Making an impact in greater Detroit

By David Dummitt

Michigan church builds a ‘third place’ for families in surrounding communities.

We knew that Livingston County could use a “third place” – somewhere other than the home or workplace – to meet with friends and neighbors, build relationships and create community.  2|42 Community Church purchased the obsolete Brighton Athletic Club on Grand River across from the local hospital. When renovated – anticipated within the next 14 months – the building will become a multipurpose facility for the community.

Residents will be able to meet friends for coffee at the indoor/outdoor cafe or invite a coworker to play pickup basketball during lunch hour. There will be opportunities to attend winter concerts in the auditorium, use the space for meetings and organize a playgroup at the play structure.

The teen space is designed so that middle- and high school kids can have a safe place to hang out, get homework help or take music lessons at the school for the arts. And yes, on Sunday, there will be church.

We want this to be a facility that extends beyond Sunday morning, reaches out beyond our regular church attendees. This is our gift to the community we love and have served for more than six years. This is a no-strings-attached gift. You don’t have to go to our church, or to any church, to enjoy the community center. In fact, we’d like to hear from the community as to how to best use the space. What kind of space does the community feel is most needed – sports courts, coffeehouse, school for the arts, teen center?

The goal is that Brighton area residents will adopt the facility as their third home, building relationships and becoming more invested in their community. Why is 2|42 Community Church undertaking such a huge project? The leadership would simply say, “We’re passionate about helping people take their next steps with God.”

2|42 Community Church launched on Feb. 13, 2005 at Scranton Middle School and soon moved into the Brighton Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Brighton High School, and has grown to 1,100 weekend attendees. In addition to the 300-person Ann Arbor campus launched in 2009, our Thru47 (www.thru47.com) is our effort to make a larger impact on the 67 percent of people who are far from God and the 20 percent of people living on less than $2 a day.

God has done amazing things through 2|42 over the past six years. Now, he is presenting us with one of our most defining moments. We believe God has a vision for 2|42  to be an impact church – a church that transforms the spiritual landscape of Brighton and Ann Arbor, our surrounding communities, the greater Detroit area, and the world.

Dave Dummitt is lead pastor of  Community Church in Howell, MI. 242community.com

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Right flooring saves church big money

Most churches have fellowship halls – a place to hold events and gatherings and where community takes place. Because this type of space demands multipurpose use and attracts heavy foot traffic, choosing the right flooring is crucial.

The leadership at Flemington First Church of Christ in Pennsylvania made such an important decision. When the church started eight years ago, the congregation thought they would just refurbish an existing building. However, they ended up constructing their own building.

For the past two years, Flemington has been building a 25,000-square-foot church – one of the largest in the East Coast. For flooring, they chose Padenpor for its multipurpose capability. The sanctuary is divided by two 20-inch-wide doors that open to a multipurpose area. The church plans to use the area for volleyball and basketball tournaments and other sports events to reach out to the community. The space will also be used for stage productions, film showing and wedding receptions.

Padenpor is manufactured by Abacus Sports Installations Ltd. in Lancaster, PA. Seamless flooring like Padenpor has proven to be the most durable, diverse and sustainable type of flooring for multipurpose areas.

By building a multipurpose room and having additional special design applications, Shaffer said construction costs were reduced to $2 million – from the original plan of $6.5 million. Even though the Padenpor flooring cost a little more than the tile floors the church first considered, it enabled the church to take advantage of the flooring’s multipurpose capabilities, thus reducing overall costs.

— Rus Shaffer, Acabus Sports Installations www.abacussports.com

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