Making another land offer!

Since hitting a slowdown in the negotiation for the site on Paluxy highway, the team has been looking for potential alternatives. Jane Adams helped us find a great residential property of 24 acres, on Old Acton Highway. The lot is a little narrow in the front but it’s really a great location and a really beautiful setting with a live oak forest in the north half. There’s a fairly new house with open interior and great outdoor features (think outdoor baptistry) in the front and back. If things work out, our architect would have the opportunity to get creative with how to tie in this stone house that looks like Granbury. The team has just finished the contract to make an offer on this site tomorrow. Please pray for God’s hand in the negotiation process as he show us if this is the place where our building should be.

Programming has begun

On Monday night we kicked off the Programming effort with our Architect, Kit Johnson. Programming is the process where small teams of people work together to provide data, ideas, and other input to the architect to develop a master plan for the buildings. We’re working really hard to think about how facilities can support our mission and values at StoneWater. The last thing we want to do is to build a monument instead of a tool to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Jeremy put it in our launch meeting, “Our purpose is about the harvest, not just building the barn.”

Worship Facilities Conference in Indianapolis

I’m in Indy this week with Justin and Ken from the Facilities Leadership Team. We’re learning a great deal at the Worship Facilities Conference and Expo (or WFX) to bring home and apply to our process and decisions about building our facility. So far, in one session we learned alot more about planning the project but not holding on too tightly through great stories of how God has worked at Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Il. In another session we learned of a really innovative approach to Reaching people for Christ by serving, appreciating, and building a relationship with the construction crews (Building God’s Way). We have two more days of learning and great discussions that are helping us prepare for key decisions ahead.

Land Offer

We are considering a property very close to our current meeting location at Brawner Intermediate School (1520 S. Meadows Dr.).  The main entrance would be off of Highway 51 (Paluxy Highway).  We have presented an offer to the owners for a 16-acre plot situated in the interior of the property. We are praying for God to make it apparent if this is the property for our church.  We are striving to work out a deal that will benefit both our church as well as the owners.

Should we not negotiate a deal on this land, there are other sites we will consider next.

 

Conceptual Design

We asked Hailey | Johnson Architects of Austin to develop a preliminary conceptual design.  In December 2007, Kit Johnson of Hailey | Johnson presented the design to Jeremy and Dave (pastors).  The design Mr. Johnson presented provided a great starting place to make decisions about what our needs are.  A few of the things we discovered included

·         how much land we need (and parking)

·         general square footage

·         layout of buildings

·         different kinds of space needed (worship, children, office,  etc.)

This conceptual design helped us to think “out of the box” and to plan for expansion.  For example, one idea is to build the worship center big enough to eventually hold 1,000 people at a time.  We found we can design the space big enough to accomplish that, but build a temporary wall to split the space to accommodate a smaller crowd and utilize the space behind the wall for other ministries. 

You can see the drawings of the current conceptual design by clicking here.

The Vision for the Building

At StoneWater, our mission is to reach people for Jesus Christ and equip them to become committed followers of Him. 

We love meeting at Brawner Intermediate School.  We have a great relationship with the faculty and staff and they have been wonderful to share their facility with us.   However, our stay at the school is temporary.

In order to consider pursuing our mission, we need a building.  Just as the school is our current tool for doing ministry, we desire our permanent structure to be a more specialized tool for ministry. 

It is really important for us to keep in mind that we do not exist to build buildings, but to accomplish the mission for which it is built. 

When we move in one day we will not have “arrived,” but only just begun.

Under Construction

StoneWater Church is a church under construction in many aspects. 

We strive to communicate the best information to you about what is going on at StoneWater.  Please use this site as a reference for land and facility activity and remember to pray for this process.