Seats– Two times in the last three weeks my nightmare has come true – we’ve not had enough seats for the people who have shown up Sunday. In our new space, we will have triple the capacity.
Legit Church– Over and over again, we hear our people tell us that their friends who do not go to church say some version of this: “I’m not going to church, but if I did, it will be a legit church, not one that meets at a movie theater.” We know we are legit no matter where we meet, but many people that we are trying to reach are not convinced. Our new space will allow us to reach more UNTOLD and UNCONVINCED than ever before.
We are inspired by God’s clear pattern and plan from Genesis all the way to Jesus for God’s church to be as multiethnic as the community in which it meets. A study of surrounding demographics within three miles of our new building showed the community is 48 percent minority (well above the average in Wake County). In a study of our own small groups meeting in homes at Relentless, they are also 48 percent minority. How cool is that?
We absolutely love the location of our new home at 1540 Mechanical Blvd. As renters, this is not our permanent home, but we believe this is the general area we will call home for many years to come. While our address is technically Garner, we are less than half a mile from Raleigh city limits and exactly 10 minutes from the heart of downtown Raleigh. At less than 10 minutes from the booming area of White Oak Shopping Center and only 10 minutes from Wake Tech on 401; this is going to be a great location for anyone in Wake County!
Student Ministry– We prayed through a decision to move our student (6th-12th grade) to Wednesday nights. We wanted our teenagers to be a part of church on Sunday morning. The problem was, we did not have a spot to do student ministry at the theater on a weeknight. Now we do.
We have a LOBBY! If you have ever come to church at the theater, there was no lobby where we could gather. We never knew for sure who was there for a movie vs. who was there for church, and now we have a beautiful spacious lobby where people can actually have a conversation.
God moved in an extraordinary way. It was just October 2018 that we were seeking God on what in the world we were going to do. How he brought this building to us will be a story we will tell for a very long time. Hear the full story here.
RC Kids– (Birth-5th grade)- We made the best of it, but our space was not ideal. All of our birth through preschool age children were in a birthday party room and our K-5th grade in a theater, which was not functional for kids’ ministry. At the new building we will be launching RC Kid’s Park, with fun environments designed specifically for elementary, preschool and nursery ages.
Worship– For more than four years our worship team has practiced at the home of our worship director, Seth Helfrich. Equally challenging is the reality that every single Sunday morning we have to setup our equipment and EQ the soundboard and start from scratch. Now, we can leave our equipment setup and dialed in and use the building for rehearsal! It is a game-changer that will allow us ultimately to give more energy and focus to actually worshipping the God who made all of this possible
