St. John Campus

St John Campus – Preview Service

2010-09-03T15:42:46+00:00

Join us this Sunday, September 5th, at either 9:15am or 11:15am for one of our preview services at the St. John Campus. We'll be working out the kinks in our new facility by having worship services to learn from. We'll be running our full programming (including childcare), but in learning mode - so you can expect things to not be perfect yet. Even if you are planning to worship normally at Austin High, we invite you to check out the St. John campus now, before our grand opening on September 12th.

View The For the City Center in a larger map

Here's a parking map.

Photos: Getting Close

2010-08-24T22:16:01+00:00

The St. John campus is nearing completion. This past Sunday, volunteers went through orientation and on-site training, video streaming from Austin High School was tested, and chairs were set out for the first time.

This Wednesday, TeenRock will start their Wednesday night high school gatherings in the worship space. If you're a high school student, check it out.

As the pictures below show, we're getting really close to the grand opening on September 12. It's going to be awesome!

Photos by Jami Sall

Photo Gallery

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Photo Updates

2010-08-09T15:50:00+00:00

Work on the building is starting to get into the final stages. Check out these photos from late last week.

Photo Gallery

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Photos: Building Progress

2010-07-16T17:05:15+00:00

Construction at the St. John Campus is continuing at a rapid clip. Here are some photos taken recently at the site:

Photo Gallery

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Praying for the St. John Campus

2010-07-14T20:00:47+00:00

Last Thursday afternoon, during one of Austin's finest thunderstorms, our staff and elders and the For the City Network's staff met up at the St. John Campus to spend some time in prayer over the new and renovated space.

It was a surreal experience for many who have spent hours dreaming and thinking and praying and working towards the opening of this second campus to see it so close to completion.

Matt and Dave talked about what God's done to bring this new tool to fruition and previewed the months ahead. We then broke up in smaller groups and spread out through the different wings of the building to pray specifically for the Non-Profit Center and its initial tenants, for the children's area and the next generation of believers who will grow up there, and for our equipping space and the people who will be trained for mission.

Finally, we reconvened in the auditorium and took time writing prayers and scripture on the bare concrete stage. Our writing will be covered up with a fresh coat of paint before the campus opens, but we wanted to add these hopes and truths to the very foundation of the spot where many will hear the name of Jesus, and encounter the good news of the gospel.

We can't wait for the construction to finish and to be able to open this space. It will be a tool, not a cathedral, but it's a tool we pray will be used for God's glory long after us.

Top photo by Jami Sall. Second photo and attached photo gallery by Leslie Peck.

Photo Gallery

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Photo Updates

2010-06-24T20:26:19+00:00

Here are some recent photos from the St. John Campus. As you can see, things are progressing at a rapid pace. The "store fronts" for the non-profit tenants are mostly completed with plenty of glass doors and windows, lots of painting has been happening recently, and air conditioning work is well underway.

Can't see the slideshow? (It's in Flash.) Here's a non-Flash version.

Photos by Jami Sal

Photo Updates from the St. John Campus

2010-05-26T19:19:18+00:00

Here are some photos taken from the St. John site last Friday. It's amazing to see how quickly this place is being repurposed and transformed into an entirely new space.

What Will the St. John Campus be Like?

2010-05-17T16:40:42+00:00

This fall, we're opening up a non-profit center and church campus in St. John. This campus will join Austin High School as a second location for the families and communities that make up The Austin Stone to gather for worship and Biblical teaching.

How will having two locations work? What will the new campus be like? We had some friends put together a short instructional-film-style video:

Questions? Check out the answers to some frequently asked ones or email us.

Don't have Flash? Watch the HTML5 version of this video on Vimeo.

Photo Updates

2010-05-15T20:58:14+00:00

These photos were taken April 29 at the site. Of note, the Worship Center/large gathering space now has a roof and drywall throughout the building is nearly complete.

Introducing the Launch Non-Profits of the For the City Center

2010-05-05T19:00:59+00:00

The renovations and construction are continuing at a quick pace in St. John and now we finally have an answer to the question "Who's going to use the non-profit space?".

Initially, we hoped to have at least half of the available space filled for the opening of Phase 1 (the first floor) of our St. John Building in September. As it looks right now, we are going to have the space completely filled! God has shown tremendous faithfulness, and we are exceedingly thankful.

For the last couple of months we have been in meetings with numerous non-profits, looking for potential tenants that would be a good fit for what we're doing with the space. The organizations occupying Phase 1 of the center represent some of the best in the city at what they do. These first four non-profits are:

Communities in Schools
Capital Area Food Bank
Caring Family Network
Austin Lifeguard

Here's a little about who each of these organizations represent and what they do:

Communities in Schools

CIS and their ASPIRE Family Literacy Program will be our anchor tenant in the west wing of the non-profit space.

ASPIRE (Achieving Success through Parental Involvement, Reading and Education) breaks the cycle of illiteracy and poverty in families by providing comprehensive, integrated literacy services for the entire family. CIS works to encourage education "from the cradle to college". ASPIRE program services include early childhood education, adult education, parenting classes, and in home tutoring.

In short, ASPIRE helps raise the levels of education children are receiving while providing resources and confidence for parents of young children. They encourage and equip parents to lead their families well.

Find out more about the ASPIRE Program

Capital Area Food Bank

Capital Area Food Bank was actually the first agency to officially sign their term sheet for the space. It was a neat moment to be in their offices when they enthusiastically signed on to be a part of what we're doing with the For The City Center.

Currently, CAFB provides food and grocery products to 350 food pantries in 21 counties in Central Texas. They will be sponsoring and running a model food pantry in the east wing of the For The City Center.

This pantry will be one of only three food bank-run food pantries in Central Texas and is designed to serve as a model for not just our city's but for our nation's food banks. In addition to providing relief in times of crisis, CAFB will begin to offer development opportunities to their clients to help them move towards personal sustainability and away from day-to-day food needs.

To do this, CAFB plans to add counseling services, employment opportunities, and medical testing to their current food pantry services.

Find out more about Capital Area Food Bank

Caring Family Network

Adoption and foster care are close to the heart of The Austin Stone and our partnership with Caring Family Network is a perfect match.

CFN's mission is to connect children, families, and communities. What better place to do that than in the new For The City Center in St. John! CFN trains prospective foster parents and families preparing for adoption, treats children, and much more. CFN also provides abstinence-based sex education in 55 schools in the greater Austin area.

Caring Family Network is already having initial conversations about sharing their case management expertise with their future Capital Area Food Bank neighbors as CAFB works to expand their services.

Find out more about Caring Family Network

Austin Lifecare

The For The City Center will house Austin Lifecare's Lifeguard program, which focuses on abstinence-based sex education. Lifeguard's mission statement sums it up well:

"[Working] to empower teens in the Austin area with accurate information and practical tools to help them make healthy decisions, build strong relationships, and fully experience the benefits of saving sex for marriage."

The Austin Stone has had a terrific partnership with Austin Lifecare prior to the For the City Center and their place among the initial group of non-profits is an extension of that. Literally hundreds of people from The Austin Stone have volunteered with Austin Lifecare to date.

The Lifecare space in the non-profit center will house administrative offices for their sex-education and pregnancy prevention programs.

Find out more about Austin Lifecare and Austin Lifeguard

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Not only are we blessed to have a full facility, but even better; these organizations will complement each other well as they work toward the peace, welfare, and restoration of our city.

We are so grateful to all four of these agencies, their staffs, and boards. We can't wait for our new partners to move in and get to work!