Delivery Weekend: New Hope Diamond Head, HI

Church Plant: New Hope Diamond Head - Honolulu, HI
Pastor: Fernando Castillo
Delivery Weekend: 03/26/06
Launch Type: Existing Portable Church
Rented Venue: Theatre
Purchased: Efficiency Upgrade; Storage Solutions
Descriptives: New Hope Diamond Head (NHDH) is one of the many satellite campuses of New Hope Church, and operates as a video venue. New Hope is a global ministry with churches in five different countries and in over 20 cities in the United States. All of their campuses in Hawaii, including their main campus, are portable! NHDH contacted PCI in an effort to upgrade their efficiency and portability.

NHDH meets at the Diamondhead Theatre in Honolulu, with services at 8am & 10am.

NHDH Storage Container Before

NHDH Storage Container w/ PCI Cases

NHDH Runs a Full Functioning Kitchen Outdoors,

serving pancakes, eggs and other breakfast items for church goers

PCI Cases customized for Kitchen Utensils, spice racks, knives, etc.

Outdoor Book Store & Cafe Area

Delivery Weekend: Trinity in the Pass, CA

Church Plant: Trinity in the Pass - Beaumont, CA
Pastor: Rob Peterson (Campus) & Gary Inrig (Main)
Delivery Weekend: 03/19/06
Type: Multi-Site Campus / Video Venue
Rented Venue: Elementary School
Purchased: Full System
Descriptives: Trinity Church in the Pass (TP) is a multi-site venue of Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Redlands, CA. TP is a video venue with a live pastor, live worship, live children's, etc., with the teaching being piped in via video cast. TP officially launches April 9. TP contacted PCI for our assistance in a full system design for their video venue ministry.

"We believe God has called us to make the most of the resources he has provided. We want to be good stewards of those resources. In light of that, we are moving away from the traditional approach of building bigger buildings at one location to accommodate more people and are instead establishing other worship venues both on our main campus and in other communities. Our Pass Area campus is the first of these other off-site campuses. " (publicity brochure for TP)

TP meets at Sundance Elementary School in Beaumont, CA. MI. Directions available on website.

Tech runs sound in Main Worship Area (Cafetorium)

Volunteers practice running Video Switcher during Preview Service

Delivery Weekend: New Hope Community Church

Church Plant: New Hope Community Church North - Petosky, MI
Pastor: Dave Standfest
Delivery Weekend: 03/19/06
Type: Multi-Site Campus
Rented Venue: Knights of Columbus Hall
Purchased: Full System
Descriptives: New Hope Community Church North (NHCC) is a contemporary offshoot of NHCC in Grand Traverse, MI. The grand opening is Easter Sunday, and will be coupled with free books for the adults and "giant Easter Egg Hunt" for the children. NHCC contacted PCI for our assistance in a full system design for their ministry.

"(New Hope Community Church North is a church) for those who have given up on church, but not on God." newhope.org

NHCC North meets at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Petosky, MI. Directions available on website.

Delivery Weekend: Pinnacle Church, NC

Church Plant: Pinnacle Church - Canton, North Carolina
Pastor: Heath Davis
Delivery Weekend: 03/12/06
Type: New Launch
Rented Venue: Elementary School
Purchased: Partial System
Descriptives: Pinnacle Church (PC) is a contemporary Southern Baptist Church, and an offshoot of Biltmore Baptist Church in Ashville, NC. PC contacted PCI for our assistance in a full system design for their ministry, and purchased cases and several portability components.

"Our God-given dream is to plant a church in the Canton area that will reach out to the thousands of unchurched individuals in Haywood County and introduce them to our guide in life-- Jesus Christ. Matthew 28:18-20 gives a clear command that the mission of any church is to win lost souls to Christ and move them on to Christian maturity." Heath Davis, LIGHT Magazine, January 2006

PC meets at Pisgah High School in Canton, NC at 11:00am.

Delivery Weekend: Radiant Life Church

Church Plant: Radiant Life Church - Katy, TX
Pastors: Tom Borsic
Delivery Weekend: 02/26/06
Type: New Launch
Rented Venue: Elementary School
Purchased: Full System - Consultation through Delivery Team

Notes of Interest: Radiant Life Church (RLC) is planted with support from a mother church of the same name in Sacramento, CA. The members of the church are currently their core team members that have either re-located with the plant effort, or "newbies" that have found the church since they began core team meetings in Katy, TX. Their official launch date is Easter Sunday. RLC contacted PCI for our assistance in a full system design for their ministry.

