The idea for the facility, said the church’s pastor Myles Young, came in 1998, as the church’s membership continued to increase.
“Seven years ago, we were beginning to tap out our facilities and we were running out of parking and running out of room,” Young said. “It was then that we started planning for a new church facility.”
This planning resulted in funds being contributed by members during the following five years, which has resulted in the soon-to-be completed building, which is 65 feet tall at its pinnacle.
The 95,000-square-foot building, which has been worked on for the past two years, includes a chapel or sanctuary area, which has a 46-foot-tall ceiling. The sanctuary includes seating for 2,500 people, with additional areas designated for doubling the seating capacity. Overall, the current seating consists of 3,000 feet of pews.
The sanctuary also includes a large stage area for conducting the church’s services and entertainment.
The stage area has a pulpit that raises and lowers, five large projection screens and a large choir loft.
And behind the stage area are recording and rehearsal studios and a large soundboard for controlling on stage audio levels and effects.
Young, who is known by his congregation for his music, plans to get some use of the recording equipment himself, but said that adding recording equipment is a never-ending situation.
“This is an ongoing project, because any equipment you buy today is obsolete tomorrow,” Young said.
Young added that he has already been approached by a local symphony orchestra that is interested in renting the facility for their concerts. He added that such community uses will definitely be a part of the completed facility.
Besides the sanctuary and behind-the-stage audio features, the facility also includes 20,000 square feet of office space.
And as for the front of the building, members and guests will be welcomed with the presence of a bookstore, a coffee shop and a large outdoor plaza, complete with a fountain.
The northwest and southwest entrances will have tall ceilings, which will be decorated by 12-foot-tall by 8-foot-wide chandeliers.
Bishop Nathaniel Wilson of the church said that he is occasionally asked how his church can afford such a facility.
“A number of folks asked how our church is able to do this (pay for the new facility),” Wilson said. “Our church focuses on people wanting to help people in need and some of our members have become spectacularly successful and have decided to give back to the church that helped them out. In turn, our ability to have this facility built is the result of people helping people.”
The church’s other facility will remain in the ownership of the church and will be used for a recreation center, a meeting place for the church’s Spanish speaking members and a venue for various community projects.
Overall, the church, which began in West Sacramento in 1981, includes 13 Northern California locations.
Although the church is working to have its new facility completed sometime next month, it has set a more secure date of March 5 for its grand opening service.
“We’re looking forward to having the community take part in our grand opening,” Wilson said. “And we’re thrilled that God has blessed our church to the measure that he has. This (the grand opening) will be a celebration of the little church that began in a storefront and has become the grand size that it is today. And we invite everybody in the area to visit us on this very special day.”
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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 18th, 2005 at 2:32 am and is filed under Preaching, UPCI, The Bible, Music, Church, apostolic, pentecostal, Internet, Elk Grove, Sacramento, Blog, Revival, Nathaniel J. Wilson, Bishop, Sacramento Bee, Bishop Curtis Young, Video. 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.
The Rock Church of Sacramento/Elk Grove, CA 