Thoughts about 'Portable Church'

I get a lot of questions about portable church and I want to take some time to answer a few:

What is portable church?

• For us, being a portable church means that we rent a facility, in our case North Murray High School and transform that space from its 'everyday' use to a church for the weekend.
  

Is being portable a Biblical concept?

• There is more to talk about here than I can answer in one blog but the short answer is yes. Consider the Gospels and where Jesus preached. The Temple courts; the sermon on the mount; by the lake. The church was not a building then and it is not now.
  

How do you feel about Rock Bridge Chatsworth being portable?

• This one is asked a lot, and almost always by someone presuming that I hate it so my answer almost always raises eyebrows... I like it. It's true, I like it, in some ways I LOVE it.
• I like that we get to partner with a local school - giving the school money helps our community and that works for me.
• I like that we take a building that sits vacant on weekends and put it to use. It saves money and natural resources.
• I like the location - easy to find, center of the community, good parking and it has a cool local history. I regularly hear folks talk about great, life shaping memories at the school. That tradition continues.
• I LOVE that I get to spend incredible time with amazing people every week to set it up and break it down.
• I freely acknowledge that it is work; hard work, but it is good work and it's work that unites us in a way that simply cannot be matched in a 'permanent' site.
• I like it because, to quote a church leader at a portable church of 4000+ in a school in Charlotte, 'it gives us an edge'. The energy that portability generates is unmatched. We walk the halls of NMHS before we start and the end result is absolutely amazing. It is very satisfying and I always have fun.
  

Is Rock Bridge Chatsworth looking for a more permanent site?

• This one is asked most often of all. It's asked by folks helping set up, it's asked by people breaking it down, by guests and it's asked by friends from other churches.
  
• Another short answer... no. [but keep reading]
  
• It's not that we don't want a permanent site; we looked at a ton of available spaces around town but found nothing that worked. Too much space... not enough... bad parking... too expensive to make safe and usable for church... you get the point. We looked and looked and simply found ONE open door and North Murray is it.
  
• I pray that we will end up in a debt-free [or at least a short term debt-free plan] permanent site. My top prayer however, is to simply follow as God leads and He has led us here and therefore... I like it.