Area 10 gets a bit of Style

Style Weekly, Richmond's alternative weekly paper did a little story about the church in the Byrd. They put a picture of me right there on page 7. Overall, it was a great write up about who we are and what we want to do. It's pretty funny too. The writer, Chris Dovi, I think did a good job of making it funny and informative. The photographer did a good job of making me look like a stalker. I specifically said to him "just please don't make me look like a stalker." and that's what we got. Oh well...not his fault I guess. If you naturally look like a stalker, what's the photographer supposed to do about that?

My favorite line in the article is when the writer refers to me as a "fixture" in Carytown. That's me. I'm a fixture...like a faucet, or lightpost.

Just call me Pastor Fixture.

To read the article click here.

Area 10 Faith Community

So what does our name mean? I was recently asked...what is Area 10 anyway?

So let me 'splain it to you. Realtors divide up the region into Areas. Like Area 30 for Chesterfield, or whatever. Area 10 is the area from Church Hill in the East, 195 in the West, the James River to the south, and I-64 to the north. It's a nice rectangle that encompasses most of the city of Richmond. It is the place I want to spend my life loving and serving.

I thought the name worked for the church because it's geographic and it describes the geography we want to serve. It's unusual in that I can't find any other churches with that name...and it is slightly mysterious in that it sounds like Area 51 which I believe is where the government is keeping the flying saucers.

So that's us...Jesus...Richmond...and flying saucers.

This church is gonna be awesome.

A Worship Leader?

I just spent the weekend with a potential worship leader. This is a guy we met a few weeks ago in Cincinnati. We spent the weekend and showed he and his wife some of the sites of Richmond. We even checked out the Byrd (which they loved)

Worship is a big deal in a church. We really need someone who loves God, loves people and has a gift for leading His people in worship. I was a worship leader for years, so I'm probably a bit extra picky about it.

That being said, this guy is a quality guy. We had a great weekend. We'll see what happens. Please pray for us and this guy as we try to figure out if this is the right fit for both of us. More updates on that when I have them.

The cultural center of Richmond

The other day I told my friend Glen that I was hoping to get the Byrd Theatre for our church to meet in.  His response was something like:  "That would be amazing.  The Byrd is one of the top 3 most recognizable landmarks in Richmond."  I agree completely.  It really is a great place.  On New Year's Eve- roughly 20,000 people showed up on Cary Street to listen to bands, get ripped, and watch the ball drop...except here in Richmond the ball goes up...weird...Anyway, here is a photo from on top of the Byrd looking down at the crowd.  In the far left of the picture, in the darkness, you see some lights.   One of those lights is my house.

A Byrd's Eye View

Here is the inside of the Byrd Theatre.  It's a gorgeous building that this picture doesn't quite do justice to.  I am praying already for the people who will fill these seats.

Coming soon to a theatre near you!

Area 10 has officially signed on with the Byrd Theatre! The historic Byrd Theatre has agreed to allow our upstart church meet in their awesome building, starting September 21, 2008. Major props to Todd the manager of the theatre for letting us do this! I hope this is the start of a great partnership in the city.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for this to happen. Thanks to God for preparing the place for us in advance and seeing this whole thing through.

AREA 10 FAITH COMMUNITY IS COMING TO THE BYRD!

More pictures of the Byrd to come!

Now we are three!

In addition to Chris and Abby (though Abby is not official paid staff)  Area 10 has now hired what we like to call our Mediastrator, the great Laura Shibut.  She will henceforth in these parts be known as "The Great".  Laura has done a fantastic job creating all of our media & marketing pieces to date, and we are absolutely thrilled to get to have her on our team, officially!  Thanks to you all for praying about staffing, and to the Lord for persuading her to join our rag-tag little outfit.

Stay posted-  More news is coming very soon!