Raider Church searching for new home

With the future of the City Bank Auditorium headed for demolition, members of Raider Church are trying to find a new home for their service after calling the auditorium home for over four years.

Raider Church is an affiliation of Experience Life church specifically for college students. When Raider Church first began, it moved to two different locations during the first month before deciding on the auditorium permanently. Now, leaders of Raider Church are unsure of where the service will be held and how it will impact visitors.

Clayton Walker, the pastor at Raider Church, said they have been looking at several location options to relocate to, including the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center or the United Supermarkets Arena.

Raider Church strives to have a location to campus and students. Even though the civic center is the same distance from the student apartments on Glenna Goodacre Boulevard to their on-campus location, Walker said he would still like to have Raider Church on campus.

“The original vision was to outgrow and move to the (United Supermarkets Arena), so they may just force us to do it,” Walker said.

One hiccup of that option is working around basketball and the other events held in the arena, he said. They would have to place the stage on one end of the arena and have seating for the attendees on the floor.

“It is something we’re concerned about,” Walker said. "But things have gone so well here and there’s such a big momentum that we’re hoping that we’ll move and it will continue.”

At the end of each semester, Raider Church is hosted in the Frazier Alumni Pavilion because of lower attendance during finals.

Hanna Farris, a sophomore nursing major, said a change in location is going to be heart wrenching because even having it in the pavilion for the last two weeks of school is different. She said the auditorium gives a different atmosphere and makes the experience feel more real.

“It’s one of the buildings we’ve always been in, so I think it will definitely affect what we have,” Farris said. “It will affect not only Raider Church but also the people going to it.”

Kaiti Halton, a senior business management major, has volunteered at Raider Church for three semesters.

Halton said seeing the growth and impact of Raider Church on herself and others has been crazy. With the dedication of the people who attend Raider Church, Halton said she knows any location is going to be as great as if they were at the auditorium.

“Honestly, it’s scary not knowing exactly where we’re going to meet,” Halton said. “We’ll find somewhere new. It’s all about just trust.”

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