I am learning that in every building project there are ups and downs.  They can never be foreseen, but these emotional highs and lows are to be expected. 

For the last four weeks we have been waiting for several small issues to be resolved.  First, we dealt with a parking issue, which was resolved but then our excitement was halted by a mechanical engineering issue.  This issue was corrected just before Christmas week and then we began waiting for Berkeley County to release our permitting.  I am happy to announce that our builder has our permits in hand and our project is now moving forward! 

Now everyone knows that in America not a lot gets accomplished over the last two weeks of the year with Christmas and New Year's, but I am happy to report that construction crews are in our building and working diligently this week to get our framing walls up.  Below are some pictures of their progress.  We also expect that our frontage sign will be installed in the next seven days.  This has all been such good news to my ears and I am looking forward to our church getting our hands dirty together as we get to work on our part of the project.

Now as to our timeline, we had always hoped that we would be in our building and holding worship services at the beginning of 2010.  Our original timeline suggested that we would have access to the building in January and we would probably have our first service in the building in early February.  Now that we have waded through all these delays, we are recognizing that our initial timeline has been shot.  We expect that we will have more planning hickups along the way, so giving another possible move-in date may be premature.  Our contractor has told us that he needs at least 90 days from permitting to get this job done.  We also have some work that we are responsible for as well.  All I can tell you is this: God is in full control and He knows the exact date that He wants us to be in the building.  We will work diligently to make it come as early as possible, but God is ultimately in control.  Please join me in praying that everything will go smoothly and that God will work mightly through us over the next several months.
 
 
Dear Journey Church Family,

Merry Christmas, Journey Church family, I am so proud to be your pastor. While another year has come and gone, it is obvious that I have much to be grateful for as I reminisce about 2009. The love that Tarah and I feel for you is deep and long-lasting. Most evenings our family debriefs on the personal reasons we have to celebrate while sitting at our dinner table. This year, many of my stories of celebration have come after moments that you all exemplified Jesus to our world.

This year I watched our church forge a new vision to reach our community with the gospel. I witnessed many of you make painful sacrifices to ensure that this vision will come to fruition. When tragedy struck, I was so proud of our church family and the love that was extended to our hurting friends. I am overjoyed at the new, wonderful people that God has brought to our family who embody the bright future of our church.

I wanted to take a moment to wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for being an encouragement to our family. I hope that this year you have been challenged to give your reigns over to Jesus, whose birth we celebrate this week. I pray that you will look back at this year as one in which you drew closer to our Savior Jesus. Finally, I request that you continue committing yourself to leaving an eternal legacy which points back to King Jesus in your life. We love each of you more than you will ever know.

Merry Christmas,

Will <><
 
 
After a couple of weeks in a waiting pattern - due to a stoppage by the Berkeley County Permitting Office that put our project  on 'pause' - we are finally moving again. All of the issues seemed to be clearing up, but our builder has a few new items he must comply with - all of which will improve our building. Once the builder has gotten the permit in hand, our sign company should be able to start fabricating our signage for the front of the building and, with a little luck, we should have our sign up in the coming weeks (for an idea of what this will look like - see below). The Christmas holidays are a time for many workers to take some time off with their families, which we validate, but that means things may not move at the predictable pace that they would if it were a different time of year.

What is in our hands now is preparing for the projects we are responsible for.  Clay has been working diligently to identify a lighting system that is inside our budget and has the capabilities we desire for the auditorium.  This week we have ordered some test lights to hang in the building to see if we approve of their functionality and design. One of the projects that we will take on as a church will be painting the ceiling in the building.  Secondly, we have ordered all our data cabling for our technology.  Once the walls have been constructed by the builder we will be able to come behind them and run our cabling.  John Mills will be leading our team in this task.  We are so proud of those of you who have volunteered to help in these areas amongst many others.  If you have not told us where you would like to volunteer, please email Clay at clay@journeychurchsc.org or fill out a volunteer form at the information desk this Sunday at church.  We will be in touch with everyone who has filled out this information in the coming weeks. These are exciting times and having each of you alongside both in body and in prayer - makes the progress that much sweeter.
Picture
'Mock up' of how the signage should appear when it goes up.