This past Sunday, Riverside began its discussion of the various facility options that have been proposed by the Leadership Team and Development Committee. Please click HERE to see more information.
Riverside will pick up where last week’s discussion left off following the worship service this upcoming Sunday, July 25. Childcare will again be available, along with a pizza lunch. Please try to attend as we desire everyone’s participation in this process. We anticipate that the meeting will last approximately 1 hour.
In an effort to have the greatest participation possible in our discussion, we have also created a space online for you to share comments and questions. You can find this HERE. You can also hear an audio recording of last week’s discussion HERE.
Furthermore, we have put together some additional information that was requested at this past Sunday’s discussion. Also included is a very brief summary of the issues and points that were raised. These are below.
1. Questions were raised about the debt Riverside would incurr. If Riverside chooses to purchase the land it will cost $500,000. Riverside has sufficient cash to put $50,000 down. We would then have an interest only loan through our denomination for $450,000. The interest rate would be 4% resulting in a minimum monthly payment of $1,500 ($18,000/year or 5% of budget). That amounts to $347/week or $2.16/week per adult attendee (based upon current average attendance). Additionally, the County will be purchasing at least 2 acres of the land for the new Cumberland Avenue. The County’s appraiser expects the 2 acres will be purchased for at least $25,000/acre, resulting in at least $50,000 that could come back to Riverside and reduce the debt on the property to $400,000 or less. Riverside’s current summary of assets and liabilities and potential summary of assets and liabilities if the property were purchased can be accessed HERE.
a. Past Budgets
2008 - $285,486
2009 - $24,510 (8.6%) increase to $309,997
2010 - $32,572 (13.4%) increase to $351,569
b. Discussion was had regarding Riverside’s comfort with debt.
i. Some shared that the land was a good investment, would likely increase in value to lessen our risk, and a new facility would provide space for new ministries.
ii. Others shared that Riverside could spend the money in other ways, that our current facility will work well when we switch to two services, and that our facility won’t limit the ministry we can do.
2. Questions were raised about current crowding in Riverside’s Children’s Ministry. Riverside’s Children’s Ministry has been crowded because of our smaller classrooms (~70 kids per Sunday in Spring), but the crowding should be improved with 2 services. It could be possible that we would again have problems in the future with continued growth.
a. Current Average Children’s Attendance:
Infant – 6
Toddlers – 12
3-5yrs – 15
K-3rd – 15
4-5th – 6
3. Some limitations to our current facility named were:
a. Larger Vacation Bible School
b. No immersion baptismal
c. Combined fellowship meals with both services
d. No green space for church picnics, children’s playground, large outdoor gatherings, no fence on property to protect children from road
e. Crowding in welcome center following the service, which makes it more difficult for conversation
f. Limited adult education space/classrooms
g. No multi-purpose floor where we can be messy
h. Sharing office equipment/supplies between two current facilities
i. Parking on the street, which could be lessened by Lindberg road redesign
j. Not friendly to persons with disabilities
4. The advantages to purchasing property named were:
a. New facility could potentially lead to one service again
b. Located on intersection of two busy roads
c. Potential outreach that involves large amounts of green space, such as soccer fields, baseball, etc.
d. Community can utilize the new facility
e. Land is a good investment and has potential for new ministries
f. Property available at this price is a unique opportunity
5. The advantages of staying where we are named were:
a. Current facility will work with 2 services
b. Potentially plant another church
c. Not incurring additional debt
d. Commitment to large ministries in small facilities, living simply
e. Calls people to higher level of commitment to make things work
f. Can use money to do other things
6. The general agreement was that Riverside’s strength is community.
7. It was noted that if Riverside purchases land, it would be at least 2 years before we would be prepared to build. In order to build a new facility Riverside would also need to raise the funds for the building construction.
In what follows, I have
In what follows, I have tried to address all of the questions from Sunday's meeting as well as questions some of you have asked me over the past week. I am sorry it takes so many words, but I wanted to be as complete as I could in my response. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" (Luke 14:28)
I. Debt: the 500 pound gorilla.
1. Covenant Properties will loan us $450,000 (90% of the purchase price of the land) so we will not require a fund raiser.
2. The loan will be interest only until we are ready to build. Since our current decision is not about building, I will only discuss the economics of the time period between purchase and either building or the resale of the land.
3. The interest rate will be 4%.
4. The annual payment to cover this loan would be $18,000. The county will be buying 2+ acres from us for the extension of Cumberland Rd. They will be paying us at least $50,000. We can use this money to pay down our loan to approximately $400,000. Divide this number by 52 weeks and our weekly payment would be $307.69. Divide this by an average attendance of 200 and our per person debt payment would be $1.54 per week. Notice that if attendance continues to increase, which is our expectation going to two services, the per person cost of the land falls.
