CPC - Get Portable!
Wow – I simply can’t believe we are here! Its been a long journey. 2 years ago, CPC was simply a vague idea of something we might potentially do. 1 year ago, the idea of launching a campus was becoming more of a reality for me, but there were so many open questions. 6 months ago, 15 committed core people met together in my home to pray, and begin a journey we will never forget. 3 months ago, with more than 90 people committed to make CPC their home campus…and a place they will invite their friends who are checking out God.
Our first week – we had 250 adults, students, and children attend our 9 and 11am services. It was quite a circus to get ready…in fact, we tested the equipment only once on Saturday at our Gettysburg Pike Campus…and on Sunday, we set it up for the FIRST time at CPC! The A/V guys were awesome! Week two, we turned the worship center around to get better view ability and made some adjustments to our sound and signage. One thing that has been consistent is people’s remarks when they come in and say, “I didn’t know what to expect, but this feels like Daybreak…and its so welcoming to guests!” I guess its just the classy bunch of people at CPC that work so hard each week to make HIW transform into Daybreak CPC!
Grand Opening gifts for everyone!
In 2 days, we’ll launch publicly! We’ve been praying that God will work in the hearts of 300 people in our weekend services Grand Opening week. I’m really excited to see what happens. We even have free gifts for everyone this weekend! Check them out! A sweet frisbee for kids (and those fun loving adults) or a classy Daybreak CPC mug for adults!
We also just launched our new Daybreak website and will have new program guides this weekend. Its kind of a big deal. 
Looking to invite someone? Have them check this video out now on our “New Here” part of our website.
Remember…
Two years ago, we realized that God wanted to do something more through Daybreak. He has changed many lives at Daybreak, yet there are more than 250,000 people in the West shore area who still don’t attend church and aren’t experiencing a life-changing journey with Jesus. We realized that if we only stay at one location, only a handful of those 250,000 people will drive to find us.
So – we decided to take a leap of faith. Now we are 15 days from launching a second campus in the Carlisle Pike community. We are about to embark on the greatest journey of our lives. People all over the Carlisle Pike region are going to discover a place that welcomes them to Celebrate God’s grace every weekend. We will be an outpost on the Pike, where only a few churches exist, which helps people Connect with God’s family. Each weekend the Holiday Inn West is going to be transformed into a place where we are Contributing to God’s work in the world. People will find freedom, love, forgiveness and hope – and we will be part of God’s power at work!
All hands on deck…
To have our first service on 8/22 – it will require 30 people to commit to 2 hours once or twice per month to transform the HIW into a place of worship each week. Right now, we have 3 people. Put simply – without many of us stepping up – we can’t hold those life-changing worship environments for adults, children & students. With just a few hours a month – we can link arms and be part of an amazing transformation each week that allows people to put their hope in Christ!
What we need: 12 people on the setup team to serve twice per month for about 2 hours.
Who can help:
How to say yes!: Send me an email right away! Click here.
How I can get trained: Join us on Saturday 8/21 for our Setup-Teardown Training @ 9am.
Got questions? Contact me and I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions!
This past week, I spent much of the week knee deep in portable solutions as we prepare to launch on AUGUST 22 at the HOLIDAY INN WEST on the Carlisle Pike.
Daybreak Carlisle Pike Campus - Holiday Inn West
I’ve been spending hours on the phone with Portable Church Industries…and they are every bit as helpful as all the church planters I talked to said! Bob – our consultant has been very helpful and they are getting ready to put everything together for us. They worked with us to help determine how large we can grow at the Holiday Inn (258 adults, if you are interested). They also have worked to layout our gathering spaces (adult worship center, children’s ministry, Student ministry)
Version 1 of our CPC worship center layout in the HHW East Ballroom!
and provide portable solutions for our rooms. They layed out how we need to pack the truck & trailer (yes, I said truck and trailer…24 ft box truck hauling a 16 foot trailer). They worked with Jamie Cronin (Daybreak’s A/V director) on the sound equipment and layout – and with Linnea on the children area layouts. They even are helping us put together our signs!
So – what’s next? ATTENTION ALL Carlisle Pike CAMPUS attendees! JOIN US FOR OUR PRE-LAUNCH Gathering on 8/15 @ 3:30 – before our annual meeting at the Holiday Inn West – West Ball Room!
