The Dream of a Community Center

For almost as long as I can remember, it's been the dream of many at Canyon Hills to someday build a community center for our area. Not just "another church building" that's used mostly on weekends or mostly for our own needs, but a center - a "hub" - for our community. An auditorium that doubles as a basketball court all week long for area kids' teams. Kids' classrooms that double as day care rooms during the week. A large game room and youth rooms that are used for after school programs. Great rooms that are available for AA and 12-step groups, karate classes, and any number of other community functions. A coffee shop where small groups meet or where people from Canyon Hills hook up on the way home after work or where a mom waits while her pre-teen son practices with his basketball team.

But why all of that? Why not just another church building? It's born out of a conviction that for too long churches have postured themselves as "prophets" in their communities, and not as "servants." Make no mistake, the role of prophet is important, too. But Christ led irreligious people toward God as he served them. (Actually, his prophetic role seemed to be primarily exercised toward the religious!) Living in an area filled with young families (and being a church made up of young families), we were struck by the needs. No community centers. Few basketball courts. No after school programs. A kids' club team basketball coach laments that there's no place for his kids to play. A single mom of a junior high aged boy is bewildered that the closest after school program for her son to attend while she works is in Laguna Beach. Meanwhile, we were looking forward to a time when we'll need to construct spaces of this size that will already have similar functionalities for our own needs (well-equipped kids class rooms, great rooms, game room, youth rooms, gathering places, MPRs). What if we were to construct these spaces in such a way to meet both needs? What if we were to bring our community through our own doors 7 days a week?

And what if we were to strategically leverage their presence in our space to potentially connect them with God - no strings attached? The dream took flight. We pictured a day in the not-too-distant-future when a mom would drop her son or daughter off for a 5:30 basketball practice. And instead of sitting in her SUV reading her book, she'd come into the coffee shop located conveniently in front to sip a latte and read. On the table is an advertisement for a 4-week support group / seminar on parenting pre-teen kids occurring - what a coincidence! - exactly on this night of the week, during this hour!

True, there may be many people who would frequent our space and still never consider coming to a class or a group or our church. That's where the "no strings attached" part comes! (And that's where a true servant's posture kicks in!) But the evidence over the years seems to demonstrate that even many of the most spiritually-resistant people become open to God at times of crises in their lives. And during those times, they turn first toward the people and places they've already been exposed to. We would like to be among those people and places, when the time comes, whom God might use to resurrect spiritual life in their hearts.

Of course, there are practical motivations for this as well. Multiple uses of the spaces we create can generate additional sources of revenue to help offset the cost of such a facility. But the primary concern is missional - how will Canyon Hills bring people who are far from God into authentic community with God and each other in a way that fully forms Christ in their lives (and ours)?! How will we connect with the young families that populate our area who would never darken the door of a "church?" What facilities would best facilitate a mission like that? A community center-type space seems to answer that question best for us.

So, the dream is just a dream, for now. But we're beginning to take the next step in making this dream a reality, as God appears to be opening doors for us. Stay tuned.

John Reed
Lead Pastor