It’s a part of life that things change. If at any time your financial means change we expect you to adjust your giving accordingly. God asks that we give to him proportionately. So if our income decreases OR increases, we should adjust our pledge. What we should NOT do, however, is wait until we feel “secure” about our finances to give to God. We give God firstfruits offerings, which means a portion of every paycheck. Even if the amount seems smaller than we would like it to be, your gift of faith is a pleasing thing to God.
Question: “What if I missed the Faith Walk Bible Study?”
The Faith Walk Bible Study was well attended. The Sunday study was recorded. If you would like the printed materials from the study, please call the church office. Some copies of “Excel in the Grace of Giving” by Stewardship Advisors are still available.
Question: How does the current economy factor into our building plans?
While the economic turndown has hurt property values, it has proven to be beneficial for the construction phase of the project. Our contractor’s latest bids for construction are about $1.4 Million less than earlier bids! Likewise the furniture, equipment and electronics that we will be purchasing for inside the building are also at good prices. This is definitely a good time to be building. (Not only that, but our construction project will help stir the local economy and create jobs!)
Question: Is our loan repayment amount realistic? Can our congregation afford this payment?
Certainly our building project is aggressive. We believe strongly that the Lord has given us the mission of “planting” a church that will serve thousands of people that have yet to move into our area. Because of that, we have ambitious plans to build more than what we need right now. Churches that make the mistake of building just what they can afford at the time find that their growth is soon choked by the buildings they have built. Our loan payment amount will be approximately $56,000 per month. Of that, the preschool is expected to pay at least half – considering that the preschool is about half of the square footage. The remaining $28,000 mortgage can be considered in light of our current expenses. We are already paying about $7500 to LCEF each month on the land loan and about $3500 to the Middle School in rent. So we already have a “mortgage” of about $11,000 per month – but we have no facilities. We currently have Sunday attendances of about 200-230 per week. Our projections show that when we grow our attendance to about 500 per week, we should be able to afford our mortgage. This is a bold step on our faith walk, but we believe with our new facilities and the increased ability to minister to the community, we will see this growth in attendance rapidly
Question: Approximately what percentage of our loan repayment will be made with the preschool revenue?
As the above Q&A relate, the preschool is expected to pay about 50% of the mortgage. The preschool’s pro-forma projections show that this amount can be reached with about 60% enrollment. Enrollments above that may be able to further assist the monthly mortgage of the congregation. The preschool, however, is to be seen as a MINISTRY of Saving Grace Church, NOT a revenue stream.
Question: Is the 2010 Market Feasibility Study, done for our church, Saving Grace Lutheran Church in Queen Creek, good news? Why or why not?
At the request of our lender, LCEF, we hired “Perspectives Consulting Group” to conduct a pre-school market feasibility study. That study has revealed that our projections for preschool attendance are good. There is sufficient demand already for our preschool right now. The combination of demographics (lots of small children in the area), the great location of our church, and the significant lack of Christian preschools in town indicate that we should have no problem reaching our enrollment. Conditions will only improve as the town grows – it is only currently about 25-33% built out. There is a lot of future potential.
Question: Are we seeing any “light at the end of the tunnel” as far as a time frame for being able to use our new buildings?
We have been waiting a long time. This Summer will be 9 years since we started worshipping as a congregation. Between the recent economic changes (see Q&A regarding construction costs) and negotiations with the Town and County concerning the road, we have seen about $2Million in savings on our construction project! The wait has been worth it, and all things are clearly in God’s timing. However, as soon as LCEF (Lutheran Church Extension Fund) approves our loan application, we should be able to break ground within 30 to 60 days after that! We are submitting our loan application in March. If things go well, we should be able to break ground in April or May. The building project is a 10 month building project. Based on that, we may be able to have our grand opening on or near Easter of 2011! Pray.
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