GET INVOLVED!
Some of you might be wondering, how can you get involved? We need alot of help with Set-up and Teardown. We’ll need to setup every Sunday! It takes about 1 hour for setup, 1 hour for tear-down. We’ll need plenty of help each week to unload, roll everything in, and unpack…then get it all back in the truck at the end of the day.
28 Day till Launch Schedule:
8/7: Carlisle Pike Outreach Car Wash (Saturday – Two hour shifts 10am – 4pm). Sign up @ http://daybreakweb.com/serviceproject)
8/8: Leadership Lifter for all CPC ministry leaders and apprentices
8/15: Carlisle Pike PRE-LAUNCH Gathering. See where we’ll worship and join us to PRAY over it! (3:30 – 4:30). Then help welcome other Daybreaker’s to the annual meeting and help them see the place too!
8/22: FIRST CARLISLE PIKE CAMPUS SERVICE. Join us at 9am & 11am for our SOFT LAUNCH (see previous post for an explanation). Invite a friend if you like.
8/28: SECOND CARLISLE PIKE CAMPUS SERVICE. Join us at 9am & 11am for our SOFT LAUNCH (see previous post for an explanation). Invite a friend if you like.
9/5: CARLISLE PIKE CAMPUS GRAND OPENING! 9am & 11am. INVITE THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD, THE WHOLE OFFICE, YOUR WHOLE FAMILY!
Can you believe we have 6 weeks till we Soft Launch on AUGUST 22nd? Time is flying quickly. I’m really excited about launching at the Holiday Inn, and I can see how God is creating new opportunities for people to find Jesus in a hotel! Speaking of which – did you know we visited over 15 businesses on the Pike this week to Show God’s Love in a practical way by delivering fresh baked goodies? People loved it, and got an invitation to our Grand Opening as well.
Daybreak Carlisle Pike Campus - Holiday Inn West
The Holiday Inn West has been very helpful at accommodating our needs. We’ve really appreciated their staff. They have carved out space for us each Sunday in their conference rooms and agreed to help us with much of our setup. They will set our chairs and stage as well as signs and room separation. We are very thankful for that. We still will need to get portable – and do it in the next six weeks. We’ll need to work together to set up for worship services and ministry each week which will mean unloading A/V equipment and ministry supplies off a the truck and into the rooms…then tearing it down at the end of services. Look for a mini-picture tour at the end of this article to see the inside!
Launch Service Schedule
Many of you might be wondering what the next 6 weeks looks like…well, here’s a basic schedule:
- Saturday 8/7 (10am-4pm)- Car Wash Outreach event (Sign up @ http://daybreakweb.com/serviceproject)
- Sunday 8/8 (6pm-8pm)- Leadership Lifter for Ministry Leaders
- Sunday 8/15 (5pm -7pm)- Annual Meeting & Picnic at the Holiday Inn West – come worship, pray and tour before we go live
- Saturday 8/21 (9am – 10am)- Setup Team Orientation
- Sunday 8/22 (9am)- SOFT LAUNCH DAY – Come out and enjoy our first service at Carlisle Pike Campus
- Sunday 8/29 (9am)- 2nd SOFT LAUNCH Sunday – Come out – invite a friend to experience CPC!
- Sunday 9/5 (9am & 11am) – GRAND OPENING – INVITE YOUR YOUR WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD-OFFICE-FAMILY!
- Sunday 9/12 AND forward – Bring your friends and Come out for Regular Sunday Services 9 & 11am every week!
What is a “Soft Launch”
Soft Launch means we are worshiping together and working out all the bugs in our setup processes. Soft Launch services will be just like our regular services with Adult, Student, and Children’s ministries. So – on Soft Launch days – invite a friend or a family neighbor to come back to church and give it a try.
What about the “Grand Opening”
Grand Opening Sunday is a great day not only to invite a friend, but to invite the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD! Don’t just invite a co-worker, invite the ENTIRE OFFICE! We want to have as many people come and encounter God that day as possible. We’ll be producing special invitations with a special DVD invite just for you to use for Grand Opening Sunday! Keep praying for your friends, and start praying for your entire circle of influence! See you there!