5. In terms of our total budget, this is about 4%.
6. The land is currently being rented to a farmer to grow soy beans. If we want, we can continue this arrangement and use the revenue to help pay our debt. I would estimate that we could get around $100 per acre per year.
II. Purchasing the land now will leave us less money for other ministries
1. The Bible teaches us that life is always about choices. Spending our time and money on one ministry will necessarily leave us with less time and money for others. However, in making wise choices do not be mislead by false or incomplete arguments.
2. We are not “giving up other ministries.” We are giving up some ministry today in order to have the ability to take on more ministry in the future. For example, if we as a church decide that children and families are our ministry, the land purchase will mean that we have fewer resources today in promise land, nursery, and youth ministry. However, 2 or 3 years from now we would have more class rooms, more playgrounds, more soccer and baseball fields to reach out to more families and children.
3. Also, note that every dollar we pay back on our debt goes to Covenant Properties, the financial arm of our denomination. It does not go to commercial bankers. The dollars we pay back go directly to helping other churches in their ministries. We are actually doing ministry now with the dollars we pay back on our debt.
4. Sunday, it was suggested that we could plant another church rather than buy property. In some sense, that is exactly what our debt payment is doing; helping another Covenant church get started. Not only are we buying property for our own growth, but we are helping other churches get planted.
5. If every attendee of Riverside will agree to increase their weekly giving by $1.54 (over and above what they would give ordinarily) we will not have to decrease any ministry are Riverside.
III. Stay here in our current facility and “fill in the void” left by other churches that have moved outside the city.
1. First, there is no void or absence of churches in West Lafayette. There are over a dozen churches, other than Riverside, in West Lafayette.
2. Undoubtedly the churches that moved out of the city did so because they thought they could do more and better ministry in a new location, with more land and building. Perhaps this is telling us something about our own decision.
3. When the churches moved out of the city, their buildings did not remain empty. Other churches moved in to fill the “void.” When the Church of Christ moved out of our current facility, we moved in. The Chinese Alliance Church has already indicated that they would like to purchase our current facilities (both buildings) when and if we decide to move out to the new property.
IV. The purchase of the land by our church will contribute to “urban sprawl” and take out some of our natural environment.
1. Genesis 1:28. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” Urban sprawl is an inevitable consequence of population growth.
2. In bidding for this land, our competitors were land developers. If we do not buy this land, it will soon be a housing project of some sort or another. Just look at the surrounding properties. They are either already developed or in the planning stages.
3. If we purchase this land, it would probably have one building, our church, some parking and the rest will be green space; trees and flowers we plant, playgrounds, soccer fields. Our purchase of the land will actually reduce urban sprawl and increase the green space. If we decide, in the future, to not build on the land and stay here or go to another location, we can sell the land with conditions on how it will be used or developed.
V. Stay in our current location and be “The Little Church that Could.”
1. This is comparable to saying that our current staff and congregation are not working hard enough in their ministries. Sure, would could go to 3 services each Sunday and have 2 VBSs. However, this is much easier said than done.
2. In the production of anything, from automobiles to corn, we must utilize our resources, land, labor and physical equipment like buildings. Production can usually be increased by increasing one or more of these inputs. They can also be substituted for one another. We can grow more corn by using more land and less labor, or more fertilizer and less land. We can increase our ministry in our current land and building by going to two services, but clearly this increases the demand on our staff and volunteers. At some point, it is less costly to increase the land and buildings, taking the stress off our people.
3. One of the major reasons we moved out of the school gym and bought our current facility is we were afraid we were “burning out” our set up crew. This group of men and women came to the gym every Sunday morning, at least two hours before worship service began, and set up hundreds of folding chairs, a sound system, several childrens’ classrooms and coffee and donuts. Then, one hour later, when the service was over, they would work until everything was packed up into our trailer and store it for another week. Six years later, we thought it time to move on to a church that we could have 24/7.
VI. We are in a recession and a time of great economic uncertainty. This will increase the risk of buying land now.
1. There is risk in everything. If God had wanted us to live in a world with no risk, He would have given us perfect information about the future. Risk is unavoidable. You cannot eliminate it from our lives, but you can choose to some extent the type of risk you want.
2. The recession has done two things. It has increased the uncertainty about the future value of property, thus increasing the risk of the land purchase. It has lowered the price of property and the interest rates, thus lowering the risk of the land purchase. The two effects have probably cancelled each other out.
