Our next campus…Parkville!
For several years now it has been the desire of Mountain and The EPICENTER to continue expanding the impact of ministry beyond Harford County, to expand into new areas where hope is needed. When looking at potential locations, many factors are considered.
First, we determine where we have a group of people who already call Mountain home who can help seed the next campus. Then, we have to determine whether or not there are any facilities or properties that can work well for the programming we hope to offer. The type of facility must have adequate parking, be strategically located near areas that are frequently trafficked, have a certain ceiling height and zoning, and have adequate square footage to accommodate the type of programming that can best serve the community.
When the VFW Hall (previously Colony Theatre), located at 8123 Harford Road, was presented to us, it became very clear, very quickly, that this property could be an ideal location for Mountain’s next campus. The facility is perfectly located, right on Harford Road. The parking lot is more than adequate, the location is surrounded by homes and community partners, and there is a lack of thriving churches and we can envision a thriving church community growing in this unique and historic space. We have around 200 Mountain families already living in the surrounding area who could be a part of creating something new and beautiful in Parkville.
The building needs a little TLC, but we saw the potential, a diamond in the rough, and an opportunity to invest in a facility that can be an epicenter of hope in Parkville. Strong churches and strong community centers lead to the betterment of the community, and we saw the potential for Mountain and The EPICENTER to do something beautiful and good in Parkville.
Parkville is the most densely populated zip code in the state of Maryland, with over 350,000 people within a five mile radius.
That means that within five miles of this location, there are more people than in all of Harford County. Parkville is a diverse community, but also a changing and growing demographic. There are young families in need of strong kids programming. There is a homeless population in and around this site that are in need of a hand up, along with a significant opportunity to bring hope and healing to those in recovery.
GENEROSITY MAKES A DIFFERENCE! The vision for a new Mountain Campus and The EPICENTER in Parkville was so compelling to one Mountain family that they wrote a check for $1,000,000 that allowed us to pay for this facility!
AND NOW, we have some work to do to design and renovate the building, strategize around launch, build teams and start creating a presence in the community. The building is ours, but now we must navigate zoning, permitting and construction, all of which will take some time. But that time will be used strategically to start rallying our Mountain families who live in and around Parkville, to begin a missional presence in the community, and of course to call all Mountain people to prayerfully consider how we can be a part of what God started when Mountain first went multi-site back in 2010.
We said we were going to ‘Prepare for the Next Campus’ through Unstoppable Good, and God is already paving the way.
It’s going to take all of us doing our part so that another community can be blessed by the ministry that’s been doing GOOD for 200 years.
For any questions about Parkville please email parkville@mountaincc.org
