There’s no doubt about it, our multi-use/multi-purpose facility comes with a boat load of headaches, but the ROI (return on investment) when fully examined does make it all worth it.
Think of all that we were able to do with our facility in the past year…
- We worshipped together with the Auditorium chairs setup in a circle with the platform in the middle
- We increased our seating capacity for our largest Easter services ever
- Children rode the giant swings of VBS fame
- We hosted volleyball, basketball and floor hockey games
- We hosted communion and foot washing
- We brought the North Pole to Lititz
- We hosted weddings
- We hosted funerals
- We had the school Christmas program
- We had the school play
- We had the daycare and school graduations
- And lest I forget the daily physical education classes and school recess
Our facility is used more now than ever and the master calendar has become a master-challenge. We’re in the process of upgrading our tracking systems to try and keep up with the demand, our current system has been completely maxed-out. These are all positive signs. In their book, When Not to Build, Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall capture the essence of the function of a church building, “If the church’s mission is to minister to people in Christ’s name, church buildings can have only one legitimate function: to serve as tools to help church members better fulfill that mission.” In my evaluation, we are doing pretty good in that department. Though we want to continue to be good stewards of our facility, we are less handcuffed by walls, paint colors, bricks and mortar. We are less concerned about staining carpets if in return we are ministering to people.
Using our multi-use/multi-purpose Auditorium as a tool produces eternal returns that far outweigh the headaches that it creates. Based on how God has used our current Auditorium, I can only imagine how God may choose to use the next tool if it is similarly geared to serve in a multi-use/multi-purpose capacity.