Visual Online Tour of Holiday Inn West
Entering the Holiday Inn West
Lobby area - and Conference rooms just ahead, downstairs.
- Prepare to be Daybreak welcomed as you approach the stairs and head to the ministry areas.
Come grab a coffee, sit at a cafe table, or grab a seat and prepare for an awesome worship service.
- Did someone say Baptism?
We’ve been looking for a long time, and after realizing we need to keep looking for a 24×7 location – we settled with the Holiday Inn West for a foothold in the Carlisle Pike area. They have been very accommodating, and looks like we’ll have lots of room for worship, students, children and adults.
It does mean, however, we’ll need to go portable! Things are about to get busy for the launch team as we acquire what we need for being portable week to week, and gathering our teams together to be ready for launch. Launch is just 6 weeks away!
Remember – soft launch for the campus is on August 22 & 29. These are days where we will test drive everything and make sure its ready to go. Anyone can invite a guest if they’d like these days. SEPTEMBER 5th is GRAND OPENING Sunday – this is the day we want to invite not just a guest, but the whole office, the entire neighborhood! Lets celebrate big on Grand Opening day!
Today – we toured Shaull Elementary School – well – what was Shaull elementary…now its an empty building with a school bell that still goes off for change of classes. (I guess its way to hard to turn that feature off!) So – its a lot of space – 51K sq. feet. That’s a bit more than the 8-11K we need for the first 2 years of growth. Additionally – like most facilities – its adult worship space is always the challenge. The adult space does appear to be large enough to seat about 250 – 300 adults, however…which could accommodate some years of growth. Its been on the market for nearly two years and does offer a good location, lots of space, and room to expand. Next step with it would be to look at a creative way to share the space with other organizations who might be in a similar situation (would love the space…but its too much for them). Take a look at the short video tour to get a look inside!
More to come as we learn more about the situation.
Jack Sparrow: It’s remarkable how often those two traits coincide.
The former Shaull Elementary school
It is currently for sale. We are looking at it to see if it could work as a facility and if “lease to own” might be an option. This is all PRELIMINARY – as we haven’t approached anyone about these details yet. The school also sits in a “Office Zoned” area which requires a special variance from Hampden Twp. Hampden has already been contacted and told us to apply for the variance and move through the process….which means there’s a reasonable chance it would be approved.
Facility
Wow – what a week! Tuesday, we went over to Hampden Center to do some “space planning” on how / if it would work as a campus location. Well, it appears that it will. We are now in negotiations with the owner to determine where to go with our next steps.
Potential next site for DBCPC!
We are currently working very diligently to figure out all the details. It has already been approved by Hampden Twp for use as a church, so that’s excellent news. Next steps are to negotiate agreeable principles for cost and build out, then move forward to an architectural drawing, and finally formal negotiations with the owner. Keep praying!
Last Saturday – we held our first *FREE* Daybreak car wash to serve the Carlisle Pike community. You know what most people think when they see “Free Car Wash”? – “Do I have $10 in my pocket for a donation?”. Can you imagine their surprise when we let them know – we weren’t taking donations – just showing God’s love in a practical way by washing their car. They were intrigued and excited about Daybreak opening a new campus on the Carlisle Pike – and many of them said that although they didn’t attend church right now – having a church in their neighborhood would be a good place to start. We had many great conversations getting to know people and handing out our campus launch connection cards.
One really big goal we have this summer is to help the community get familiar with the name and heart of Daybreak as we enter their community. There are many opportunities to serve, including Jubilee Day, Car Washes, Delivering Baked goods to offices, and even something as simple as handing out cold waters to thirsty people.
GOT A GRADUATION OR SUMMER PARTY IN THE CP area?
Would you consider giving out some of these?
Daybreak Free Cold Water
Cold waters *FREE* from you – a way to show God’s love in a practical way to your friends – and let them know about Daybreak’s new campus too. These are FREE for you to take or host any graduation party for those in the Carlisle Pike Community. You can also use them for any neighborhood party you might host this summer as you get to know your neighbors, and invite them out to Daybreak. Want some? Shoot me an email, or let me know on Sunday morning and you can take them home!
