Any time you launch a new local expression of the body of Christ anywhere it’s a win, but to have it happen with the support and celebration we saw was truly the kind of thing you tell your grandkids about. It was inspiring to see all those who attended, worshiping Jesus and connecting with one another, and all those serving with excitement, from the parking team to the kids volunteers.
The day had a few challenges as well, which is to be expected at any launch. Though Pastor Cliff, the kids staff, hospitality teams, and our amazing production team worked hard and anticipated so many of the things we needed and did an amazing job, there were a couple of things that created some challenges, which you could help us with.
The biggest challenge of the day was parking. The Langley site holds 850 or so people in the auditorium. The kids wing can hold approximately 225 kids, and there are 321 parking spaces at the site. With our ratios of adults to kids, and the way we use space, we always anticipated that when / if the Langley campus reached 650-750 adults (in the auditorium) we would start a second service because that would mean kids and parking would be maxed out.
On launch Sunday we had 1100 adults, over 230 kids and 250 cars over the limit of the parking lot. This, understandably, meant that people parked where they could find a spot (on the side of Fraser Hwy and both sides of Old Yale Road), which blocked people trying to get out of their driveways, caused traffic issues for the local residents, and resulted in a handful of cars receiving tickets from the by-law officers because parking in these places is illegal (approximately 10 tickets were issued). This is not ideal as we want to love this neighbourhood, provide a safe experience in cooperation with the Township of Langley, and ultimately have space for new people to come to church.
There are three ways you can help:
(1) If you came to the launch just to check it out and celebrate a new site, that’s awesome. We are glad you did, but this week if you could go back and attend your home site that would be very helpful. This will give us more space and help us more accurately evaluate the timeline toward two services.
(2) If Langley is your home site, please don’t park on the highway or Old Yale Road. Know that we are working with our parking volunteers, the Township of Langley, and the surrounding neighbours to free up more space.
(3) Get involved! We need people who are going to call Village Langley their home to be serving and help make two services a possibility. You can check out the volunteer opportunities and sign up here.
What a great challenge to have as a church. God is so good and we are excited to see what he is going to do at all our sites and with us as one big family in the coming weeks, months, and years ahead.