RLC meets at Odessa Kilpatrick Elementary School in Katy, TX.

Main Worship Area - Mixing Console & Video Screen

Main Worship Area - Tom Borsic Encourages the Core Team on Preview Sunday

Children's Area - Play Panels, Ultimate Playland and Slide

Children's Area - Kin-der-Links' Story Circle

How to Choose the Right Facility for Your Portable Ministry

The idea of portable church is not only an American phenomenon; it is a global one, with millions of people being impacted for Christ every weekend. In North America alone, we estimate that there are 24,000 portable churches on any given weekend, impacting more 6,000,000 lives for Christ.

In our twelve years of existence, we’ve seen churches meet in a variety of places. We’ve seen planters and pastors envision ministry where few have gone before, and have helped them meet in places as unusual as bowling alleys, casinos and even funeral homes.

Choosing the right facility for your ministry / church plant is no small feat. Ron Sylvia put it best in a recent conference in Ocala, FL. “We shape our buildings and then our buildings shape us.”

When setting out to find your place of ministry, consider the following checklist:

Capacity Constraints (Adult Seating Areas, Children’s Areas, Parking Spaces)

Atmosphere

Stature in the Community (How is this building perceived?)

Location, Location, Location

Accessibility for the Community

Hidden Make-or-Break Topics
Just as important as that initial checklist are some hidden make-it-or-break-it items.

Take, for instance, the electrical capacity. In schools, your accessibility to electricity may be spot-on, but may be limited in other venues. If your ministry will operate at a sophisticated multi-media level, this is a very important aspect to consider.

Just as important is your ability to move ministries & equipment, at a moment’s notice, when asked to by your landlord. A client of ours in upstate NY was recently asked to relocate his children’s ministry from the gym to the cafeteria due to a boy’s basketball tournament. He was able to do that, with relative ease, because his ministry gear was robust enough to bear a locational change.

With this in mind, it is important to note that we do not recommend utilizing the venue’s “offered” equipment. When the movie theatre manager tells you to “feel free to use our speakers”, we encourage you to seriously consider other options before committing to use a “free” piece of equipment. Remember – the movie theatre’s livelihood depends on the use of that speaker system. It takes only one false move by a well-meaning volunteer to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue for the movie theatre, and thousands of dollars from your budget for compensation. It is often a good decision to invest in your own equipment up-front, rather than run the risk of mitigating your landlord’s ability to safeguard his investment, and spend thousands of more dollars in the long run!

A few other items of deliberation should include culture, aroma, restrooms and layout.

What is the general culture of the facility? Is it conducive to your ministry aspects? Will using this facility cause you to forfeit a portion of your vision?

What is the aroma of this building? Nightclubs, gymnasiums and older YMCA’s can have a lingering or stale odor that is difficult to mask with backdrops and other such bright items. A church in Royal Oak, MI was using a Saturday-night-only Dance Club for their services, but noticed the smell of cigarettes and liquor often lingered from the night before. They then arranged for a few volunteers to come in early enough every Sunday morning to clean and air-out the building. It worked wonderfully, and the “church” was inviting enough for newcomers and staunch supporters alike.

Where are the restrooms? This is a two-fold consideration. The first is simply a question of acoustics. If your restrooms are located to close to where the pastor is preaching, your Sunday talks may be peppered with sounds of flushing! Check to see if there are restrooms available for use that are both far enough away from the “sanctuary” to avoid disruption and are still convenient for your members. The second consideration has to do with the size of the fixtures. Using preschools, nurseries or elementary schools can lend itself to also having to take advantage of small, child-size fixtures. There may be other restrooms in the facility that are not as diminutive and may be available for use.

What is the layout of the building? Is it generally conducive to a first-timer being able to navigate, with simply the use of signs? Where is the sanctuary in relation to the children’s areas? How far will a parent have to walk to pick up / drop off their children?

Pros & Cons of Facilities
As you can see from the graphic on the right, the majority of our clients choose to meet in schools. The “other” section includes facilities ranging from pizza parlors to fire houses (a complete list of facilities is available upon request).

