If you’ve ever stopped by the church on a Saturday in June (or a Friday evening or most Thursdays, too) over the last few years, you would have noticed quite a few cars in our parking lot and lots of activity in the sanctuary. From humble beginnings in 2011, our church has become a welcoming place for local dance studios looking to stage their recitals, both big and small.
After being approached by a church family to host our first recital in 2011, we’ve had over 20 different studios come through our doors and even managed to fit in 16 recitals in one church year! We’ve now hopefully settled into a good balance between blessing our community, not burning out our volunteers clearing the stage and having just the right, acceptably small, amount of glitter left on the chairs on Sunday.
After being approached by a church family to host our first recital in 2011, we’ve had over 20 different studios come through our doors and even managed to fit in 16 recitals in one church year! We’ve now hopefully settled into a good balance between blessing our community, not burning out our volunteers clearing the stage and having just the right, acceptably small, amount of glitter left on the chairs on Sunday.
One dance studio that’s requested to host their recital on the Mother’s Day weekend for the past two years has even managed to turn things around and bless us right back. Without us realizing it, the owners of the studio ordered a custom-cut temporary dance floor to be rolled out for their recital. While this floor provides a nicer dance experience for their students it also protects our floor from damage – especially from tap shoes!
Following their rental, they approached us about storing the floor at the church but then also offered to allow us to use it for other rentals. Over the last few years dancers from a number of other studios have benefited from this nicer floor and our stage has avoided a bit of wear and tear.
When the sanctuary was being designed, it was hoped that it would be used often by our community for many different purposes. While concerts and theatre were our initial events, it has been wonderful to see tens of thousands of people come through our doors during the 75+ dance recitals over the last 8 years. We may not know the kind of impact Hope Fellowship is having on each person attending a recital but we can certainly hope that God’s presence is making them feel right at home.
- Chris
Following their rental, they approached us about storing the floor at the church but then also offered to allow us to use it for other rentals. Over the last few years dancers from a number of other studios have benefited from this nicer floor and our stage has avoided a bit of wear and tear.
When the sanctuary was being designed, it was hoped that it would be used often by our community for many different purposes. While concerts and theatre were our initial events, it has been wonderful to see tens of thousands of people come through our doors during the 75+ dance recitals over the last 8 years. We may not know the kind of impact Hope Fellowship is having on each person attending a recital but we can certainly hope that God’s presence is making them feel right at home.
- Chris
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