An Update on Phase 4
A letter from David about Defining Moment
All Campuses
Dear Church Family
I hope you’re having a great week! I appreciate so much you taking the time to read this letter.
The Resource Team has been looking closely at the giving trends for Defining Moment to determine what would be the most prudent way for us to proceed with Phase 4. You will recall that we shared with the church before Christmas the need for us to rethink the scope of Phase 4 construction in order to stay within an appropriate level of debt for a church our size.
Defining Moment has always been a plan to fund most of Phase 4 construction. We agreed that there was a level of debt we should not go beyond in the construction of the new buildings. The Resource Team and our staff Leadership Team have been committed to this from the outset.
The good news is our continued church growth. The month of January has seen our attendance average above 4,300 in worship and 2,500 in connect – this even with bussing our adults and students to the school every Sunday. Also, in certain hours, the Preschool and Children’s Ministries are maxed out for space. Just recently we had to convert some storage space to classroom space. It’s challenging – but what a great problem to have!
The Defining Moment giving is such that we are definitely able to expand the Kids Center as proposed. After some delays due to fire permitting issues, we are now proceeding with construction and should occupy that space by October-November of this year. It will be awesome for our preschoolers and children!
Another exciting thing is that when the expanded Kids Center opens, we will be able to free up space to allow our adults back on campus. Can I get an AMEN?!
The challenge is what to do to get the students back on campus. The planned Student Building was cut a few months ago due to our current giving trends. The Sports and Fitness Center was the cheaper of the two buildings, so it was kept in the plan. We then prayerfully considered redesigning the Sports and Fitness Center as a dual-use building that could accommodate the students, as well as have some recreational use.
Based on what has been given to Defining Moment thus far, it is obvious we cannot afford to do this, either. So, our Resource Team, Building Team, and staff Leadership Team have gone back to their knees and the drawing board. We are looking at a redesign of a cheaper student building that would allow us to have our students back on campus, plus provide the Student Ministry a tool to reach increasing numbers of students. A Sports and Fitness Center would be nice, but the greatest need is for the Student Ministry.
I want to be honest with you – even this may not be possible at this time. It is wise for us to wait another year to see how the money comes in before we break ground. We are halfway through the campaign and have had about 4.5 million given. We need to get to about 9 million to build any more in this phase. That’s certainly possible if we pray and give sacrificially. But to be good stewards and avoid unnecessary debt, we need to wait another year.
I appreciate our Resource Team being such good stewards of this process – I hope you do, too. So many awesome things are happening in the life of our church! I don’t want us to be discouraged, and I don’t want us to give up. In the end, we have to be flexible and make the necessary adjustments to join God in what He is doing! I have no doubt He is not through with us yet.
Below is a summary of the course of action decided on by the Resource Team, Building Team, and our staff Leadership Team:
- Proceed with the expansion of the Kids Center.
- Upon completion of the Kids Center, move adults back on campus.
- Discontinue plans for a Sports and Fitness Building at this time.
- Design a more affordable Student Building.
- Wait until January of 2009 to see if the money is available to build the redesigned Student Building based on Defining Moment money given.
Thanks again for reading this letter. I love you folks! It’s a privilege to be your pastor!
Yours in Christ,
David Landrith
Senior Pastor
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Resource Team Terry Alexander John Ashburn Christie Batson Pam Eldridge Charlie Hagood Rob Horton Jonathan Smithson Scott Swift |
Building Team Charlie Hagood Rob Horton Allen Lindsey Greg Smith Randy Toney Aaron Walker Brad Beaty |
Staff Leadership Team Todd Cox Derek Hazelet David Landrith Jeff Lovingood Lance Taylor |