The Covenant Growth Task Force, created in September to research ways to increase capacity on campus, gave an update at two separate, but identical, meetings in mid-January. Daniel Campbell, who chairs the committee, said the team has been looking at how the buildings and other areas on our campus are being used. The goal of the team’s work, according to Daniel, is discovery.
“We are here to start a conversation,” Daniel told a full house at both the meetings.
Daniel was quick to note there is a tension in the process. “This task force is looking internally at growth on campus and at the same time, Covenant is also figuring out how to be a love letter to Austin.”
The latter concept forces us to look outside our walls, to see what God is doing in Austin. While the former, and the focus of Daniel’s meeting, encourages us to look inward to solve the challenges of a growing congregation.
Daniel said that the Growth Task Force has spent the last few months looking at the data. “We are studying this data; we want to know what the data shows; we want to understand what the numbers mean.”
One area the team is considering is Sunday morning traffic and worship attendance. “This includes capacity of the Fellowship and Education Building, classroom use on Sunday versus other days of the week, parking, and the perspective of new members and visitors. He explained, “We want to know what it means to be a visitor and figure out where to drop off kids, to park, to find coffee.”
The team is also looking at how to handle the areas of our campus that are already at capacity – the Sanctuary, Sunday morning classrooms and the parking lot. The team wants to gain a better understanding of the future needs of the campus and what upgrades and/or updates will create a better overall experience for campus visitors.
One step the Growth Task Force has taken is to hire an architecture firm. Andersson Wise will work with the team and, over the next four to six months, the task force and the firm will gather input, test fit solutions and create conceptual designs. At the end of that time, Daniel said, the team hopes to have an ala carte menu of options for the church. “We will be able to pick the things we want to do first, stage the process and have a budget so we can really understand what the church can take on,” Daniel said.
Find Daniel’s slides here to see some of the data from worship services, email addresses for the Growth Task Force, and some of the things the group is currently working on and what they hope to provide, and more.
“We are looking at all of our options and inviting everyone to provide their insight,” Daniel said. (Contact Daniel.)
Thomas Daniel wrapped up the meeting, saying that the team is working diligently and meeting weekly. “We have an opportunity to pray for them. We also have the opportunity to be interactive with the ideas. The next four to five months are critically important. If you have further questions on things, please contact a team member. (All email addresses are included in the attached slides.)
The Growth Task Force’s next update to the congregation will be Sunday, March 29.