A concert of HONOR

I am embarking on a project that is very close to my heart. The project is to form a mixed choir to perform a concert (in July or August). Now I know that I am not fully-trained yet as a choral conductor, but I am putting for a great effort, because this concert is to honor my mother (Darlene Davis) since she passed away on March 20th 2010 with cancer.

I realize that it will be a tough process to get the choir prepared for the music, since my rehearsal skills (outside of being a section leader) are at a beginning conductors level.
So far the process has been somewhat smooth. I have found 25-30 singers, and will continue to seek another 10-15 singers (for a near total of 45). I have begun to score study the music (with rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks (rehearsing weekly on sunday evenings from 6-8) with music that will be at a medium level, because my choir is new and a lot of singers have not sung in a couple of years (all singers ranging in age from 18-27).
Now to aquire a rehearsal space is still an obstacle. I have called and asked a dozen churches if they could host this choir project only until our concert (and then the choir will dissolve), but I have been met with "NO" from all of them.

However, if luck is on my side, today I will have a church to host these choir rehearsals.
Also, since I am a young/beginner conductor, I have found that asking for advice from my professors at Pacific Lutheran University, and other conductors I have met over the past 10 years has been rather helpful. Advice for choral literature, rehearsal techniques and forming a program, has been the main focus of these conversations. Now, I just hope everything can fall into place, so the choir and I can begin this "Choral Journey".