OKC’s Expressions Church loses its location in the iconic 39th St. District
By Robin Dorner
Editor in Chief
“We have lost our location,” said Pastor Neill Coffman. “The lease is coming up anyway, so we’ve lost it effective Jan 1.”
Landlord Tony Price has leased the space to someone else. Purportedly, Ratcliff Ink, a screen printing and monogramming company, will move into the current Expressions Church location.
“The good thing is that he [Tony Price] is taking care of us with another building he wants us to take,” said Pastor Neill. "He is really working hard to accommodate our needs."
Plans for the new location for Expressions Church will be at 3208 N. May (32nd and May Ave., OKC), just about a mile and a half away from their current location. Expressions has served the community in that space for the past 12 years.
It was one year ago that Expressions announced the closing of Expressions Community Center, which housed different organizations providing testing, counseling, mental health services and other outreach groups for the community.
RELATED: Expressions announces closing of Community Center
We looked yesterday at the new building,” said Pastor Neill. “The new building is bigger and better with hardwood floors, brand new air conditioning, new roof, handicap accessible restrooms, and good parking.”
The church must be moved to its new location in time for the December 8 service.
“The only problem is we are not on the strip,” Pastor Neill said sadly. “I thought it was good to have a church on the strip.”
However, he said their current location needs a lot of work.
“Sometimes I would pull up to the church and think, ‘We need to paint the walls,’ or I’d get inside and think, ‘We need to get new carpet,’” the pastor said. “At the new location, this is all already done for us.”
He said he believes God has given them a better building, and there is greater potential for growth.
“It’s a real positive feeling knowing what you can do in a location,” the pastor said.
RELATED: Expressions: Already so many things
Pastor Neill says he is at total peace with the situation; it’s just “really fast” to move.
“We must have the sanctuary set up in place week after Thanksgiving,” he said. “Eventually, we will need to build walls and add dividers, but we don’t need to do that right away.”
Pastor Neill and the membership of Expressions Church are requesting a call to action from the community.
“We are asking that people join us the current location of the church (4010 N. Youngs Blvd.) on Saturday, December 7 anytime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to help pack the church belongings into a moving truck to move to our new location at 3208 N. May.” (A Facebook event invitation twill be added here when the link is made available.)
Pastor Neill said no matter their physical location Expressions Church will always serve the community as it has for nearly 14 years since its inception. The first service was held in the living room of Pastor Neill and Dean Coffman, who have since married.
Part of Expressions inclusive mission states, “It is our experience that Expressions is a unique Spirit-filled, Bible-believing, LGBT affirming ministry with a rich history of celebrating diversity and struggling with the hard questions of faith.”
For information about Expressions Church, visit www.expressionsokc.com or call (405) 525-2903.
Copyright The Gayly. 11/24/2019 @ 5:11 p.m. CST.