Posted by: Kevin M. Stone in Building Programs on
Sep 16, 2008
One of the things I like most about traveling is the opportunity to visit other churches, learning something from every visit. This past Sunday, while in Colorado, I had an opportunity to visit
Rocky Mountain Christian Church's new Frederick campus. Man! What a nice place!
I don't know if you've heard, but Rocky Mountain has been in a dispute with Boulder County (the location of their Niwot campus) over their desire to build on their Niwot site. Read more about it
here.
The long and short of it is that their application for a "special use permit" that would allow them to add to their existing campus was denied. It's interesting what God did with the situation, though. Although they are still in litigation with the County of Boulder, they found land in neighboring Weld County and built a
beautiful new facility. They've got around 15 acres and a 70,000 square foot facility. Nice!
This past Sunday was their 2
nd weekend in the new digs. I was there. I enjoyed the new facility and reconnecting with
Rick Thielen their Operations Executive Pastor. Their opening weekend saw more than 1,400 people from the surrounding community.
I think it's amazing to see God work despite our disputes, disagreements, and court battles.
Posted by: Kevin M. Stone in Building Programs on
Aug 15, 2008
We've been engaged in our second building program (
Leave A Legacy) for almost 2 years (since completing our first) and are only now actually almost ready to put a shovel in the ground.
It is amazing to me how much effort goes into a building program! From the early work on the plan in preparation for the vision casting piece of a capital campaign to the continuous negotiation with the municipality, it is almost a full-time job. The effort is worth it, but I continue to wonder how churches without Executive Pastors ever get it done.
Over the last couple of weeks we've had almost daily meetings on site with the general contractor and a host of sub-contractors to clarify bids and work out the logistics of building a new building on a site that has to continue to function as our Sunday morning service location and mid-week preschool facility. Let's just say that "it's going to get much worse before it gets better" around here. It will all be worth it, though, when the new space is complete and we host what we hope will be more than 3,000 for services on Easter Sunday of 2009!
As of today, we've received our grading permit approval; have our Financial Security Agreement (township escrow), signed by
the church and the lender, on its way back to our attorney for township signature and recording; and are only a few days away from loan closing. The pre-construction meeting with the Soil Conservation District is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. From there the dirt will literally start moving.
We're on track for a blowout Grand Opening celebration on Easter Sunday 2009! There's a lot to do, though, between now and then!
Posted by: Kevin M. Stone in Building Programs on
Jul 22, 2008
That's right! This coming Sunday (7/27/08) we will be hosting a Ground Breaking Ceremony as we approach the beginning of construction on our new Student Ministries building!
The ceremony will start shortly after 1 p.m. that afternoon.
Be there!
I don't know if I've posted much on the Church Development Fund (CDF). These guys are awesome! We basically owe our ability to have purchased 19 acres of land and build a 13,000 square foot facility to the ministry of the CDF.
What's not to like about this organization? They are all about providing resources to growing churches, like ours, allowing them to build facilities. They build facilities that enable them to better impact their communities. Consequently, they grow and reach more and more people. That's a good thing.
Of course, there's an investment side of the CDF. In fact, I've offered to participate in a focus group meeting in Columbus, Ohio tomorrow. This focus group is going to spend time discovering new ways to get the word out that the CDF is a good investment. The return is above market and the added benefit is knowing that your investment will go toward helping churches build facilities that allow them to reach more people.
Talk about a "win win!"
I'll post more about the focus group tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the Church Development Fund's website
here.
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