Capital Campaign
2023
Discovery
In 2023 NSCBC leadership began having conversations about improving our physical spaces to better support our mission.
We gathered church leadership (Staff, Deacons, & Elders) to outline the problem and propose possible solutions. The result was a unanimous decision to explore a capital campaign to address the building’s physical limitations.
In consultation with Elders and church leadership, a capital campaign committee was formed. This group has been hard at work gathering information from ministry leaders, meeting with consultants, organizing our listening sessions, and dreaming together about what could be.
Scope & Scale
One of the first questions we asked is “how big?” We knew that something needed to be done, but how much would be required? The longer we sat with this question and the closer we looked at our needs, the more we realized that our building is not adequately supporting the ministry contained inside. Not only are deferred maintenance projects accumulating, ministries are hindered by lack of physical space and the energy of our leaders is being wasted on unnecessary projects in attempt to work around the constraints of our building.
2024
In March and April we held listening sessions to confirm the discernment of the leadership team.
As a Baptist church with a strong congregational polity, we believe that God speaks strongly through the collective voice of the congregation. So as we gathered and organized feedback, we looked for consensus to help us discern what to explore. From the listening sessions and the survey, we found consensus in…
- Unifying our children’s ministry spaces within a single, expanded location, on the lower level, including under the gym (capacity issues, need for convenience, storage, check-ins, safety, noise during worship service, etc.)
- Unifying and beautifying the sanctuary (reuniting and opening up the front and back, natural light, addressing sensory/accessibility issues, beautiful focal point at front, possible balcony, etc)
- Making the building easier to navigate (eliminating confusion, welcoming visitors, etc.) and creating a larger gathering area for Sunday fellowship.
- Opening spaces for discipleship, outreach, and ministry (e.g. small groups, places for prayer, small and medium classrooms and spaces, as well as informal ‘living room’ spaces for fellowship.)
- Improved supportive spaces, including centralized offices, accessible bathrooms, a sensory respite room, nursing mothers’ space, and better storage throughout.
Building Survey
We also sought feedback from an all-church survey.
Family Meeting
On April 28th, we gathered the congregation and sought affirmation to move forward by an informal show-of-hands to move forward on two parallel fronts:
- Direct an architect to help move from priorities and values to concrete ideas and plans.
- Engage a campaign consultant to help us raise money toward our project, through an approach that is guided by scripture, that involves a large percentage of church members in the work of the campaign as well as the giving toward the campaign, and is based on prayer and joyful sacrifice instead of pressure and manipulation.
Conceptual Designs
In May and June we shared the first draft of a conceptual design for the church campus. This concept takes feedback from our listening sessions and survey
Focus Groups
In the summer of 2024 we gathered focus groups related to three distinct ministry areas: Children/Youth, Worship, and Fellowship/Outreach to further identify needs and refine ideas related to specific spaces and their use.
2025
Phase I Beginnings
This fall, after securing quotes from three companies and working with a consultant, we identified SV Design and Groom Construction to work with for Phase I. Since then, we have been working closely with SV Design and Groom Construction on a plan that will meet the needs and fit the ethos of our church.
Focus Groups
In January, we held a focus group attended by many of our Children’s program teachers, to review and discuss several sets of designs drawn up by SV Designs. You can view those designs, along with a summary of the focus group conversation, at the links below.