Imagine

Front Entrance



Roof Renovation 

 

 

The Imagine Campaign is a look into the future of SonRise. More than a building program, Imagine is a plan to strengthen all areas of ministry from the front door to committed Christ followers. We hope the following information will answer many of your questions concerning what's to come!

Growing Relationships
Family Ministry
Outreach
Worship
Guest Experience
A Completed Ministry Tool
A Church on Mission
How You Can Make a Difference
Being a Church for the Unchurched
Frequently Asked Questions

Imagine...GROWING RELATIONSHIPS

Jesus commissioned the church to make disciples. This commission in Matthew 28:19-20 includes the concept of evangelism as well as spiritual growth of the believer. The very word “disciple” means not only a Christian, but one who has a growing, passionate relationship with Jesus Christ. Our facility is a tool we use on a daily basis for discipleship and evangelism. Whether a group is meeting for prayer and Bible study or unbelievers are attending an Upward basketball game, our building is a great resource to help us accomplish our mission.

Part of our renovation plans will include adding space for adult small groups or mid-week classes. Even as in our last project we added children’s space, this new expansion program will add space for adult groups in an upstairs portion above part of the current weight room. There will be rooms created as a home environment for small group meetings, a conference room, office space, and additional space for medium sized groups.

Imagine...FAMILY MINISTRY

We live in a community surrounded by families. Within a 10 mile radius around SonRise, the median age is 32 years old, and the majority of homes include a couple with children. We believe it is important to provide a facility that will enhance our outreach and ministry to families. Part of our renovation effort will address improvements in our children and preschool areas. While we will add adult discipleship space in the second floor area, we will create additional preschool space attached to our current nursery area. We will also renovate our children’s area making it more “kid friendly” and inviting to young people. We will include creative artwork following the theme of our children’s ministry – Route 66. Our improvements in the gym area will also be a great enhancement in our ministry to families.

Imagine...OUTREACH

We believe that God has called us to be a church for the unchurched. Within a 10-mile radius around our church, 80% of the residents do not attend church. The first step in our mission strategy is a step of friendship. It is imperative that we work to build relationships with those who do not have a church home or do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The second step of our mission strategy is to invite our new friends to events where they will meet other Christians and hear the gospel presented. Our facility is a great resource for all of us to use as a tool to reach our unchurched friends. For example, our Wellness and Recreational Ministry areas provide for us a great resource to use in connecting with the unchurched.

Part of our project will bring improvements to our gym and weight room. The gym is in desperate need of a new floor and the weight room will be improved with new carpet, paint, and a mezzanine area for the stationary bicycles and treadmills. It is critical that we improve the facility in order to more effectively reach people through these vital programs.

Imagine...WORSHIP

Our first core value states that we value God as the giver and sustainer of life who is worthy of our worship and complete devotion. We want to do everything possible to enhance our weekly worship experience by providing an environment that is conducive to worship. Our project will include improvements to our auditorium with paint, sound and lighting upgrades, and some enhancements to the front stage area.

We believe the visual appearance of our auditorium is important to the worship experience of our guests who come to meet with God as they are looking for a new church home and to our members who gather here weekly.

Imagine...GUEST EXPERIENCE

Our guests will make the decision whether or not to return within the first few minutes of their visit. Their first response has nothing to do with programming but rather how the facility looks. While we are working to improve our programs and methods of greeting guests, it is critical that
our facility reflect excellence in every way. These improvements will bring about a sense of completion to our building and a very useful resource in connecting with our guests.

While many of the renovations will obviously impact the guest experience, one significant area of improvement will be the exterior portion of our front entrance. This improvement will include covered walkways, a patio entrance and a stucco covering over the concrete walls.

Imagine...A COMPLETED MINISTRY TOOL

In 2006 our building team established a direction for us to follow in our renovation plans. We are
continuing to process those plans and implement them according to our current needs. We hope through this campaign to raise the needed funds to complete all three phases of renovation by the end of the three year period.

PHASE ONE:
ANTICIPATED START DATE: ASAP
1. Roof repair
2. Improve the look of our front entrance
3. A few improvements to our worship area
including paint, some walls to the side of
our stage area, and some sound and
lighting improvements.
ESTIMATED COST: $550,000

PHASE TWO:
ANTICIPATED START DATE: FALL OF 2011
1. Gym Renovation – This will include a new
gym floor, painting the walls and ceiling,
sound and scoreboard improvements,
and new baseboards.
ESTIMATED COST: $105,000

PHASE THREE:
ANTICIPATED START DATE: FALL OF 2012
1. Children’s space and rooms for Adult
Discipleship – This includes building additional
rooms in the upstairs portion of the
building over part of the existing weight
room. This will provide additional
nursery/preschool space downstairs and
meeting rooms upstairs for small groups,
adult midweek, etc. The children’s area
will be renovated with creative artwork
and painting.
2. Renovate the weight room/wellness area –
This will include paint, carpet, completing
the walls, and adding a
balcony/mezzanine area for stationary
bicycles and treadmills.
ESTIMATED COST: $458,000

Imagine...A CHURCH ON MISSION

We believe strongly that we should be involved actively in missions at home and around the world. We are including a missional element in this campaign that will hopefully make a statement to us about the importance of current and future mission involvement. We will be giving 5% of the gifts received to missions, with a special focus on local missions. While in the future we would like to give more from our annual budget
to local missions, we think this will be a great start to an improvement to local missions involvement.

From a long-term perspective, our hope is to not only complete these renovations, but also to get completely out of debt so our focus can be on missions and ministry and not debt retirement. We believe it is possible for this campaign to not only bring in enough financial resources for the
needed renovations, but also to make a sizeable contribution to debt retirement. While we have taken a small step toward paying off our debt by making one extra payment per year, we feel it would honor the Lord for us to work proactively to pay off our building loan. As this is accomplished, we will be in a greater position to plant churches, reach the lost, and minister to the needy.

