Let's Build a Bridge

In the fall of 2009, Josh and I sat in our seats at North Point Community Church in Atlanta, GA.  Smiles went across our faces as we heard what our [then] church was about to embark on.

Building a $5 million bridge.

Say WHAT?!?!

I know, I know... but when you go to a church with 20,000 people, the scale of things change.

Imagine if every single parking space at Wal-Mart was full, and all at once, every single person tried to get in their cars and leave, while an equal amount of people are trying to get to Wal-Mart and park at the same time.

Did I mention that there are over 3,000 parking spaces in this hypothetical Wal-Mart, and only two exits for the parking lot?

Yeah... that's how every Sunday morning is at North Point.  There are police and parking attendants making sure everything goes smoothly and is under control, but taking 20 minutes to get off campus isn't too out of the ordinary, and we didn't have air conditioning in our car!

So now, if you attend church, would you want to invite a friend there, or would it be a little intimidating knowing that they're going to have to face that crazy parking situation?  Or would you just meet them at the McDonald's down the road and ride in together (because that's convenient)?

And if you're not a church attender... would you go anywhere near that crazy parking lot?

Here's a few words from Andy Stanley, the pastor, about it:

As Josh and I sat in those seats and listened about the plan and reasoning for the bridge, we couldn't have been happier.  Church growth, to us, is crucial.  That's one of the many things that made us fall in love with Waters Edge... it's growing!

And I'm happy to announce that the bridge opened at the beginning of January!  That 14 months after they announced they were going to start to raise funds.

For my WNC peeps reading this... I think this would put the Hendrix Street bridge to shame, what do you think? (Yes, I realize this was a private bridge built, rather than government... did I mention this one is 800 ft long?)

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If you're interested, there are a few videos at the bottom of this page -- mainly "Not everyone has a Jet-Pack" and "How do you Fix Traffic at North Point?"--- that are funny and also show a piece of the crazy parking lot at North Point.