.

Will there be a phase 4 or phase 5 or beyond? The bishop said that he hopes so. What the leadership of Charter Oak Church commits to you is that we will seek the face of God and will do our very best to be obedient to His will.

Are you ready for year two? We are. We are also ready to start the process of making phase two a reality. On July 17th the District Superintendent and Charge Conference approved our new building team and have set their course to begin the next step in our journey toward the fulfillment of all that God wants to do in and through each of us at Charter Oak Church.

Year one was awesome…the best is yet to come.