FriSep112009
One of the reasons we set a goal of praying for a minimum of 50% down on all building
costs is to ensure we don’t hurt our ongoing ministry by building.
We have waited to begin the building process until we felt we were healthy
as a church – financially but also in terms of leadership, teams and
ministries.
We strongly encourage any who would consider giving to our growth fund
to NOT take any money from their regular offering to the church as this
just hurts the church. I know the general fund is not a glamorous
place to be donating money to and Christians often feel it
more spiritual and wiser to give to something with long-term benefit
like giving to a building. It is something they can see, touch
and enjoy and so that seems like a better place to give.
Giving to ministry programs, communication expenses, office supplies,
salaries and utilities can seem so mundane and temporal, however the
church is not the building but it's the people. General
budget funds the people stuff of the church and we have been and
continue to be a church even without our own building. The building
is a tool – just like a photocopier is. Nothing more and nothing
less.
It is a good tool but the real ministry is the weekly and monthly ministries
which operate within any building and those require that the general
fund stay healthy.
So we desire a low mortgage or no mortgage but we also need our general
fund to continue to grow as our ministry grows. So please be praying that God would provide as we move forward such that we would not see any ministry He calls us to do hindered by unreasonable costs for a new facility. The struggle is with the rising costs of building materials combined with our increasing need for more and more facility due to increased numbers. But we are praying and trusting God to provide through His people.