EXHALE

So I had this great meeting with Mack (everybody calls him 'Clark') Clark on Tuesday.  He owns the building we meet in (and several other theaters in town).  He's totally stoked about his new project to build a 12-screen cinema in Enterprise.  I'm stoked for him...and for us!  

Way back in November of 2007, Clark allowed us the great privilege of planting Crossroads in his College Cinema building, and giving us first position to buy the building when he moves out.  Well it seems like it's been a long time since that happened, but it really hasn't been.  Shorter still is the time between today and the opening of that new cinema, and Crossroads purchasing the building we have called home since we launched.  Now look, things can change, but as of Tuesday afternoon, Clark told me that he wants to be open in the new cinema no later than the first week of May 2011!  So there it is.  May 2011 is now our launch target.  

The timing seems absolutely orchestrated by God.  Our lease at the Annex will be up and we will be ready.  I'm telling you (so you can go back in twelve months and read this Blog post) that the next twelve months for Crossroads as an organization is going to FLY by.  We need to make the most of every minute.  In the next few weeks I'll be sharing with you our plan - including a financial plan for our church - that will ensure we are truly ready  to make the move when the time comes.

This past Sunday, in a bid to go a bit more public with our plans - and to generate interest with newcomers and first-time attenders - I took a chance that could have backfired with the ownership of our building.  See, in all the time we've been there, we've played this potential move pretty close to the vest, weighing whether going public in a big way would make Clark uncomfortable until he's actually breaking ground.  But I really felt led to do something, and  if you were at Crossroads Easter Sunday, you saw the result.  If you picked up a bulletin, you couldn't help but notice a rendering of the college cinema...in full Crossroads regalia!

Well...Clark noticed it too!  Last Tuesday.  I sort of held my breath as he looked at it, understanding the great emotional investment he has in the building he purchased so many years ago, and the change that it represented.  He studied it for a minute, and then busted out in a big grin and said, "Gene, this is so great!  Oooh, this looks wo-o-o-o-nderful, ha-ha-ha!  Do you have enough of these where I could have this one...so I can show it to my mortgage man?"

Exhale.  "Yes, Clark.  We have plenty of them."  I'm thinking we'll just leave that in the bulletin, huh?