What Is Our Need?

What Is Our Response?

How much
will it cost?

What is
expected of me?

In an overall community of 35,000 residents, it is startling to learn that there are only four evangelical church facilities, with a combined seating capacity of less than 600. Simply put, in order to enhance our ability to reach this community, we need to build a permanent facility. God is blessing Avalon Church with substantial growth in membership and worship participation. We need a place to worship and we need a place to grow. Our Nurseries and Children's ministries need proper facilities to provide not only peace of mind and safety, but also an exciting place for children to come and learn the Word of God. Our youth need a place they can call their own: a place to have fun, to relax, and most of all, a place where they can learn how to identify with Christ in their everyday walk. Our people need classrooms to learn and grow in their faith, a place to enjoy the warmth of fellowship, and a place to experience worship in a first-class facility that will be a light to the surrounding community. If our Church is to reach our neighborhood we need a building to do it.

After careful research and wise counsel from people in various fields of expertise, our church leaders have developed a vision to help reach our neighbors in multiple phases: Phase one will enable us to build a facility with approximately 15,000 sq. ft. to accommodate our immediate needs. The facility will include an auditorium (seating capacity of 400 - 500), state of the art nursery and children's space, offices, and a warm foyer area designed to accommodate visitor welcome and information stations, refreshment booths, overflow seating and fellowship. Subsequent phases, which will be initiated as soon as we are able, could include a second multi-story facility that will accommodate an additional 75,000 sq. ft. of ministry space.

Though the cost of phase one will be approximately three million dollars, our goal is to raise $750,000. This amount will enable us to enter the building next year and allow us to service the debt on a three million dollar loan for a three-year period. Over this time frame, we will evaluate our ability to pay down the loan based on our growth.

Allow prayer to guide you through this campaign. Ask not what you are able to do, but listen for what God would want to do through you, with His grace and your faith. If we would all pray, "Lord, what would You do through me?" imagine what new insights we would find. Is there any doubt that our lives would be changed? And, of course, in the mean time, God's work would get done. Stories of God's work through God's people from God's church would echo throughout our neighborhoods. Our gifts would give again and again through the ministries that take root and blossom in our new church.

"Not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice" best expresses our understanding of biblical stewardship. Not everyone has the resources to make a million dollar gift, but every person can make an impacting sacrificial gift. This is the gift that is most significant in God's eyes and the one that He will bless. Therefore, we encourage an equal sense of commitment throughout our congregation, with each person prayerfully determining what gift he or she will give to reach our neighborhood with the good news of Jesus Christ.