New Hope to Allow Church Inside Office Building
It could be a sign of the times. As employees continue to work from home, office buildings may have to resort to unique solutions to find tenants. In New Hope, the city council approved allowing a church inside the MidAmerica Financial Plaza building at 9220 Bass Lake Road. It will be the second church to locate inside the residential office building.
Calvary Chapel Twin Cities, currently located at 8731 Bass Lake Rd in New Hope, plans to make the move to the office building.
Office building where Calvary Chapel Twin Cities will relocate to.
“This isn’t a very far move for us, it’s just a move that will allow us to stay within the city of New Hope,” said the Rev. Mike Fernandez.
The other congregation inside the building is Valiant Church. All other building tenants operate during traditional Monday through Friday business hours. City officials say parking to handle both churches is sufficient, noting there’s also ample supply of off-street parking.
The conditional use permit (CUP) approved by the New Hope City Council on July 27 includes a condition that restricts Calvary Chapel Twin Cities to a maximum capacity of 250 guests. The church expects to have about 80-85 people to attend its services at a time. The church will use what’s described as a “small portion of the building,” taking up 6,300 square of office space.
Impact of COVID-19
Pastor Fernandez says his congregation is very happy in New Hope. He says the church livestreams its worship services, so the need to hold services outdoors due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions won’t apply.
“At this point I have no plans, as the pastor, to do any outdoor or parking lot services during,” said Pastor Fernandez.
According to its website, Calvary Chapel Twin Cities describes itself as an independent fellowship of believers that is affiliated with a larger movement of churches known as Calvary Chapel, an evangelical association of Christian churches.
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