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About 29 years ago, Faith Bible Church started looking for property or a pre-existing facility that would fit our congregation, and we weren’t finding anything. The current site popped up on the market, a large tract of property in the middle of Spokane. It was in foreclosure, and there were bidders ahead of us seeking to buy it to build multi-family apartments. That proposal was rejected, and so our bid was accepted.
When our construction began, the vision was for a larger campus but to start with an economical footprint building and expand from there. The current auditorium was envisioned to be converted into a gym once a larger auditorium was built later. At first we didn’t have a two-story education wing; we just had enough room for children. Then the education wing was built as part of the second phase of that plan. The third stage, the new auditorium, was never built.
Now the auditorium will remain an auditorium, and that’s why we put in the work to optimize the stage in the 2022 project that we’re paying off as part of this campaign. The elders decided not to build more facilities and incur that large debt; we wanted to keep the costs contained within the capacity of the congregation. They said, “Let’s live within the footprint we have and plant churches.”
Three churches have been planted from that decision: Christ Our Hope, Community Bible Church, and Trinity Church.
As the elders considered what to do with the extra property, it was discovered to be problematic and expensive because part of it is a former dry landfill. Several ideas were explored, but elders didn’t want the church to be in the development business. Eventually, elders decided if we can’t use the extra property for our church’s ministry needs, we shouldn’t let it go unused. We wanted to be good stewards and make the use of that property complementary with both Faith ministries and with the neighborhood, to be good neighbors.
Jim Greenup, a longtime elder at Faith and a developer by vocation, took on the task of exploring the possibilities of how best to use the property. An independent appraisal was done of the property value, and he and a developing group offered to purchase the property at market value. Jim recused himself from elder decisions regarding this sale, but he will also take much more care than a stranger would that the way this property is used is friendly to the church and neighborhood.
There will be enough parking. The west gravel lot was part of the property sale and will soon be closed for that development, but there will still be space reserved in the northeast corner of the campus for overflow parking. That area will hold more cars than the west gravel lot did. Not many people have been parking there, but we can create easier access for overflow parking.
The planned developments have less units than the maximum and will allow more space for parking than is required by law, in order to be a good neighbor to the church and other neighbors by minimizing impact on parking on the street.
In 2023, we closed an agreement to sell the west-side unused property for $300,000, which will be used to fund global outreach to unreached people groups. We’ve received some of that money already, and the rest will be coming in payments over time, going into what we call the All Nations Fund.
We expect to close in May on the sale of the east-side unused property for about $515,000. That will go toward the $2 million capital campaign goal.
The campaign is three years long, with a goal to raise $2 million in 2024-2026. We’ve been in a master planning process for about two years already getting input from members of the congregation as well as Jim Moeller, our deacon for master planning, who is a retired architect.
So we have a few ideas of what we want to do. We’re bringing those to a professional architect, who is in the process of taking our ideas and our needs and sketching out the steps to meet those needs cost-effectively, from big projects like expanding the foyer to smaller things like replacing carpets.
We have done some leg work already, involving architects and people who have experience in estimating costs. Plus, construction costs have gone up a lot recently, so not very much is accomplished by delaying fundraising.
In terms of setting the timeframe and the goal, $2 million over three years, the current annual operating budget is about $2 million. Raising the equivalent of the annual budget over three years fits a standard rule of thumb for a capital campaign. By this fall, we’ll have more detailed plans from the architect to act upon. For now, funds raised will go toward that planning and toward paying off the $250,000 stage renovation debt.
The pledge process is for elders to be able to assess what can be done and the timing of it. As people pray and commit to give, we will have a better idea of what is possible. We may slow projects down or defer them. We’ll be flexible on the timing if the money isn’t there.
The master plan actually covers what we’d like to get done over the next 10 years or so, but we know it will get done in steps. Not all of those things will be accomplished with a three-year campaign. We’re prioritizing to decide what to do now and what to do later.
The carpets are a top priority, among several existing areas we need to care of before trying to expand. It’s not a good testimony to leave some of them the way they are. We need to fix things that are broken: window shades, damaged chairs, etc. We are working to incorporate more of our facility costs into our annual budget so that we eventually won’t need a campaign to take care of ongoing wear-and-tear issues.
The biggest goal project would be expanding the foyer in a way that helps people move through the space between Sunday services and gives us more room for ministry at other times. We’d also like a midsize event room with a capacity for about 175-200 people. Those potentially could be the same project, but that’s part of what we’re hoping the architect will help us figure out.
We are also looking to build bathrooms within the Children’s Wing so that teachers will not have to deal with the safety and logistical problems of bringing children out to use the general bathrooms.
Expanding southward would likely be the easiest way to do that. The architect is working on ideas for that that wouldn’t break the bank. There’s quite a bit of space that way, and some reconfiguration of the parking lot might help make the needed space to still have a covered porch.
We’re envisioning what could make it more welcoming for guests and facilitate visiting, and we would like to modernize and update it if possible to go well alongside the new developments going in on either side. Since we want to make changes already, while we’re at it we’d like to improve the feel of the room. The pictures in our brochure are concepts at other churches from which we’re taking inspiration for what could be.
There may be enough room currently to raise the ceiling about a foot, but we’ll see what the architect comes up with.
Making our space more available and accommodating for making disciples means turning some things that look like classrooms into spaces that are more warm, living-room kinds of spaces. That might include dividing up and redecorating rooms, reconfiguring some of the upstairs Education Wing space to create meeting areas for more groups.
Ideally, we will create something that can be used year-round, possibly building an indoor play space alongside the new bathrooms in the Children’s Wing, so that all of those facilities are behind the safety barrier of the children’s check-in process.
There is a plan to create an outdoor sports court and green space on the east side of the campus. There is an agreement with the developers that this will be shared with the apartments being developed on the east side property. Use of that space will be scheduled in a way that will align well with our ministry schedule.
Of paramount importance is to pray. Those who have attended Faith for the last 30-plus years have prayed consistently for our ministries, and now we’re seeing so much fruit from that. So let’s keep praying. It’s not about a building; it’s about the ministry that is facilitated, training and sending missionaries and pastors and raising up the next generation of children. We have about 30 vocational pastors/elders who were trained here, went to seminary and are now pastoring churches.
Pray for God to continue to use this church to raise up the next generation to understand and walk with the Lord. God takes care of the money thing. The money is not the focus. What will God do and how does he want to use Faith Bible Church?
In our last campaign to reduce the mortgage on our building, people gave way beyond what was pledged. Some people have uncertain income, but in the past God has made a way for them to be able to give something, whether by selling unused property or some other unexpected resource. Some people actually downsized to less expensive homes and downsized their expenses.
We urge people to take care of their personal finances first and be good stewards. If you aren’t already giving regularly to the general fund, that’s your starting point. If you can’t commit, don’t commit. Give what you can, and trust God’s grace and provision to be able to grow in that over the three years of the campaign.
Some people could do that, trusting the Lord. Others need to take time looking at their finances to make that decision. Any pledge is a step of faith because anything can happen to change your financial outlook, whether that be recession, job loss, etc. All our personal stewardship is done in faith in the Lord’s provision. Giving is faith.
Overall, to reach the total goal of the campaign, the congregation will need to give about 20 percent more than is now given to the general fund toward the campaign. Since that is above and beyond general fund giving, that would be a stretch for many. Some will be able to give more and some less.
From Next Generation Facility