3. This particular land that we are considering is probably less risky than most other properties in W.L. To illustrate, if we buy one acre of land today at $25,000 and finance it at 4% interest, one year from today if that acre is worth $26,001, we have made a profit on the purchase. When the new Cumberland Rd is completed, it will almost certainly increase the market value of this property by more than the interest rate.
4. Purdue Research Foundation owns much of the land in the areas where we have looked for property. I spoke with their property manager about selling us land in the same area as this parcel. He said they did own much of the land on this side of town and they would be willing to sell us some, but not now. They wanted to wait until the new roads were completed because they were sure this would increase the value of the land significantly.
5. As our current legislature continues to spend money it does not have, our Federal Reserve has increased the rate at which it creates dollars. Historically, in the U.S. (as well as every country in the world), when the central bank significantly increases the money supply, there will be inflation as the value of a dollar falls. It is not wise to hold onto dollars when inflation is expected. Land (or other real assets) offer us good protection against inflation.
VII. Now is not the right time. Let’s wait and buy land sometime in the future.
1. See points 2 – 5 in VI above. Now is probably the best time to convert our dollars into land. The land we are considering is a particularly good investment due to the construction of the new roads, State Rd 231 and the new Cumberland.
2. We will probably be in our current facility for at least 2 more years. In the future, when it comes time to make a decision to build a new facility, if we have found a better location, we can sell this property and buy the more preferred land.
God's call for Riverside
After attending last Sunday’s forum, I began writing down comments to share via the online discussion. I had typed numerous versions of paragraph after paragraph trying to summarize my feelings on all of the points mentioned at the forum and in previous posts. Finally, I realized that all I really should address is the core issue that the Lord has put on my heart: His call for us as church.
While I think we all agree that the Development Committee has located a very reasonable piece of property, our financial decisions must be motivated by God’s will for us as a body and not by a good price. Wise investment is a type of stewardship, but so is proper debt management. I believe that Jesus’ words regarding our inability to serve both God and money are particularly pertinent. I feel that this warning not only applies to those who seek to accrue wealth for themselves, but also to those whose financial management impedes their ability to freely serve the Lord as He commands. The key here is “as He commands.” Yes, we should be able to make our payments on the land without a loss in ministry funding and our payments would filter back to other churches through the denomination. However, I seriously question whether this is how the Lord is calling us to use the funds He has blessed us with. And I would hope that we would not even consider acquiring this much debt without being sure that it is necessary for God’s purpose for us.
As John mentioned in his post, life is about choices. But there is more to our choice than “giving up some ministry today in order to have the ability to take on more ministry in the future.” To me, the issue is not the amount of ministry that we take on but the style of it. From what has been discussed, many people seem to be envisioning our church as a place where the community can gather at soccer fields and baseball diamonds and encounter the Lord through the congregation there. Obviously, such a perspective is going to require more space than our current facility can offer. An alternative view would be the church as a group of people who reach out to the community in the places where they live, work, and play to share the Lord with them. This is something that our current facility not only allows, but I would argue, promotes. The beauty of a church that is bursting at the seams is that it naturally spills over into the community. I love that a neighbor can’t walk down the sidewalk without actually walking through our annual block party. I love that homeowners must be scratching their heads in wonder at the cars stretching down the streets on Sunday mornings. Beyond my own feelings, I would give this up and move on if I thought that God was calling us to, but I don’t think that He is. We may not be able to invite neighbors to our church to play basketball, but we can certainly go to a public court and build relationships with the people there. We may not have our own soup kitchen, but there are kitchens and community centers already built and desperate for help. In my eyes, for the three years that Paul and I have attended Riverside, this is the vision that the church has had.
Some may say that the difference between these perspectives is subtle or even nonexistent. I believe, however, that they describe two very different churches. Others may argue that we can put these two views together and minister in both ways. While I think that elements of both can be incorporated over time, each requires a very different allocation of our resources. Thus, as we look to make a decision that affects our finances, facilities, and investment of time and energy, one view must take precedence. Clearly, each decision will have pros and cons. A new facility will provide more space but less financial flexibility. The current facility will provide more financial freedom but will require extra work to make the adjustment to two services. (On this point, I want to note that the transition is something that we all can contribute to, not just leaving it all to staff members. We are not saying that our staff or congregation should be doing more, but that we are all willing to do more because it aligns with God’s will.) But in the end, it all boils down to how we are being called, and I think God wants to do something very big with Riverside right here where we are.
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