church renovating to serve its community

Vox Veniae, a church in Austin, Texas, that’s been described as “Asian fusion”, is featured in this Daily Texan (college newspaper of UT Austin) article, A vision for the future: Church revamps former club ::

Vox Veniae, an Austin church, signed a five-year lease for the East Austin property in November. Since then, volunteers have gathered on nights and weekends to transform the building into a positive place, said community Pastor Weylin Lee.

“The center itself is not necessarily a church; it’s actually going to be a community center building,” Lee said. “We’re kind of redoing the floor, kind of redoing the walls, making sure all the electrical is up to code. The main thing is just cosmetic, making the space a lot more open and inviting.”

… Lead Pastor Gideon Tsang said the church was launched two years ago and grew out of a college ministry set up by the Austin Chinese Church. Young professionals and college students comprise most of the church’s congregation, he said.

“Hopefully, I think [the center] will bring some healing to the community,” Tsang said. “Where it’s kind of a safe haven for the community to develop, whether its skills, education and whatever types of resources.”

Read the full article - be sure to click on “next page” to see page 2.

And, to get an inside look at the books that have been influential to shaping the ethos at Vox Veniae, see their Reading List I and Reading List II.