After defeating the Wicked Witch of the West and revealing the true nature of Oz, in the last scene of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wakes up in her bed in Kansas, surrounded by familiar faces, and says the now infamous line, "There's no place like home."

As Christians, we ultimately find our dwelling place in the Lord, but that does not negate our desire for a place to call "home." Oftentimes, home means something different for each of us. For some, it's a structure with four walls and a roof, for others, home is connected to a city or town, and for others, home might be associated more with a person or feeling. Regardless, the idea of home is one that's deep at our core as humans; it's something we long for and find comfort in. 

While 8140 Exchange Dr has always been where COTC has worshipped on Sundays, it's been just under a year since we purchased the property and it became a more permanent "home" for our church. In fact, it was almost exactly a year ago that we held a meeting to vote on moving forward with an offer on the property.

Over the last year, a lot has happened at our church home. We've continued to worship on Sundays, welcoming newcomers nearly every week. We've spent time in prayer and discernment around how the Lord would have us use the space and what the future will look like at our property.  We are endlessly grateful for the Lord's provision of our building and we continue in prayer and discernment as we look toward the future and how God will call us to use this space not just for ourselves, but for the good of the Kingdom We invite you to join us in asking how might our church home, be a haven of safety and peace for others?

Many of you are primarily at the building on Sundays, so we thought it might be helpful and even fun to update y'all on some of the other things that happen at the building outside of Sunday morning services. We've hit a fairly regular rhythm of our staff team being at the building on Tuesdays. It's the day we meet for our weekly staff meeting and with most of our staff being part-time, there's been something special about all being together one day of the week. Mtr Sarah has been facilitating a mom's group for the last year that meets most Thursdays at the building. Additionally, we hold parish council and missions team meetings regularly at the building. If you've ever stayed around after church visiting with others, you've likely seen youth group getting started.; they meet after church twice a month. The Garden continues to burst at the seems each Sunday, with full classrooms and as most of y'all are likely aware, the Inaugural Diaspora Network Conference was held at the building in early October and Rev Krista's ordination was held in early September. We hosted a Greater Austin Diaspora Network Lunch and a Young Life discipleship group for leaders has been meeting at the building on a monthly basis. During the public phase of the TBTC campaign, we held morning, midday, and evening prayer every Thursday in the sanctuary. On Sundays at 5 p.m. Capitol City Church has been renting the building for their church services and on 11/126 and 11/27, we had the privilege of Kerreni New Life Church and their partners using our space for their annual revival. Lastly, not long after we purchased the building, we hired Refuge Janitorial to clean the building once a week and to provide facilities management. Dave, with Refuge, is our faciliaties manager, and he spends 5 hours a week at the building fixing things, helping us assess larger projects, and more. 

As we look to the future, one of our prayers is that our "home" is increasingly a place of blessing and peace not just for COTC, but for others and the ministry work they are doing. I am also praying that for each of you COTC truly feels like home and a place filled with familiar faces, where you are met each week by the love and presence of Jesus.

If you have questions about the building, always feel free to reach out to me. 

Love and peace,
Kimberly+

PS- Don't forget this Sunday is our "First Fruits Offering" for the TBTG Campaign. If you've made a commitment to the campaign, please come prepared to make your first offering in-person or you can give online. If you plan on giving online, it can be set up here using the "Thanks Be To God" designation. Checks can be given through the offering plates that are designated "Thanks Be To God" campaign. If you'd like to make a commitment and haven't done so yet, it's not too late; you can give online here.

PPS- Fr Jonathan Warren Pagán, a COTC parishioner and priest in the ACNA, wrote this great piece about Advent for Christianity Today.