Occupancy Date Slides

We learned just this afternoon from our contractor that they will not be able to complete our new building in time to allow us to hold our first worship services there on May 11 as planned.  This information is so important, I wanted to share it with you as soon and as directly as possible.  Basically, a number of factors (including weather) have prevented the contractor from closing in the building and making it weather-tight.  That, in turn, will make it impossible to complete the required interior work necessary to assure occupancy by May 1.  At this point it is not possible to know a firm date for completion, but we should be able to share that information within the next two or three weeks.

For now, though, our previously announced timetable will have to be postponed at least several weeks.  Prior to communicating that schedule, we thought we had allowed sufficient time for inevitable delays.  Our judgment, however, turns out to have been incorrect.  I take full responsibility for having communicated a schedule that is no longer accurate.  And, I want to assure you we will not announce a new schedule until we are certain of the dates when occupancy of the new building will be available.

There are really several ways to receive this latest news.  Naturally, I’m disappointed to have to put on hold (once again) the growing excitement I am feeling about our move.  At the same time, having a few extra weeks to get ready can only help us to do a better job when we ultimately do make the move.  After seven years of waiting, another few weeks shouldn’t make that much difference.

If I’ve learned anything during those seven years, it’s that we are not in control of this project.  I’ve learned to trust that everything related to the new building happens in accord with God’s timing rather than ours.   This latest news doesn’t change that conviction in the least.  What it does is to encourage me to pray more fervently and seek to discern how God is calling us to use the additional weeks before our move in ways that best reflect God’s plan for us and for the new facility.

Speaking of prayer, it looks like the 100 Days of Prayer will need to be extended.  Nothing bad about that, though, and I hope you will join me in continuing to pray every day for Glen Mar, for the people who are working to complete our new building, and for the people you will invite to join you in using the building to advance God’s mission in Howard County.

This entry was posted on February 20, 2008 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Pastors Ponderings, New Cut Road Building Progress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.