Daybreak Grand Opening Water
The Team
The team is now over 80 adults and still growing! I encourage everyone to keep inviting fellow Daybreakers to come on the adventure and start talking to your friends or neighbors who would love to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus.
Catching you up on the Campus Launch – What’s that about?
Our Problem: Did you know that about 60-70% of the people in the Greater Harrisburg area do not attend church? That means there is more than 450K people in our area who aren’t celebrating there life-changing relationship with Jesus with others every Sunday.
Our Dream: Daybreak’s dream is to provide an authentic, life-changing environment along the 3 major driving corridors of the West Shore (RT.81, RT.15, RT.83) in the next 3 years so that our unchurched friends and family can exchange their hurts, hangups and small dreams for God’s awesome dream for their life.
Why us, Why now? God is on a mission to invite His creation to be part of His forever family! Jesus says we are to join Him on that mission, so we can’t sit on the sidelines, we must accept His invitation to join Him! The fact is, we offer a uniquely authentic encounter with Christ in a warm loving environment that people in our area are seeking. Launching new Daybreak campuses in new communities removes one more hurdle for people seeking the life-change Jesus offers. We must do all we can to help them.
Getting up to speed –
**STAY UP TO DATE BY SIGNING UP FOR TWITTER UPDATES AT TWITTER.COM/DAYBREAKWEB **
When it comes to updating on our facility search – it feels like taking a picture of the desert landscape…but the time you look at it…the winds will have changed the landscape! Nonetheless – its still good to see the picture.
So – here’s what’s up. As you may know – we are now exploring negotiations with Hampden Center (where Ben Franklin used to be). We have done preliminary walk-throughs – and had an architect submit a request for assembly (that would be the official gov’t term for what we do on Sundays. ) use. We heard this week that our request for assembly use has been approved by Hampden Twp. Next week, we go into space planning to explore what will need done to make it look welcoming for guests. Once we decide on an initial space plan (which includes what we would need done to the HVAC, doors, interior/exterior) – we can take a next step in negotiating build-out costs and lease costs. More on that next week.
Does that mean the old PHICO campus is off the table? Well – after doing an initial walk-through – the team really liked the campus and the facility has a lot of potential for us. Some initial requests were made around the space – but we’ve not heard back on those requests yet. Additionally, Silver Spring Twp zoning requires a variance for a church to assemble in a commercial space. Initial speculation was that this sort of variance might be hard to come by – but the owner feels differently and would like to apply for it on our behalf. The problem is – the next hearing for zoning requests isn’t until July. Which doesn’t give us much turn around time to be in by September.
Look for more updates next week. In the mean time – PRAY that God will lead us in a plain path!
Catching up on the Campus Launch – What’s that about?
Our Problem: Did you know that about 60-70% of the people in the Greater Harrisburg area do not attend church? That means there is more than 450K people in our area who aren’t celebrating there life-changing relationship with Jesus with others every Sunday.
Our Dream: Daybreak’s dream is to provide an authentic, life-changing environment along the 3 major driving corridors of the West Shore (RT.81, RT.15, RT.83) in the next 3 years so that our unchurched friends and family can exchange their hurts, hangups and small dreams for God’s awesome dream for their life.
Why us, Why now? God is on a mission to invite His creation to be part of His forever family! Jesus says we are to join Him on that mission, so we can’t sit on the sidelines, we must accept His invitation to join Him! The fact is, we offer a uniquely authentic encounter with Christ in a warm loving environment that people in our area are seeking. Launching new Daybreak campuses in new communities removes one more hurdle for people seeking the life-change Jesus offers. We must do all we can to help them.
Getting up to speed –
**STAY UP TO DATE BY SIGNING UP FOR TWITTER UPDATES AT TWITTER.COM/DAYBREAKWEB **
Wow – Saturday – we had our first “New Campus Gathering”. 35 of our 80 folks could make it out. We had a great time of worship, asked questions about where we are at with our facility, and celebrated all the great stuff God’s done….then to top it off – we painted our first artwork for the new campus together as a Collaborative.
The Collaborative was a really great time….even my really bad art looked good surrounded by such incredible creativity!
-
- Celebrate, Connect, Contribute
Look for an update this Friday on where things are headed!
Heidi Willis