Location, Location, Location

Lisa G. Fischbeck, Vicar, Church of the Advocate

The Episcopal Church of the Advocate has three distinct location needs.

First, we need to find a new space for Sunday worship, fellowship, and Christian Education. The Unity Center for Peace comfortably accommodates 80-90 folks. Our Sunday attendance currently ranges between 50 and 75. Sometime in the months ahead we will need to find a larger space for Sunday afternoons. We are looking into schools, storefronts, restaurants, church fellowship halls. We need a place that has movable chairs and open space that can be rented for three to four hours on Sunday afternoons.

Second, we need a space for gathering and office use during the week. We need a place that can be identified as the Church of the Advocate location, where we can hold meetings, discussions, and worship services during the day and evening, during the week. Renting such a space in town could cost several thousand dollars a month -- which may be the best option, but it is painful from the perspective of stewardship. Ideally, the space would be donated for our use in the short term. Another possibility, if we had the funds, would be to purchase a small house for this use until land can be acquired and a building of our own can be built. This is an expensive alternative. But even if land were provided today, it would be several years before funds for a building could be raised and the Advocate needs a location in the meanwhile.

Third, we need to look for land on which our own building can be built. Many are thinking that a new Episcopal Church should be built in downtown Carrboro. But downtown Carrboro is rather built up already. And real estate in downtown Carrboro is very expensive. The farther out of town we go, the less expensive the land costs. But there are many regulations in rural Orange County regarding septic, water, permeable surfaces, and road access. So the farther out of town the church is, the more land will be needed. Wherever the new church is, location will influence the nature of the congregation and the ways in which the congregation can engage with its surrounding community.

Please join with the People of the Advocate as they pray for creative thinking, faithful discernment, and a generosity of funding and of spirit from those who have the means to help. Clearly, these location needs will be best met if as many minds and hearts as possible are working on them.