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North Point Gains Approval to Build Bridge

After nine years of planning and proposals, North Point has gotten approval from the City of Alpharetta, Georgia State University, the North American Mission Board, and the Corps of Engineers to build a 1,000 foot, three-lane bridge connecting the Alpharetta, GA campus to Old Milton Road.

This is significant because the Alpharetta campus typically hosts over 7,000 cars during three Sunday services. There are over 3,000 parking spaces but only two exits or entrances. There are plenty of parking spaces and plenty of seats in the worship center, but the challenge is getting people out of the parking lot after a service, which can take more than 45 minutes.

Here are some excerpts from the letter Andy Stanley sent to the congregation:

  • Those of you who are regular attendees have learned to navigate the congestion without losing your faith in the process, but you also know the complexity of inviting someone to “Meet us at church.”
  • If our mission is to be a church that’s perfectly designed for the people who already attend, then we don’t need a bridge. But if we want to continue to be a church unchurched people love to attend, then yes, it’s worth it.
  • I believe creating a second access point allows us to stay on mission.

I love that North Point is an organization that refuses to settle for keeping regular church-folk happy, but is instead looking to improve the guest experience and draw new people with no, little, or terrible previous church experiences.

Congratulations, North Point!.