Imagine...HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

PRAY - First it is important to remember that this campaign is all about spiritual growth and renewal. It is true that while we want a dry facility, we do not want a dry heart. We believe that what God wants most is a submissive will and a responsive spirit. The Bible is clear that most problems we face as Christians begin as spiritual issues. Capital gains and stewardship are really spiritual issues that require more than just financial giving. With that in mind, this Imagine Campaign is calling us to a time of seeking God through prayer, worship, the scripture, and obedience. Our first step needs to be one that takes us to our knees and to God’s word.

CONNECT - You can be involved by connecting to the vision and mission strategy of SonRise. The only way our church will accomplish our mission is if we collectively work together to fulfill the mission. It is also important that we connect to one another. This is a call to unity and fellowship. God wants a unified church who is on mission together.

GIVE - Finally, you can be involved by giving and giving sacrificially. We believe God is calling us to a time of obedience and sacrifice as we
give financially to the ministry of our church through tithes and offerings and as we give to this campaign with gifts above our regular offerings. We are asking every family to consider a three-year pledge to help us accomplish the financial goals of this campaign. We are asking you to lead your family through a time of prayer as you prepare to make your financial pledge to this campaign. We trust the Lord to direct you and your family to give as He provides.

Imagine...BEING A CHURCH FOR THE UNCHURCHED

We believe God has called us to lead people to have a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. This includes discipling Christians as well as
reaching the lost. SonRise was intentionally designed from the beginning to be a contemporary church seeking to reach out to the 80% our community who do not attend church. In order for us to accomplish this mission, we must be a spiritually vibrant church that is filled and directed by the Spirit of God. We must be strategic in our programming and facility design to connect with the unchurched in such a way that they will be open to hearing the wonderful news of the Gospel. We must be committed to building relationships with unbelievers so they will be open to hearing a verbal witness and to seeing an example of a transformed life.

Imagine what it would be like to be a church on mission, seeking God together, and bearing fruit for God’s glory! While this campaign is
designed to help us improve our facilities, it is all about helping us to be the people God intends us to be: honoring Him, on mission together, and
bearing fruit for eternity. God really does want to do “…immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…”, and he wants to help us experience
Him beyond measure. I hope that you and your family will pray about your part in our Imagine campaign. Let’s work together so God can be glorified in His church.

Frequently Asked Questions

IS THIS CAMPAIGN ABOUT SPIRITUAL RENEWAL OR RAISING FUNDS?
Both. Our greatest need is to seek the Lord and His will. Stewardship is a spiritual issue, and we believe that true stewardship is a call to submit to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. We want this campaign to focus on spiritual renewal while calling the church to biblical stewardship and sacrificial giving toward our renovation project.

HOW WILL SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT OCCUR THROUGH THIS CAMPAIGN?
Spiritual development happens as people encounter God through prayer, scripture, worship, and life circumstances. Through the campaign we will encourage personal and corporate prayer through various prayer events and resources including “40 Days of Prayer and Fasting,” a 24 hour prayer vigil, a prayer journey at the church and special times of family prayer and devotions. In addition to this, there will be a message series calling SonRise to seek the Lord. We will also ask our small groups to include some discussion and interaction about what God is doing throughout the campaign.

WHAT ARE WE PLANNING TO RENOVATE?
The renovation project will provide much needed completion and preservation of our facility. The first priority is to repair the roof, improve the front entrance to the church, and touch up the paint and front platform area in the auditorium. We will then address the gym with paint and a new gym floor, and then add some adult discipleship space for small groups or mid-week classes.

Along with the space for adults, we will extend the nursery space and do some remodeling in our children’s area. We will also complete the weight room area with walls, carpet, and paint. Look in our brochure for more details.

WHY RENOVATE NOW?
As you may know, our roof has leaked for many years, and it continues to worsen with time. The water is now beginning to damage other areas in
our church and will eventually affect the structural integrity of the building. We also believe the additional renovations will help us accomplish our mission and better impact our community. The renovations will provide needed improvements that will help improve the quality of our ministry.

WHEN DO WE BEGIN CONSTRUCTION?
We are hoping to begin phase one – the roof, front entrance, and worship area – this summer. We will begin other improvements as the money becomes available.

WHEN IS THE PROJECT TO BE COMPLETED?
We have projected the renovations to take three years. While we may have to draw from a line of credit or from a short-term loan in order to complete phase one, we anticipate this amount being paid in full within a year or so. We would like to pay cash for the additional improvements.

WHAT IS THE TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET?
Approximately $1 million.

HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE RAISED?
The funds will be committed as pledges by our congregation during our “Imagine” capital stewardship campaign. We will have our Celebration
service with our First Fruits Offering. This offering will be a part of the pledges made by our congregation, and the remaining part of the pledged offering will be received over a three-year period. New members will be invited to join the campaign through our new member’s class.

HOW WILL THE COMMITMENTS BE MADE?
Commitments will be made either by giving weekly, monthly or annually over a three-year period. Commitment cards will be signed at the Leadership Commitment Event and on Celebration Sunday. After the initial Celebration event, commitment cards will be shared with new members through our regular Starting Point class. Some may also be led to give non-cash gifts such as real estate and jewelry.

CAN COMMITMENTS BE CHANGED, IF NECESSARY.
Yes, you may either increase or decrease your commitment at any time the Lord leads.

WHAT IS THE “MISSIONAL” ELEMENT OF THE CAMPAIGN?
We believe God has called us to impact our community and the world through personal involvement in missions. We have decided to give 5% of the offerings to reputable mission causes in our community and around the world.