You'll notice that we talk a lot about attendance around here. But hear this: It’s not the number that’s important to us; it’s what the number represents. Attendance is an indicator of how many people are getting connected to God through Morning Star Church. It measures how well we’re meeting the spiritual needs of our community. And—pertinent to this capital initiative— attendance figures help us gauge how much physical space we have left to welcome more people to our services and programs.

Ever walk in to a shoulder-to-shoulder party where you didn’t know anyone? Ever try to find a seat in an overbooked 737 or standing-room-only concert? Yeah, that’s comfy. While we’re not quite to that point in the auditorium, that’s exactly the situation our children and youth are in. And if there’s no room for kids and teens, their families won’t come either. Not good.

Now some of you are thinking, “Isn’t this place big enough already?” Let’s consider this question: Whom should we turn away? The neighbor you’ve been inviting for three years who finally decided to give God a chance again? The family of the little girl who was in your Vacation Bible School crew last summer? The 15-year-old boy who’s teetering on the peer pressure fence? Sure, they could go somewhere else. But what if they come here first . . . and they feel like there’s no place for them . . . and they breathe a heavy sigh, think to themselves, “I knew it,” and give up on church—on God—once and for all? Again: Not good.

Our vision at Morning Star Church is to partner with the spirit of God to be a community of grace, hope, and love, where the truth of God is taught and lived out in contagious ways, bringing wholeness to individuals, families, our region, and our world. It’s a God-sized vision—one that requires us to think about the numbers. One that compels us to Love.Loud.