Pros of Using a School
Location
Stature in Community
Diverse Room Size Availability – Both for Adults & Children
Electrical Capacity

Cons / Capacity in a School
Elementary Schools Typical Maximum Capacity is 200/service
Middle Schools Typical Maximum Capacity is 400/service
High Schools’ Typical Maximum Capacity is 600-1600 / service

Pros of Using a Movie Theatre
Political Stability (no “board” to deal with)
Large Video Screen
Well Recognized
Seeker Friendly
Drinks / Beverages Allowed in Worship Area
Large Parking Lot

Cons of Using a Movie Theatre
Lighting
“High Traction” Flooring
Limited Electrical Capacity
Children’s Ministry Challenges

Pros of “Other” Venues
Can Attract Non-Traditional Seekers
Can Attract “Gen-X”
Can be Emergent-Church Friendly
Can be Suitable for Artisan / Experiential Worship

Cons of “Other” Venues
Can Have Lack of Clarity
Can Have Limited Sightlines & Access
Can Have Limited Options for Children’s Ministries

Bottomline
There is a lot to consider when finding the right home for your dream. We, at PCI, believe that “church” is less about a building, and more about a body of people. We’ve seen plants in the most peculiar of places and watched God move in amazing ways! If you would like further advice on choosing your facility, please give us a call at 1-800-939-7722.

© Kendra Malloy, Portable Church Industries

The Generation of a PCI Case

Kendra asked me to post something to her blog, and I'd thought I'd respond to some of our recent questions with an operations upate.

Since the beginning of this year, we've had 24 churches ask for systems to be delivered before Easter. We've made 455 cases to date and need to make 128 more before Easter. Even though cases make up only about 15% of our sales, they are about 100% of what I'm thinking about today. So here's the lifecycle of a PCI case:



A PCI case starts out as a piece of ultralight plywood and is cut out on a CNC machine. (Computerized Numerically Controlled)






The sides of the case are then stapled together with a pneumatic staple gun.



Carpet is then glued to the case using a non-toxic, heat-activated glue. This is the most labor-intensive step, but the carpet provides a finished look, prevents splinters, adds strength, and supports velcro attachments.














The next step is to attach the hardware and non-marring castors. Shelf cases are then customized to provide protective, efficient space for each piece of equipment owned by the church.

The case is then loaded with the other 85% of what PCI provides--everything from soundboards and speakers to diapers and toys to coffee and signs.

Everything that a church needs to turn a rented facility into church home has a designated spot in a designated case in a designated trailer.


The organization is documented on placards that are placed both inside and outside of the case. The cases are then loaded into a trailer, a semi, or a shipping container.

As you can see, the case process is comprehensive and intensive. From the quality and strength of the cases to their integration & organization, we go to great lengths to ensure that every facet of a system is taken into consideration before delivery. As our Core Value #3 states: Excellence honors God and reflects His character. I hope you've enjoyed the bird's eye view of the PCI process. Further questions can be directed to brian@portablechurch.com.

NOTE: These pictures were taken on 3/2/06 and these cases have since crossed the ocean, and will be used to set up church for New Hope Diamond Head in Hawaii this weekend.


© Brian Koehn, Portable Church Industries

Why Be Portable?

“We believe that thriving, cost-effective portable churches are the most effective mechanism for reaching a region for Christ.” - PCI Core Value #1

If you are just beginning your planting journey, or if you are a church experiencing constricting meeting quarters, renting a facility, as opposed to owning one, is a great way to get your ministry “rolling.

Portable Churches are growing in popularity as a previous news-post here states, and there are several reasons to consider that option as you venture out to establish your ministry.

Advantages of Renting

• Provides a more economical option to “owning” ($200 / seat vs. $5,000 / seat)
• Creates unique opportunities for ministry – there is a constant creation of service opportunities
• Generates “ownership” in setting up & tearing down the equipment
• Allows Pastors to focus on people-growth instead of building maintenance
• Challenges Ministries to be effective and organized
• Provides an elastic and flexible environment to accommodate growth.
• Creates unique evangelical opportunities with landlords and maintenance staff

Dispelling the Renting Myths

You Must Own a Building to Have a Growing, Healthy Church

False! While erstwhile chruches were planted in permanent buildings, we now know that you do not have have to have a building to have a growing, healthy church. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes a church planter can make is building too soon.There is no way of knowing how big your ministry will grow in the “formative years” – years (1) – (3).

Any Building Will Work

False! Buildings tend to shape the way you & others think. As PD Planting says “we shape our buildings, and then our buildings shape us.”

People Don’t Like To Be “Portable” Or Change Venues

False!As long as the vision of your ministry is clearly communicated, people are much more likely to be flexible and excited about being portable, or changing. In fact, moving your church can actually build excitement and momentum! You may lose some people when you switch buildings, but the growth churches will experience will outweigh the loss of people.

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Being portable is an incredible way to connect with the very community you are trying to reach. Make sure that the facility you choose is consistent with your vision. (That post - coming March 15th)

© Kendra Malloy, Portable Church Industries