From the Inside Out

For all the members of Abundant Life Church (ALC), this Sunday was a day of rejoicing. It was a day that will be etched in my brain for a long time. I’m not sure why, but there always seems to be a sense of excitement when you experience something new. I remember when Gary and I moved into our new home in Allen. We had watched eagerly while it was being built. We couldn’t wait to move. I still remember how awesome it felt when I stepped inside for the first time and realized that it was finally our new home.

It’s strange, but I had similar feelings today when I stepped inside the new home of Abundant Life Church. Watching your vision become reality is an incredible experience. It hasn’t been easy at times, but it has been worth it. Through the ups and the downs, He’s been there every step of the way. I’m amazed at what He’s doing in my life — and in the lives of my friends and family at ALC.

You could feel the excitement today when you walked through the doors. Here’s a glimpse of our new worship center before the crowd arrived.

Gary and I got there at 8:45 am for choir/band practice.

It was all new, but somehow oddly familiar — same people, same songs, same amazing God, new location.

We kicked off at 10 am with a scripture reading and prayer led by our pastor, and then launched into the first choir song, “Shout” (btw, thanks to my friend A.J. for letting me steal a few of his AMAZING pictures from today).

Closer view of the worship team and choir rocking it out…I’m one of the specks in the choir on the right.

Our pastor, Jeff Hennigan delivered a powerful, inspiring message today!

The place was packed full! No wonder we need two services on Sundays!

View from the platform

The celebration in the foyer after church was over

Bird’s eye view.

There’s still a lot of work to be done to the building, but today was almost perfect. Our church family showed up, and most importantly, God did too! It’s a new beginning, a great opportunity. I’m so excited, and I can’t wait ’til next Sunday.

We celebrated the end of an era at Abundant Life Church today. It was the last service to be held at 2021 E. Park Blvd. in Plano. For many, it was a bittersweet day. Everyone is excited about moving into our new facility, but we also leave behind a space where many fond memories were created. I came to ALC as a teenager in the Fall of 1988. At the time, I wasn’t happy about leaving the church we attended, but I know now it’s where God meant for us to be. My relationship with Him deepened there, and I was blessed to have one of the best pastors in the world, Dan Rigdon. I also experienced one of the most momentous occasions in my life in that building. It’s where I met and married my husband.

I have many great memories from my 21 years at ALC — there are just way too many to list them all! The great thing is that even though we’re leaving the building behind, those memories will follow me wherever I go. I have no regrets. One experience is ending. Things will never be the same, but through that ending, we have a new beginning. We have a remarkable opportunity to create new memories and to reach more people in our community by sharing the love and saving grace of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. What an amazing privilege!

In honor of our last day in the Park Blvd. building, we held a special “reunion” service. The day started early for those of us in the choir/worship team. We arrived at 8 am for a 90 minute music practice before service started. It made for a long day, but it was worth it!

We had a good crowd before practice ended. By 10 am, the place was packed full. We had our regulars in attendance and many former ALC’ers showed up to celebrate also. I think we set a new record for attendance — 660! Wow!

The choir kicked off the day with an “old school” song from years past, “Total Praise.”

The presence of God filled the room and lingered the entire day.

I was scheduled to sing on the worship team today, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to help lead worship one last time at ALC. I’m not very sentimental, but as I sang, I experienced many emotions. I am so blessed. God is incredible. I’m amazed with His grace and thankful for the fabulous group of people we have at ALC.

We baptized 22 people today!!! They alternated between the baptistery and the “old school” method.

Jeff Manning baptizing “old school” in a trough

Memories video

Dan Rigdon addresses the congregation

Anthony Mangun shares his thoughts and leads the church in a prayer for Jeff, Miquell, and our church leaders.

NOTE: all photos are courtesy of (ahem…stolen from) Sheila Horvath.

Our last church service at 2021 E. Park Blvd. will be held on Sunday, May 31 at 10:00 am. Abundant Life Church (ALC) is planning many exciting activities for that special day:

• Anthony and Mickey Mangun will be attending (Mickey will be playing the organ and singing with the choir)
• A special baptism ceremony will be conducted
• Pentecost Sunday and the move to the new building will be celebrated
• Fond memories of the building before the remodeling will be brought back (i.e. stained glass, old pulpit, round globe lights, etc)
• Finally, we’ll be having an ALC choir reunion and will be singing some “old school” favorites from ALC’s past!

When ALC switched to two Sunday morning services, they went with a smaller “worship team” to enable choir members to serve in the Sunday School department (and other volunteer ministries required to support two services). This has been a successful model, but sometimes you miss having a full choir on the platform. There’s nothing that compares. I love having all of those people up there with us worshipping their hearts out and praising God. It’s so cool!

We had our second practice tonight, and we’re starting to get back in the groove of things. The group sounded amazing. We’re singing many favorites from past years and a few recent favorites too. It’s going to be a fantastic worship experience, and I can’t wait! We’re singing one of my personal “old school” favorites — No Greater Love by the CLC Youth Choir. That song always touches me. The words are simple, but true. It’s a great reminder of how much He loves us and the sacrifice He made to show us the depth of His love. It’s…ah-mazing!

Anyway, if you are a member of ALC, don’t miss it! If you are a former member, don’t miss it! If you aren’t a member, but are interested in joining us, put it on your calendar and don’t miss it — Sunday, May 31 at 10 am.

Abundant Life Church will soon have a new location in Plano, and I couldn’t be more excited about it! An overwhelming majority of church members approved the purchase of the new facility tonight during our annual business meeting. The building is located on Premier Drive in West Plano near highway 75 and Park Blvd.

It offers 40,000 sq. feet of space, and compared to our existing 18,000 sf facility, it is downright spacious! We will have a 550-seat worship center, a 250-seat auditorium/gymnasium for youth, a children’s theater, numerous classrooms, and plenty of office space for our church staff. We will also have a pad of land where a new 40,000 worship center can be built to accommodate future growth.

God has truly blessed us with an amazing opportunity at a fabulous price. He is SO good, and it just goes to show you that He is in control of our destiny in spite of human shortcomings, failures and mistakes. The “man downstairs” tried to break our spirit, but God used our struggles to unify us and make us stronger. In the end, His plan prevails.

We already have 3 purchase offers on our existing facility — a miracle considering that it’s only been on the market for a couple of weeks and the real estate market is in recession. It’s just another testament to the fact that God seems to be ordering our steps.

I’m extremely excited about the opportunities that this new building provides us, not only for drama ministries, but also for our youth, children’s, and adult ministries. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us at the new property. If everything goes smoothly, we may be making the move in late May. I can’t wait!

We kicked off the final week of rehearsals for SNL today. The last week is known as “tech week” because it’s when the tech crews join the rehearsals. During tech week, we fine tune the performances, lighting, sound and multimedia. Needless to say, it can be a challenging week.

Rehearsals ran long tonight, and I was left with a large number of action items to complete before tomorrow. It’s 3 am now, so I’m cutting the blog short and sharing some special “behind the scenes” rehearsal pictures…enjoy!

The Stages are Set

Gary Peeking Out

The Church Lady and her Special Guest

The Roxbury Guys?

Our Favorite Creekwood Bible Church Board Members Are Back