Some thoughts on our move to Bagley

After an awesome season at North Murray High School, Rock Bridge Chatsworth has moved to Bagley Middle School. Our service times remain the same at 9:15am and 11:00am.

The move has raised some questions - so here are some answers:

Question: Was Rock Bridge Chatsworth 'thrown out' of North Murray?

• No. Our relationship with the folks at North Murray is excellent. Our plan has always been to leave that location when North Murray moved out. We had hoped to move to the new facility with North Murray but construction is not finished on the areas we'll use.

Question: Then why leave the original site now?

• The new folks in our original building need a LOT of space and we will soon be in their way. The school system has worked hard and found us a solution that limits our 'portability' through the summer and even into the school year.
  

Question: Are we 'settling' at Bagley?

• No. Bagley is an excellent facility with amazing staff that offers us many things that were not available at NMHS. Parking, lobby, volunteer headquarters, worship center and kids space are AMAZING!

Question: Will we still move to NMHS when the construction is finished?

• The easy answer is "yes... but". NMHS will have an excellent theater that makes it VERY interesting but the truth is we will have to evaluate when the time comes. We will follow God's leading.

Question: Why don't we simply buy, rent or build a permanent location?

• Finding a site that is a good location, has enough space and a potential 'cool factor' has not been hard to do. Finding a space that is LEGAL to use is another story. To have church there are specific laws and rules that must be followed. There must be certain numbers of parking spaces based on the size of the building, there must be sprinklers and proper exits not to mention air-conditioning and the needed technology. All this says that finding a site that meets the needs is hard. If a great site that meets our needs becomes available at a price we can afford we will certainly take a prayerful look at it.
  

Question: Why don't we just buy the Chevy building?

• I can give you three-point-four-million reasons. Rock Bridge Chatsworth is a small, locally funded church and even churchwide we feel the impact of the economic crisis just like anyone. Purchasing such a site is totally out of the question at this time. [Yes, a lease would be considered if the owners were interested... they are not]
  

Last Question [For Now]: Doesn't moving kill the church?

• No. I can site several examples of churches that have moved and the moves actually created a cool buzz and led to growth. A certain church that started in the 80's with just a few, moved several times in their history - they even had a somewhat private slogan "We're a great church if you can find us". They didn't build for YEARS and now run over fifteen thousand people.

Please spread the word about our move - the school is looking amazing and Sunday is going to be awesome!