New Community Church, a 21 year old non-denominational church, sits in the university district. The backyard bumps up against the river, providing a beautiful view for outdoor weddings. In the same building rests the No Li Brewery and Dry Fly Distillery. A great location for a church, according to Pastor Russ Davis.
The location may seem unconventional, but several Spokane churches are finding that non-traditional spaces are the way to go.
“It gives us an awesome common space to have meetings with people,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of times we will share a lunch with people immediately following a Sunday gathering.”
Davis said he loves New Community’s proximity to a brewery and distillery, which communicates an accessibility.
The idea that a place can communicate values, called the theology of place, is one New Community believes in strongly. The space the church uses used to be the Rendezvous Room, an event center used for weddings, parties and dances. Not a lot of money has been put into the building and the inside has a warehouse feel, Davis said.
“What [the building], I think, communicates to the people of our community is that what happens outside of the building is just as important, if not more important, than what happens inside the building,” he said.
One activity happening outside the church building is New Community’s view of how church occurs: the community of faith meeting in small groups around the city. Sunday mornings in the church building are viewed as a gathering of those communities into one larger group. This differing viewpoint from traditional churches is reflected in New Community’s unique location.
“Many churches are set up or designed to have Sunday be the most important point in the life of the church,” Davis said. “What that means is you typically want to be on a highly accessible road, with a property looking out, with a building that people want to come to, because you want to get people in the front door on Sundays because that is the most important thing. We would rather people get connected in a small group … It doesn’t make our location as significant a downside to visitors because visitors should be coming with a friend rather than just showing up to a building on Sunday.”
New Community’s location plays into not only the view of the church, but also their vision.
“New Community’s vision has always been to relate to the under-resourced population as well as the college population,” Davis said. “Being next to Gonzaga and in the university district gives us access to meet the needs of all those people groups.”
The space in New Community is available for free to any non-profits. Regular groups host fundraisers, banquets and meetings.
“We are trying to figure out other ways that the city and the community can utilize the building,” Davis said “We have thought about low-income daycare and we are open to other things on how the space can be used on a more consistent basis.”
NEW COMMUNITY DIRECTORY LISTING
Over in Spokane Valley, take a Kmart and a dollar store, renovate the space to combine the two buildings, add in a large parking lot, and what is the end result of this large location? Eastpoint Church.
In 2005, Eastpoint Church, needing a larger facility, moved into a Kmart on one of the busiest street corners in the Spokane Valley. Church expansion continued, eventually moving into the dollar store as well. Funding for the long term lease and remodel came from those inside the church, allowing Eastpoint to be debt and loan free.
Executive Assistant Sarah Reinhart said Eastpoint’s philosophy of relational ministries is why the church works well in a Kmart.
“Our mission statement is loving God, loving others. How we get there is through REACH: relational, excellence, authentic, creative, and health,” Reinhart said. “The building fits who we are, we didn’t fit ourselves to the building.”
While Reinhart grew up in smaller churches, and believes there is a need for the small community church just as much as the large church, she loves the Eastpoint’s large facility.
“The thing I love about this church and this location is it is so accessible,” Reinhart “It’s a lot less intimidating to pull up to a parking lot and walk into a building that feels familiar, even if you have never been there.”
A smaller demographic of people feel comfortable walking into a smaller traditional church, Reinhart said.
“Having a building like this and set up like this tends to draw more of that first time demographic, which is what we feel called to reach as church,” Reinhart said.
Eastpoint views how they reach people as a funnel model. As people move farther down the funnel, they get into more intimate settings.
The funnel starts at the top with Sunday morning. The next stage is life classes, usually with 20 to 60 people. These take place in different parts of the auditorium. The next stage is smaller life groups, with five to 20 people. Their activities range from mountain biking with a Bible study at the bottom to attending Chief games to traditional small book studies. The funnel’s final stage is one-on-one mentoring.
“The goal is not to have a shallow church that just gets new believers,” Reinhart said. “It’s to get them further and further down into the funnel. Having a building this large with this much flexibility allows us to have the different spaces.”
Eastpoint uses the large space as a ministry to the community as well. The church is in the process of becoming the EVAC site for the Central Valley School District. If there is a large crisis, within five minutes the church shuts down and the buses get the students to the church.
Future plans for Eastpoint may involve the Yokes next door. As Eastpoint continues expanding, the need for more space could result in the church buying the property and renovating it to the rest of the building.
On the first Friday of every month, the space at 608 W 2nd Ave. becomes an art gallery, showcasing new pieces. For the rest of the month, the space is Mosaic Spokane — another unconventional church location. In the five years since the non-denominational church began, two different businesses managed the art gallery but were unable to make it financially viable.
Mosaic’s pastor, John Respold, views the art gallery as a way of applying Christ to every part of life — not just their church life but also the entertainment part.
“Downtown is where people live, work and play,” Respold said. “If Christ is a part of every part of our life, then he ought to be a part of where we work, play, live. That’s part of the reason why we do an art gallery.”
Because the church functions in an art gallery, Mosaic is not a traditional church facility.
“People say it feels intimate, friendly, warm,” Respold said. “There is a such a bias against church in America right now that I think in some ways that becomes a plus when you are not in a church building.”
The church is in the heart of downtown, which fits into Mosaic’s vision of experiencing the heart of God in the heart of the city. The location, in the highest density of the city, is also in one of the loneliest parts of the city. Respold said the place is fun to minister to because the life of Christ gets to really take hold. Individuals who are mentally ill or sex offenders sometimes come to the church service, which makes some people uncomfortable.
“I like the diversity of the congregation,” Respold said. “It’s really refreshing. You have doctors and lawyers sitting next to street people. Everybody has something to give. Some of the sweetest, most wonderful, genuine, gifted people I know are people that if you looked at them and watched them interact from a distance you would think ‘they don’t have a lot on the ball’.”
One such person was a man who came in to Mosaic’s service one morning after missing the bus to his own church. Respold said had lost his marriage, business, health and abandoned God. He ran away to Cambodia and said he ran into God there. When he came back, he pulled his life together and wanted to spend the rest of his life helping Cambodians. He became Mosaic’s first full-time missionary there, starting two self-funded businesses employing Cambodians.
Mosaic’s location is one of the hardest places to do ministry in Spokane because need is very evident, Repsold said.
“When I talk to ministries downtown that have been here longer than we have, they are always short of two things. They are short people and short money,” Repsold said. “We didn’t feel it was our job to come start another ministry that would be short people and short money, but rather try to resource them and bring resources to this community rather than spread them thinner.”
Currently Mosaic is outgrowing the area and is searching for a new facility. Mosaic hopes to eventually create a coffeeshop and a concert venue to have more real life contact with Spokane.
Lindsey, on Facebook said, “Unity Church of North Spokane used to have church in the Inland Northwest Wildlife council building. Sunday school was out in the sheds. Brr, it was cold in the winter. Also having elk and buck heads on the wall for decor was fun. We put a red nose on the buck during Christmas services. They have since moved to their own building, but I’m sure the pastor would love to chat about the old place. Too funny!”
I got married at New Community Church back in September. A “rustic” ceremony inside with that “warehouse feel,” but a noon luncheon outdoor reception overlooking the river with live jazz music coming from the brewery patio next door! It was awesome.