FBC Tulsa people

[Getem]

So, whadya think?

[OklahomaTuba]

It was cool.

Really, Really cool.

[OklahomaTuba]

Oh, the balcony seats did suck though.

[Getem]

I liked it a lot. Still some issues to work out with the sound. What's wrong with the balcony seats?

[jacru]

okay, what happened at FBC Tulsa?

[Okla-homey]

okay, what happened at FBC Tulsa?

Main auditorium renovation completed. First use on Easter Sunday. We were in Ardmore with Ma for Easter...reckon we'll check out the new FBC-Tulsa digs this Sunday.

[OklahomaTuba]

I liked it a lot. Still some issues to work out with the sound. What's wrong with the balcony seats?

Well, the chairs themselves are very comfy. Its just the pitch of the seats. No give in them at all. My posture hasn't been so good in years. :D

Regardless, its very nice to see the church looking so good now. I do miss the blug shag though. I grew up on that carpet!

[LLoyd Dobler]

It was up to date and awesome - it RYFO.

Got to be attractive to visitors - and what a great day - Easter - to unveil the new digs.

Simply cool.......better than aqua blue from the 60's....................

[JohnnyMack]

First Baptist Church?

[picasso]

We caught the early service and it was great. First time for me to sit downstairs.:D
I thought the sound system was good myself but perhaps that was because we were on the ground floor.
anyway, the contemporary service yesterday was one of the best I've attended in over 3 years there.

[OUinFLA]

At FBC in Lakeland we just opened our new Worship Faciltiy two weeks before Easter. 3 services jam packed yesterday. should have built it bigger. Seats 2500.
It is nice to get into a new facility. About 6 years ago we bought an entire mall that had closed, we have been holding services in the old Montgomery Ward store for all that time. Our new faclitiy takes up about 1/3 of the old Sam's Club faciltiy. We even have our own theatre !
Congrats to all you FBC'ers in Tulsa, nice that you could get in for Easter.
Sound systems in new facilities are always a problem it seems. Working ours out a bit more each week.

[OklahomaTuba]

A whole mall? Goodness! I have really been amazed at how big some of these Churches are getting. FBC Tulsa isn't a massive mega-church, just a good old traditional Church with a fantastic pastor and lots of tradition in the community. Also a great musical tradition as well.

And compared to other Baptist Church's, lets just say it doesn't in my opinion. Its much better, and anyone would feel welcome there, as they should.

[Grimey]

I liked it. The audio was a little rough, but what can you do? That song that the guys sang in the late service was AWESOME. I had goosebumps when everyone started giving them a standing ovation.

I had no idea there were so many people on here that I went to church with. What Sunday school classes are you all in?

[Okla-homey]

I liked it. The audio was a little rough, but what can you do? That song that the guys sang in the late service was AWESOME. I had goosebumps when everyone started giving them a standing ovation.

I had no idea there were so many people on here that I went to church with. What Sunday school classes are you all in?

I am invoking my rights under the Fifth Amendment -- because somebody might narc me out to my SS teacher for beer drinking.:D :eek:

[OklahomaTuba]

Although, drunken Bible study is really kinda fun.

[Grimey]

I am invoking my rights under the Fifth Amendment -- because somebody might narc me out to my SS teacher for beer drinking.:D :eek:

not going to be me. but I totally understand. :)

[picasso]

I am invoking my rights under the Fifth Amendment -- because somebody might narc me out to my SS teacher for beer drinking.:D :eek:
why? you're a Baptist. that'd be like telling on a Catholic for smoking.;)

[Hamhock]

If you take two Baptists fishing, they won't drink any of your beer.

If you take one Baptist fishing, he'll drink it all. ;)

[OklahomaTuba]

I guess I never saw the hang-up on drinking at this church, as long as it was in moderation.

[Grimey]

I like a Guinness from time to time, and a Fat Tire when I can get my hands on one! :) Moderation is definitely the key

[OUinFLA]

A whole mall? Goodness! I have really been amazed at how big some of these Churches are getting. FBC Tulsa isn't a massive mega-church, just a good old traditional Church with a fantastic pastor and lots of tradition in the community. Also a great musical tradition as well.

re: buying the mall. 10 years ago we were at the same location the church had been in since around 1900. We were able to seat about 700. We got a great new preacher out of Arkansas that has been one heck of an evangelist and commited to growth within our community at the same time supporting missions in a huge way. We currently support about 50 churches around the world.

We quickly outgrew our old facilities, and due to the downtown of Lakeland being built all around us we had no alternative but to move. For a while we rented the Lakeland civic center for our worship services which seats 5000, but rent and logistics of dealing with Sunday School and all activities outside the service we not going to let that happen for long.

In the midst of our building committee struggling to find suitable land for us to purchase, we got a call for a fellow Christian in Minnesota and it started out with " I understand you guys are looking for a place to relocate, and I have felt a burden to call and offer you the old Lakeland Mall that my partnership owns.". It is about 400,000 sq feet of mall and came with a 5 year contract from Sams that was going to cover about half the cost of the property if we chose to buy it. Now, it's not often you get a chance to buy a complete mall for under 10 Mil, especially with the Sam's contract to go with it. So, we became "those crazy Baptists who bought a mall".

It has been a lot of work converting and upgrading. We met for several years in the M. Wards part of the mall but could only seat 1300 people there, and over the next 4 years we had outgrown that facility even with 3 morning services.

The one factor I havent liked is that most of our Sunday School classes are now large groups instead of small ones. This is due to the haste to provide classes for everyone in the most economical way. We have several classes with over 100 members. Mine has about 120 in it. That makes my class larger than about 50% of the churches in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Part of our size problems are that we swell in attendance during the winter months when all the snowbirds live down here, and part due to the increased growth of the church within the community itself. We have already started one satellite church in the south of town and are about to start another in the fast growing north side. Sometimes I just sit and wonder where all the money is going to come from, but somehow it just keeps coming in, enough to fund all our growth as well as not neglect our commitment to missions. As I looked around yesterday, and was sitting next to the contractor who built our new worship center, I mentioned, maybe we should have built it bigger, and he just nodded his head in agreement.

Large churches have always seemed somewhat cold to me, but not this one. The warmth and welcome feeling is always there. In Lakeland we have two churches that are even bigger than ours, one seats 5000, the other seats about 6500, and when attending those on occasion, They are both Church of Christ affiliation. I felt rather insignificant in the pews. That may have been because I wasnt a member there. I am hoping I , nor any guest ever have that feeling at "FBC at the Mall"

Congrats again FBC Tulsa, it is a nice feeling to be in a modern facility.