It's Official: Connexus is Coming to a Theater Near You!

–>Here’s the decision many of us have been waiting for.  It’s official tonight: Connexus will be launching in December 2007 at the Galaxy Cinemas in Barrie and Orillia.

The Presbytery of Barrie tonight decided to try to continue a Presbyterian church using the Trinity facility after our current leadership team resigns October 31st.  This puts the Connexus offer to purchase this facility off the table indefinitely.  We sincerely wish our Presbyterian colleagues and friends the very best in this endeavor and will do all we can to support them in this time of transition.  We love you, and you are our brothers and sisters in Christ.

But I have to say that our leadership team is actually very excited about the decision to launch Connexus in the heart of two cities we love and that God has a deep heart for.  We never originally intended to launch in Barrie and Orillia, but sometimes God has plans we didn’t.  In fact, when we realized this summer that the building was seriously in question, we were initially alarmed about not being able to meet in Oro.  The Trinity facility we built in 2003 is the largest facility in Oro, so if we couldn’t buy it, we realized quickly that our only option was to head north or south.  We wanted to reach both our northern neighbours and our southern neighbours, and hence the idea of a twin city launch was born a few months ago. As it became more and more clear over the last month that we might not get the building, our imagination got captured by the possibilities associated with Connexus launching in both cities.  It may indeed be the best option after all.

We are we excited?

  1. We get a chance to create amazing environments in these cinemas that would rival anything we could do in our own facility which, frankly, we already outgrew.
  2. It’s easier to invite your friends to a cinema than a church.  Quite honestly, chat it up with your unchurched friends and ask which place sounds more inviting to them: a cinema or a church.  They’re already in the theaters several times a month.
  3. We’re way closer to where people actually live.  If ministry is about reaching people, maybe it’s an advantage to be close to people.  It’s way easier to invite your friends ten minutes down the road than to a 25 minute drive.
  4. Having two locations make attendance more convenient for the vast majority of our current Trinity attenders who will live closer to one of the two new sites than they do to the Trinity facility. Even us Oro people (and I’m one of them) have to drive into town for virtually everything, so it’s not much of a stretch to do church nearby.
  5. Pure blue sky possibilities.  If we serve an unlimited God, then
    starting fresh with no boundaries is a magnificent opportunity to try
    something significant for the Kingdom.
  6. Renting is cheaper than owning.  Even while creating stellar environments and going overnight into live video production, the costs of being portable are better than having to "repurchase" a facility.  Even as we also rent office space, KidStuf space and student ministry space, it’s still cheaper.  Plus, if and when we do build in the future, our future space will be much more geared to the size and scope we’ll need than what we’ve done in the past.
  7. We like popcorn.  And we’re serving it at our launches.  How cool is that?

We realize that for many Connexus supporters who currently call Trinity home, this may be a period of adjustment as we go through the process of becoming a mobile church.  But the wonderful option is that people who want to stay in the current facility can do so, and those who want to join in on the Connexus mission can join us in that.  Our arms are wide open, because so is the Kingdom of God. 

So Barrie and Orillia, here we come!  We’re ready to blanket Barrie, Orillia, Oro-Medonte, Muskoka, the GTA with faith, hope and love.

It’s so great to be on this journey with you.  Keep praying and especially keep praying for the people who have yet to get into a growing relationship with Jesus, and for the courage to invite them into some amazing environments, coming soon to a theater near you! 

Carey Nieuwhof
Lead Pastor
Connexus Community Church

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