There are some strange rumors making the rounds. The fact that misinformation about our Sonrise in the Woods project is circulating doesn’t surprise us. What does is how silly it’s gotten. Apply a relatively small dose of common sense and you see that the rumors actually make very little sense.
One of the rumors started quite some time ago. It keeps coming around like a bad penny. It’s pure prevarication but it is persistent. According to this canard, we’re actually planning to create a megachurch on the mountain. The reality is we’re simply going to build a better facility for our church and address the spiritual needs of the local community. A megachurch has to draw on a very large population base. Houston boasts a population of about 2 ½ million people. The Lakewood Church in Houston is a megachurch. Its facility seats 16,000. The cities and communities we will serve have a combined population of about 30,000. Our facility will accommodate 600.
Another rumor suggests that the size of our Sanctuary/Community Center will itself be mega. They say it will be a Walmart-Costco type gargantuan warehouse. Why would we build so big? Souls are our stock in trade, not 114 ounce bottles of ketchup. The property is 27 acres, but the total footprint of our Sonrise Project will be about 1 acre. Our impact will be more David than Goliath.
The last rumor we want to address is the idea that the main facility building (which will house our worship and community center) is going to be an eyesore. It won’t blend in with the natural beauty of the forest. This one really strains credulity. A major purpose of the project is to attract people, to make them feel at home, at peace. Why would we — or anyone for that matter — design something that’s ugly and doesn’t fit? Wouldn’t that tend to defeat the purpose? The rendering you see here isn’t the final design but it gives you a good idea of the direction we’re heading. It obviously won’t be an eyesore. We believe, and we think most would agree, the structure and its surroundings will be a match made in heaven.
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Church of the Woods, Community Benefit, Environment, Lake Arrowhead, Sonrise in the Woods