Back The Church At Station Hill lands on location in Thompson's Station—an answer to many months of prayer
February 15th, 2010
The members of The Church At Station Hill are praising God for where He's brought them on the journey to the upcoming launch in just a few weeks.
Jay Strother, Station Hill Campus Teaching Pastor, said, "In 2007, we started getting really serious in evaluating our options of where our location would be in the area. The market was booming then, so there was very little available. Nobody wanted to talk to a church."
For three years, Jay researched the area, looked at several options, prayer drove through the communities, and talked with the right people. He looked into everything from pieces of land to school buildings and old Saturn training facilities to empty shopping centers.
"I was constantly trying to find a place to meet our needs and yet not be fiscally overwhelming," he said. "In November 2008, we voted to do this and got serious in 2009. We had enough people commit to Station Hill that we needed a significant amount of space, but not enough to afford a 10 million dollar campus. It didn't seem like there were any good options available to us."
As a core group, Station Hill members came together and prayed that God would give them a foothold in the community. They offered two basic pleas: 1) Space for children and 2) a place to gather for worship.
"At the time we were praying, one of our members started taking her daughter to a new preschool that opened in Thompson's Station called The Academy at Heritage Commons," Jay said. "The other end of the facility next to the preschool was empty and available for lease. We talked about the possibility of a partnership but knew it was a long shot. Getting a first-class preschool that would want a church in there every week would be a difficult sale."
In June 2009, the owner of that preschool met with Jay about possibilities. "I thought I was going to get the blow-off speech," Jay said. "But he said he's a believer and let's work to make this happen."
For a small rental fee, The Church At Station Hill will now be able to utilize a 16,000-square-foot, first-rate preschool facility on one end and have a permanent presence in 8,000 square feet on the other. In the end, the partnership will save Brentwood Baptist easily just over one million dollars in start-up costs.
"This is through the faithfulness of giving from the people at Brentwood Baptist that we'll be able to operate in a 23,000-square-feet facility with no debt," Jay said. "Those dollars will be freed for ministry from the start."
Located at 4619 Thompson's Ridge Road in Thompson's Station, behind the new Kroger Marketplace and directly across the street from Heritage Middle School, the building will feature: a multi-purpose room for worship, meetings, community gatherings, and Bible studies that seats 335; five offices (including an administrative office and work room); Preschool and Children's Ministry check-in stations; and a Welcome Center (including a small cafe and coffee bar).
Jay said, "We prayed for the basics and essentials, and God met that plus some. From our launch, we want people to be in the community. We want them to have a solid foundation—a place to worship, grow, and serve. Our facility gives us the ability to provide an 'equipped center' that's sufficient for our campus, but that also moves us out into the community for opportunities like LifeGroups for adults and service projects. It challenges us to not make the church about the building but the people."
By Kaylan Christopher