Grace Community Church has created The Loft as a new modern space for high school students. The grand opening will be from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14. The Loft is located in a former garage north of the church, 210 McKinley St.
In partnership with the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce, Grace Community Church will host a Chamber After Hours Event that evening, including a brief program and ribbon cutting ceremony at 6 p.m. Under the direction of Student Ministries Pastor, Jon Kelly, The Loft is dedicated to offering the community’s high school youth a safe, social environment to spend time with friends and make new friends.
The After Hours event will include heavy hors d’oeuvres and chamber members are welcome to tour the newly appointed space. Names will be drawn for gift cards donated by Dillons, Papa Murphy’s, Waters True Value and Wendy’s. In addition, a winner will be drawn for two tickets (a $50 value) to the Barton County’s Got Talent Dinner Theater, scheduled for Jan. 25, 2014. Individuals must be present to win.
The Loft once was a privately owned garage on a property just north of Grace Community Church. The church purchased the garage and the attached lot in 2011. Since then the building has undergone major construction and is now an approximate 2,000-square-foot, sleek and modern space for high school students to enjoy. Interior designer Jennifer Flick and Scott Schenkel of Schenkel Construction Co. Inc. led the way in the design and building of The Loft. In addition, countless volunteers from Grace Community’s congregation worked tirelessly to help bring the project to completion.
The Loft has been created exclusively for high school students and features many design elements with teenagers in mind. One of these is a coffee bar with specialty coffee drinks, hot chocolate, pastries and other food items available for purchase at a reasonable cost.
The Loft will be open every Sunday night for youth group from 6-8:30 p.m. (with the exception of the Dec. 1 and Dec. 29 holiday weekends) and every Saturday from 8-10 p.m. from Nov. 16 to Dec. 14. Students must show their high school ID to enter.
Grace Community Church is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and exists to lead people to an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. For more information on the ministries of the church, call 620-792-7814.