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Have you felt it?
Chances are.. you have.
It’s the excitement in the air. It’s the laughing and cracking up in the lobby. It’s the tears of authenticity in worship. It’s the men and women finding community and the new friendships forming. It’s the note-taking in sermons and the excitement for new series. It’s the service in our city and new faces every week. It’s the splash from the baptisms and the lives that are changing.
It is the feeling of growth - and it is absolutely a gift from God!
At Canvas, our mission is very simple: We want to help people discover Jesus.
We are sold out on this because we know Jesus changes everything - and we will do anything and everything short of sin in order to help people know who He is. Since the beginning, of Canvas, we have baptized 100 people, and if you are one of those people, you absolutely understand why we are sold out on spreading Jesus to everyone.
However, as we grow, we have had a realization: we need more room!
Our kid's classrooms are getting full, and it’s getting hard to find a seat in our main worship service. This is an incredible “problem” to have!
As a church, we have been praying about this solution for a while, and we believe the wisest thing to do is move to the YMCA where there will be more room for our kids, adults, and families.
Here’s the thing: The only reason we have grown is because of you. You have invited, given, served, and sacrificed. However, here’s the catch: the only way we can continue to grow is because of you. This would be impossible to pull off without you - nor would we even want to do this without you! Our church is better because of you - and without you, we are not nearly as strong.
Over the next few weeks, we will show you how we are going to transition to the YMCA - but for now, we want to give you some answers to questions many of you probably have.
As with anything, no one at Canvas is a “professional.” We are all genuine, authentic people like you. We fully expect to have a few hiccups along the way - and we are already looking forward to the laughs and learning that come from it. We thank you so much for not just calling Canvas home - but making it your home and owning our growth.
I am honored and humbled to be your pastor - and while I am very excited about these last 100 baptisms - I’m even more excited for the 100 to come! I love you all - and can’t wait for this fall!
Love,
Kevin McNeil
Lead Pastor
Questions and Answers
“Why did you chose the YMCA?”
Not only is the YMCA a huge, empty building on Sunday morning - they are also a nonprofit that has a heart for Goldsboro the same way we do. Together, we believe we will accomplish more and make a greater impact with this partnership.
“Where does the greatest need for volunteers exist?”
There are three key areas where we need additional volunteers.
Our Canvas Kids Team. We love kids, we love parents, and we love serving. We want our kids to discover Jesus at the YMCA just as much as the theater, so we will need more team members in this area when we move.
Our Setup/Teardown Team. As we move to the Y, we need areas where people commit to showing up early and setting things up; however, we also need an area for people to help stay after and tear down.
Our First Impressions Team. We will be providing coffee and morning refreshments for each service. We need volunteers who will arrive early to the YMCA and make sure things are up and ready to go.
If you have been waiting for the right time to jump in and serve. Now is the time!
“When will we have our own building?”
Remember when you were a kid and you asked for McDonalds, and your mom looked back and said “You got that McDonalds money?!”
This is me looking at you and saying, “You got that building money?!” 😂
In all seriousness, we have wondered when this question would surface. Simply put, even if we had ALL the cash on hand today to build our own building, we would need to raise a lot more money, find additional funding - AND still allow 12-24 months for construction to happen. A permanent building and community center is a part of our overall vision at Canvas, but for right now, that is not a viable immediate solution to our current growth.
“Why not add another service to the movie theater?”
While we did think of adding another service, the challenge is twofold: 1) The movie theater opens at 11:30 AM, which means we cannot have another service during their business hours. 2) They are actually planning on getting recliners for their main movie theaters, which means seating will decrease!
(But shout out to Goldsboro and UEC for having reclining chairs in the future! We are excited 😎)
"When are we moving?"
October 13th will be our first Sunday at the YMCA!
“Will we still have two services?"
Yes! We will still offer two services every Sunday!
“What times will the services be?”
We are going to offer a 9:30 AM service and a 11:00 AM service.
“What will this do for set up and tear down?”
Right now, we are working on finalizing different teams for each of these elements, but I think there will be a bit of trial and error as we begin. As with anything new, we fully expect obstacles and know we may have to iron out wrinkles in the first few weeks. However, we know they will be minor and we’ll perfect it rather quickly once we start.
Thank you all again. Looking forward to what God is going to do in this next year!
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