The Building: A Tool for Discipleship
It’s Not About a Building
This campaign is not primarily about a building. It is about the Kingdom of God. It is about people. It is about making disciples. It is about engaging, evangelizing, equipping and sending. It is about presenting everyone mature in Christ. The building is a necessary tool for ministry. It is a place for discipleship.
Artist’s Renderings
The artist and computer renderings below are approximations of the look of the completed project and are subject to changes. The watercolor renderings were provided by Dale Watson (DaleWatsonArt.com).
Click on any of the images to view a larger size.
Historic Church from Whilden Street
Notice the new sidewalks in front of and beside the building.
Ministry Center Interior
A reconfigured Ministry Center will shorten the distance between the congregation and the preacher.
East Entrance
The east entrance to the building will be the primary entrance for the Day School classrooms located on the ground floor of the new building.
Ministry Center Lobby
The new Ministry Center lobby will have entrances at the east and west ends of the building as well as provide spaces for informal conversations.
West Entrance Courtyard
The courtyard provides a physical connection between the sidewalk leading to the Historic Church building and the Ministry Center’s west entrance. With the new entrance turned away from the street, it also provides a much safer place to enter and exit the building, especially with children in tow.
Ridley Institute Library and Classroom
Children’s Ministry Classroom & Worship Space
Exterior of the Ministry Center
West Entrance Aerial View. Please note that the parking lots will not be paved.
West Entrance. View from the courtyard. The rear of the Historic Church would be directly behind the viewer.
Street view of the Ministry Center from west to east.
East Entrance of the Ministry Center
Ministry Center Interior
Ministry Center Lobby
A new lobby will stretch the length of the Ministry Center and will have entrances at either end. The lobby will also include casual seating spaces.
Looking toward the east entrance, the doors to the Ministry Center are on the left.
Looking toward the west entrance, the windows overlook Venning Street.
Youth Ministry Space
Frequently Asked Questions
How much will the project cost?
The total project is expected to cost around $14 million. Based on an assessment of our fundraising capacity, our capital campaign seeks to raise $8 million. A financial analysis shows that up to $6 million in debt can be serviced with no impact on operations. In order to be good stewards, we will not take on more debt than we can service under our current budget. A sacrificial and extraordinary response to the capital campaign would allow us achieve our entire vision and keep debt to a minimum.
Isn’t debt bad?
Many people misunderstand scriptural teaching on debt. We are not Biblically precluded from the careful use of debt. When we built the Ministry Center, we were able to pay back the loan early because of the faithful response of our members.
Will this add additional seating to the Ministry Center?
We are not building a bigger sanctuary and we will not add additional services. We are growing the Kingdom by training and equipping people and sending them out, much like we have for City Church and Park Circle, not by having more people on campus on Sunday.
What is the timeline for construction?
Summer 2017 is the anticipated groundbreaking and the project should be complete in 18-24 months. The new three-story ministry building will be constructed first, followed by renovations to the Ministry Center.
Where will we worship during renovations?
In addition to the three Sunday services in the Historic Church, contemporary worship will also take place on the second floor of the new ministry building.
Where will the Day School be located during construction?
The Day School will remain at the Mt. Pleasant campus.
What about parking?
We may temporarily need to use a small part of the parking lot for material storage during construction. Additional parking will be available at Moultrie Middle School. Handicapped parking will be relocated to provide easy access to the church and Ministry Center.
