A church building is like a time capsule for the gospel. So long as the building stands, people can gather there to hear the Word preached, prayed, and sung. Therefore, we need a building so that future generations can come to know and love the same truths we have come to know and love.

Our landlord has been generous to us, and we have enjoyed a great relationship with him for the entire life of our church. While there is no reason to believe that might change soon, it will inevitably change—the building will pass to his estate, and we will enter uncharted territory. In the meantime, we spend $132,000 annually on rent. Wisely stewarding the Lord’s resources means moving toward ownership so that those funds build equity for Life Church.

Our current lease terms expire in July 2027. We are working on an extension of those terms, with an option to purchase the building.

We have had open and productive conversations with our landlord about the price of our property. All parties want to agree to terms that are reasonable and fair. As part of our due diligence, we have secured an appraisal of the property and conducted a thorough building inspection so that the purchase price does not exceed the true market value of our space.

Like Life Church, Planet Fitness and Juice Life have medium- to long-term leases for their portions of our property. If/when we can purchase the property, we would assume the rights and responsibilities of the landlord. The rental income from these other tenants would pay down the debt incurred through the purchase of the property.

Barring something dramatic and unforeseen, the purchase of our property will require financing. We have worked with a church finance consultant who has guided us through the early steps of securing that financing. The good news is that the monthly expense of building ownership could be lower than our current lease terms, given the income from the other tenants in our building.

We have worked with a firm that specializes in church building design to develop a master plan for our facility. The first phase of our renovation plan involves an overhaul of our Life Kids and Student Ministry spaces. The second phase of the plan addresses additional adult discipleship space, restrooms, and staff office space in the back/unfinished portion of our building.

During our 9:15 a.m. service, we run out of space in Life Kids almost every week. In 2026, we consistently turned families away due to space constraints. We believe some families have chosen not to return rather than risk not having a seat for their child in Life Kids. Quite simply, we cannot afford to wait the years it might take us to purchase the building before we address phase one of our renovation plan. At this moment, we plan to pursue phase two of the renovation plan only after purchasing the building.

Prayerfully, we are trusting the Lord to provide an additional 1.8 million dollars (beyond our yearly operating budget of $750,000) for a total of 3.3 million dollars in 2027-2028. We aim to be generous stewards of what the Lord provides, using a portion of those funds to bless church-planting and church-strengthening works in places where the gospel is not yet known and treasured by many. The remaining funds will be split between the renovation and saving toward a down payment on our property.

The purchase and renovation of our facility will only be possible if God moves dramatically through the generous giving of the people of Life Church—all of us. We believe this is a critical time in the life of our church, a moment when all who have experienced the Lord’s grace through Life Church must step forward to ensure that our ministry continues for generations.

A generosity initiative is a season of sacrifice and celebration. In light of all that God has done for us—as persons and as a people, we are seeking to respond to his grace by giving with extra intentionality, sacrifice, and joy over two years so that we can accomplish together what God has laid before us. We call this generosity initiative Here. Near. Far.

During these two years, every contribution to God’s work through Life Church is a contribution to Here. Near. Far. Every aspect of the ministry vision God is calling us toward will be funded through this initiative. We will not maintain separate funds for our operating budget and generosity initiative; every gift made will go into the same Here. Near. Far. fund. Therefore, every Lord’s Day becomes an opportunity to celebrate and contribute to what God is doing in and through Life Church as we give to see the gospel advance here, near, and far.

Commitment Sunday is November 8. As our church makes commitments and extra funds start to come in, we will evaluate the possible renovation and purchase timelines accordingly. In the meantime, we continue to do due diligence on the purchase of our property and clarify plans for phase one of our renovation.

We are asking you to pray and seek God for how he wants you to respond. Prepare your heart to hear him, and then listen to what he says. Talk with your spouse and your family about what this commitment will mean for this next season. Respond to the generosity of the gospel by giving extravagantly for the progress of the gospel in our church family, among our neighbors, and around the world.