A “one fund” initiative simply means that all of our giving for the next two years, both our regular giving as well as giving for the Hope Overflowing initiative, will go into the same unrestricted fund. The $20 million goal we have for this campaign includes both our normal operating budget for the next two years ($10 mil), as well as the funds for this expanded initiative ($10 mil). Unlike a traditional capital campaign, we’re not raising money for a specific project but, instead, are trying to increase overall giving which will, in turn, fund specific projects. In other words, the initiative aims to cast vision holistically about the entire mission of Hope, not just a specific project or budget.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
We know all of this is likely stirring up questions for you. Below, we’ve tried to address some of the most common questions we’ve received so far. If you have other things you’d like to ask or discuss, we would love to sit down with you and do that! Please don’t hesitate to reach out, and we can easily set up a time to get together.
On Commitment Sunday (March 17th), we’ll ask everyone to submit a pledge card with the amount they intend to give towards this initiative over the next two years. (Check out this sample commitment card to help calculate your gift amount.) If you’d like to make a one-time gift prior to Commitment Sunday that will count towards your pledge, please email us for more info for how to do that.
There are a myriad of ways to give to our church. In addition to regular cash gifts (that can be given online or mailed to our office), there are a number of non-cash options for giving as well. These include, but are not limited to, stock gifts, property, securities, retirement plans, or through donor advised funds, foundations, life insurance, trusts, or annuities.
We are still very committed to planting churches, and actually plan to do so out of OP in the near future. However, due to our current rate of growth, church planting alone won’t solve our space problem. The amount of people that are coming into Hope far exceeds the number of people that would be sent out as a launch team for a new church. We’re simply growing faster than our ability to plant.
We are not changing our vision or emphasis with this expansion. Currently, although our OP and South End congregation sizes are about the same on a Sunday morning, the seating capacity at OP is only half of what the seating capacity is at South End. This construction project would simply be bringing OP’s sanctuary to a similar seating capacity as our South End site.
We are continuing to think about, pray about, and disciple new men and women into leadership positions at Hope. This February, we will be electing new officers to the church, and we plan to continue to add officers as the Lord calls them and as we’re able to train them. We’ve recently added Sid Druen as our full time Community Groups Pastor, and we are diligently working to train community group leaders and add new community groups each semester, which flows into part of our shepherding model, as well.
This is the first step in a larger process to address space and facility needs at all three sites. While OP has the most pressing need at the moment, in the very near future we will need to find more permanent worship places for both South End and Cotswold before rising property costs push us out of the parts of the city to which we feel the Lord has called us. By giving to address the property needs at OP now, we’re setting ourselves up to be able to tackle the coming needs at Cotswold and South End by carrying less debt in the coming years.
Hope has always sought to be a church that existed for the city instead of for ourselves. When we took on the Creating Space Giving Initiative in 2015, the generosity of people at our church created space for many of you to now be a part of Hope. Your generosity during this initiative will, in turn, create space for new members and visitors to experience the gospel. As generosity at Hope expands with the discipleship of new people, they too will have the opportunity to invest in what God is doing in other parts of the city in the days and years ahead.
We have funds allocated and approved from our current budget for repairs and improvements at our Cotswold site. We’ve submitted these plans to the Seventh Day Adventist Church and have been patiently awaiting approval to make those changes.
Should we have the opportunity to purchase the SDA church building, having the equity at OP to secure financing will be a real asset for us.