THE WHY BEHIND THE WHAT
Our Together We Rise Initiative is more than just building a building. Heaven and Hell are real and we have a calling and mandate to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). There are approximately 120,000 people in Licking County who do not even have a church home and we want to make a dent in the number of people heading to Hell in our own community. We want to make Heaven full!
God has been moving in incredible ways and that is why we are at this pivotal moment. We want to continue to see people give their life to Jesus, be baptized, grow in their faith, connect to the community of the body of Christ, use their gifts to serve inside and out of the church walls, and carry on the work of God in their daily lives.
Because of the growth that God has blessed us with, here is our current situation:
- We are out of space for our kids even after renovating a storage room to create more space.
- We have middle school groups meeting in a garage across the parking lot
- Our lobby space is packed on Sunday mornings.
- Some days, LifeGroups are using every available space.
- Our second service is uncomfortably full.
- We are lacking parking lot space.
- We are out of storage space.
We do not want the building to be a cap to our growth! The building plans have been carefully and prayerfully scrutinized and considered as we look at the needs of each ministry happening here in the building and our hopes for the future. We believe this will meet our needs and also set us up for future growth.
Timeline
PLEDGE DAY
March 31, 2024
GROUND BREAKING
Late July 2024
GRAND OPENING
Summer 2025
OUR VISION
The new addition and renovation will increase our capacity for adult, student, and children's ministry with:
- 650 seat worship center on first floor
- New children's facilities on ground floor
- Renovation for new Welcome Center and Student Center
- Extra space for groups to meet in the building
OUR GOAL
Our goal is ultimately to reach the surrounding areas with the message of Christ and we are running out of room in our current building to invite them in. So our elders have set forth the plans above with great consideration and now are trusting in God to move through His people to raise 3 millions dollars. We have been debt free for several years now and have used that time wisely, saving up for this moment.
Here's the cost breakdown:
Full project cost: $6.5 million
Elder approved loan amount: $3 million
We have saved $500,000.
That means that we are asking for you support as we raise $3 million dollars.
QUESTIONS???
Unfortunately, early in the project we will need to demo the Teen Center. The students will be meeting in the Fellowship Hall. The new building comes too close to the Teen Center and we will need that space for more parking, construction equipment, etc. But when this project is done with, there will be a new Student Center in our current worship center.
Also, once our new facility is done, we will need to make some adjustments as we renovate our current worship center and connect it to our new facility
They were picked based on interviews, reputation, their proposed estimate, and their timeline for being able to start and finish.
We have been really creative in trying to add more space for our children (adding a classroom, ultilizing a storage closet, etc.) but we are reaching capacity and have run out of other options with the current space. We do not have enough room for our Student Ministry. We have middle school boys meeting in a garage for their small group time. Our second service is uncomfortably full. There are days when we have no more room for LifeGroups to meet at the building. Our lobby space is packed after services. Our parking is tight. We have doubled in size in 5 years and have seen tremendous growth in the last 2-3 years. This facility will soon be the cap to our growth. A third service would make it very difficult to schedule both as a matter of time and work load on staff and volunteers.
There is a significant cost in going multi-site (adding functionality, adding staff, start up costs, etc.) and we do not have the infrastrusture (yet) to be able to properly pull off another campus. It may be something we look at further down the road, but it is not on our radar right now.
We are asking for our people to give above and beyond their regular giving for this initiative. We have financial obligations (payroll, utilities, missions, etc.) that we want to continue meeting. We don't want this initiative to take away from those things.
There are 3 main things that you and I can do to help.
- Pray ( Our prayer calendar attached below this content ):
- For our leaders as they lead us through growth and a season of change.
- About how you may be able to financially support the new building.
- For those who may come to know Christ
- Volunteer
- As we grow, we need more hands to do the work of ministering to this community. We would love to partner with you. If you want to volunteer, let us know by clicking this LINK.
- Make a Pledge
- You can make a pledge to give weekly, monthly over the next year or pledge a one time gift by clicking HERE.
NEXT STEPS