It has been less than a year since we first shared the Rocky Creek plans to increase capacity and flexibility on our campus.  In a short amount of time, many details have come together, many funds have been contributed, and many steps have been made.  We moved into the gym on Sunday, August 26th to clear the path for the renovations, and they are now underway.  The goal has been to worship in the gym for 3 months and to return to the sanctuary by December 2018.

In December 2017, the church agreed to proceed with a 4-phase building project.  Within days from now, Phase 2 (the playground) will be complete after dealing with some delays due to equipment being damaged due to a factory fire.  After installation of some final items, the playground will be complete and under budget.

The church committed to spending a set amount on Phase 1 (sanctuary) and Phase 3 (flexible meeting spaces – choir room and multipurpose room).  In less than a year, the original quotes for the project have increased due to certain reasons:

1. Construction inflation costs
2. More detailed pricing
3. Challenging construction situations (with renovating an older, existing building)
4. Additional needs discovered
5. Costs of moving worship into the gym

In an effort not to exceed the agreed upon amount, the church council has removed certain equipment items from the budget.  By taking some of these equipment items from the plan, we are safely under a fixed budget which allows us to begin construction within our preferred timeline.  If we don’t begin construction soon, we will incur more costs due to longer rental fees for being in the gym and construction costs continuing to rise.

In addition, extended time in the gym prevents us from leading the Upward Ministry in January or use the gym for outreach efforts.  Both the financial and ministry costs are important enough that we need to begin construction immediately.  Failure to begin now would cause a domino effect that will impact much of our church’s budget and calendar.

The Plan

As we continue to go forward in the weeks to come, here are our steps forward:

1. The church has committed to CEC Construction to begin demo work.  While some exploratory steps have already been taken, the crews will pick up the pace on Tuesday, Sept. 4th.
2. The church council continues to finalize a punch list of items that are included in the agreed upon budget with the intent to keep essential items and to press pause on certain non-essential items.
3. Once every detail is covered, the church’s trustees will sign a contract within the previously agreed upon budget to lock-in work and pricing with CEC Construction and LS3P Architectural Firm.
4. While we can operate without certain equipment items that were originally intended, the church council believes it is wise for our church body to commit to these items (mainly audio equipment, visual projection, lighting improvements, and directional signage) outside of the original construction budget.
5. In order to keep the quality what we believe it should be in phases 1 & 3, and to collect an initial commitment to phase 4, we are asking the church body to pray about giving a onetime Over and Beyond Offering on Sunday, Sept. 30th.  We would use this offering towards covering the costs for phase 1 & 3 equipment and preparing the way for phase 4.  Up to this point, we have been blessed by some gifts that have allowed us to make phases 1-3 a possibility, and we have intentionally not begun an official fundraising campaign up to this point.  As a church family, we are asking you to consider what you could do to give Over and Beyond your normal offering to help us propel these opportunities forward.
6. If you have any questions about these steps, you are more than welcome to attend a Q&A meeting in the Fellowship Hall on Sunday, Sept. 2nd at 5:00 PM.

We are grateful to God’s provision thus far, and we are trusting Him as we continue to go forward.