What were the results of the capital campaign vote?
We are excited to announce that on Sunday evening, October 2nd, the Welcome Home! Capital Campaign vote passed with 76% of members voting yes, and 67% of all votes cast by members and regular attenders. In all, about 200 ballots were cast which represents perhaps ½ or ⅓ of the eligible members and regular attenders who are active in our Rush Creek family. We know that there are at least four notable factors to those who have concerns about the campaign and these considerations do not fall on deaf ears.
At the same time, we have heard a great deal of trust and confidence in the fact that 32 leaders of this church brought the proposal in unity to be voted upon by the congregation. Each person/family representing our leadership teams—Elders, Deacons, Trustees, and Staff—is committed to financially support the Welcome Home! Campaign. Those same leaders have heard and continue to pray for many decisions yet to be made and with those cautions in mind too.
How will we accomplish this campaign?
The short answer is “together”!
Over the next three weeks more campaign information will be made available to the congregation including opportunities to prayerfully and financially participate in this 14-month campaign.
Why this campaign now?
Many additional capital items have come to the end of their life. We knew this would be the case as we embarked on Project Renewal (our last campaign). We have been able to tackle other capital replacements since that last campaign, but there is more to do. Additionally, around 40% of those who actively call Rush Creek their home church were not here during the last campaign. Despite the economy, giving remains strong, the Lord is at work, the capital replacement needs are real, and the leadership has been praying about each facet of this campaign for over one year.
Why tackle so much?
Over half of the capital campaign budget is to replace the parking lot. As leadership prayed over which capital replacements to tackle in the next year and half, we discerned that more money would be unnecessarily spent repaving the parking lot in two or more stages.
Is this the last campaign for a while?
No. We have literally dozens of furnaces, a/c units, large air handling units, a flat roof, and other expenditures that we can anticipate even after this campaign. With this current campaign, we are also laying groundwork for a new outbuilding for which the cost would potentially be paid for through a follow up campaign. What the congregation has approved is the next set of expenditures. With $7+ million in physical assets—to whom much is given, much is required.
Do we set aside money each year since we know that big ticket items will need to be replaced?
Our current ministry budget exceeded one million dollars for the first time this year. We are thankful that even in challenging economic times, God blesses us with the income for such a significant annual budget and amazing ministry opportunities. Philosophically, we have chosen to spend ministry dollars on today’s ministry. Historically we have chosen to tackle capital improvement and replacement, in large part, through capital campaigns. Additionally, a guideline has been to move income in excess of three months operating expenses from the ministry fund into the capital replacement fund. This important topic is something we revisit each year as leadership.
Why do we still have debt?
While we incurred some debt during Project Renewal, since then we have also chosen to tackle a few additional big ticket items such as reshingling our entire roof and repaving office parking spots with concrete in lieu of paying off debt. The choice has been made to not gamble with inflation, nor potentially incur higher interest rates. We could service our entire debt in full today if needed.
When will we pay off that debt?
Fifty thousand dollars is part of this campaign in order to continue making accelerated debt payments. If someone would like to designate their giving to paying off debt we are certainly open to that. At our current interest rate and the effect of inflation on capital replacement costs, we will carry a low interest rate loan as well as a no interest personal loan and continue to pay monthly. At our rate of payment/interest, our debt will be paid off in 2026, with the loan maturing in 2024. Our plan is to pay off the debt in a future campaign if not sooner.
Will we incur more debt with this campaign?
No. Not long-term debt. The plan is to address these items in such a way that we borrow only for cash flow purposes. This means that as we anticipate healthy lead gifts and pledges, any initial borrowing would first be from ourselves. Rush Creek maintains a very healthy bank account balance. Second, we may need to dip into our low interest rate line of credit to manage cash flow prior to promised monies being given.
How long is the Welcome Home! Campaign?
The campaign is 14 months long spanning November of ‘22 through December of “23, encompassing two end year-end giving opportunities. Historically calendar year-end is consistently when our congregation demonstrates incredible financial generosity.
Who is being asked to give toward this campaign?
The short answer is everyone! Right now we are looking for lead gifts. Early November we will be asking the entire congregation to participate in the campaign. On Sunday morning you often hear us talk about the other ministries that use Rush Creek throughout the week. We will also avail to their leadership some giving opportunities for those in their programs.
What if we don’t meet our financial goal in pledges?
Historically, giving to campaigns exceeds what is pledged. This was true for our most recent campaigns. That to say, there is not a simple formula to know if we are on track. We are stepping out in faith. At the same time, we are attempting to tackle many different projects. We can minimize our financial exposure simply by planning well the timing of our capital replacements/improvements.
Is all church leadership behind this campaign?
Yes. No one person is driving this agenda. This is our first campaign under a new leadership structure of the church and the unity has been a huge blessing navigating through a slightly different process. Among the Elders, Deacons, Trustees and Staff, all have shown unity moving forward there is no indication there will be anything less than 100% financial support behind this campaign from our leadership.