About the Renew Campaign
The Renew campaign was launched in 2020 to address the urgent needs of our aging church home at 600 Forest Avenue. Inflation, the pandemic, and a number of other issues drove the cost of the project up from $12MM to $18.24MM. The church has joyfully and generously given, and to date we have $18.29MM in pledges and cash donations. If you would still like to give, you can!
Construction is underway and on schedule for us to resume services in our long-term church home this Fall.
Our Priorities
The Renew Campaign is grounded in five core priorities that have guided our planning and decisions since they were established in 2019, and we are excited to see them realized when we move back into our renewed home.
Children
Secure and modern spaces for our children to learn, worship, and play.
Students
Clean, useful and flexible space for students to build relationships and explore their faith.
Community Space
A central gathering space for our people to connect and build community.
Sanctuary Access
Improved accessibility into Sanctuary, and additional structural improvements and aesthetic updates.
Infrastructure
Repair and replace old and failing systems (HVAC, electrical, fire, safety), modernize our technology, and improve our exterior footprint.
How We Got Here
On March 22, we announced that we reached our initial goal of $12 million… the same Sunday we hosted our first online service due to COVID-19.
In the following months, we received word that our original plans were beyond the scope of our funding. Because of this and the great economic uncertainty, the project was then paused. We nonetheless praise God for such abundant financial provision in this first phase of the campaign!
Plans were completely redesigned and commitments reaffirmed. Many pledges were increased and new commitments were made.
Even though we lost some pledges along the way, our church exceeded our original pledged amount, totaling $12.4MM, despite great uncertainty in the world and within our own congregation. While many projects were stalling or closing altogether, ours moved forward. We thank God for his hand over our people and this plan.
Inflation soared to historic highs, and estimates for our already-redesigned plans were now 45% over budget.
In May’s congregational meeting, we shared that our teams would begin work to revise the plans once again. Over the following months, our architects designed a reduced-scope plan that still achieved the key priorities of the renovation. Session also approved additional changes that met some of our most critical needs in the building, including new windows and an access ramp to the front of the sanctuary. God was pruning us down to the key essentials we need to thrive—both in our budget and in our physical space. He was continuing to right-size our plans, and confirmed our decisions through prayers, fasting, and unified Session discernment. At the end of this process, the budget had increased to $15 million, but our plans more clearly reflected our values for modesty, stewardship, and sustainability for future generations.
After moving to Regency in January, we were alerted twice more that inflation continued to rise on our costs before we were able to sign a fixed-price construction contract. This has capped our costs for a project total budget of $18.24 million. After meeting and praying again, Session agreed on a campaign goal of $4.8 million that would make up the difference from what has been committed to date. In unity together, and in trust in the Lord’s leading, the fifteen members of Session pledged a total of $937,500 towards this next chapter of the campaign.
We were confident that God was calling us to complete this renovation project and return to our building in 2024.
In February, we launched the second chapter of the Renew campaign with the goal to reach $4.8 million. On March 17, we celebrated the completion of the campaign together, announcing that we had actually surpassed the goal and received $5.4 million in pledges and donations. We now look forward to the coming months as we prepare to move back into our renovated building.
Construction is on track to be completed in September 2024, and we expect to resume services in the building in November.