Committing Today, Building Tomorrow
A SACRED TRUST
From the dawn of creation, God has been revealing himself so that people might know and follow Him. He sent his Son Jesus to demonstrate how much he loves every person in the world. Jesus then committed to his followers the privilege and responsibility of revealing God’s heart to a broken world.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
- 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
Century after century has gone by where ordinary men and women, just like us, took this commitment to heart. Our faith in God is in large part due to the many that have gone before us. Every day we have the opportunity to be a continuation of this great history.
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our history
CHURCH PLANTING DNA
The Urban Refuge is part of Evergreen Community Church which has embraced a “one church, many locations” strategy for reaching the Twin Cities and beyond with the love of Christ. Since 1988, five new locations have been founded: four in the Twin Cities and one in Berlin, Germany.
In 1999, Pastor Andy Gray led a team of volunteers on a “Mission to the City,” a new outreach committed to demonstrating Christ-like kindness to the people of Minneapolis. God used that time and stirred members’ hearts to plant a church in the city, and in January of 2003, The Urban Refuge was born in the Uptown Area at Jefferson School.
THE LEARNING YEARS
While Jefferson School met our needs for weekend services, three obstacles to growth became apparent. First, our vision was more suited for a neighborhood church, where relational and service investment could take place. Uptown is a highly transitional community that was not conducive to this approach. Second, there was a need for a gathering space during the week which Jefferson School did not provide. Third, the majority of people attending The Urban Refuge lived in the Nokomis neighborhood or further south, which limited opportunities to invite neighbors to church. We decided to relocate.
FOLLOWING GOD’S HAND
In the spring of 2005, God graciously led us to Edgewater Baptist Church, where a faithful group of believers that had been living witnesses for over 50 years, were praying for God to bring “new life” to their church. A partnership was formed and The Urban Refuge moved to 55th and Chicago, meeting on Saturday evenings. The Urban Refuge stabilized as a church and slowly began to grow.
KERNELS OF WHEAT
Edgewater chose to end their ministry as a church in 2007. Though this was a difficult time, their commitment to our common sacred trust remained. Commendably, they laid down their ministry in the same sacrificial way that Jesus laid down his life - so that others may live.
To this day, we remain grateful to Edgewater members and friends for the great love they showed us and their wonderful example of sacrificing for a cause greater than themselves.
NEW LIFE BEGINS
With the closing of Edgewater, The Urban Refuge moved its services to Sunday mornings in April of 2007 and began renting the facility from the Minnesota Baptist Conference. Since that time the church has grown by more than 50%, with the majority of new attendees coming from nearby neighborhoods. Relationships are being formed and deepened in the community and with each other.
OUR OPPORTUNITY
We have now been given the opportunity to purchase this facility at a discounted price because of our relationship with Edgewater. The Minnesota Baptist Conference has accepted our offer, contingent upon a successful capital campaign. This is our opportunity to follow in the footsteps of previous generations by sacrificing for a cause greater than ourselves.
building tomorrow
There he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.
- Psalm 107:36-38
God gave us this promise over three years ago and he’s fulfilling it right before our eyes. He brought our hungry souls here to grow in our faith and to plant seeds of hope in this community. He has blessed us with significantly changed lives and a growing church. We believe this is just the beginning and that God will reveal himself in greater ways as we make this facility our permanent home.
Over three years ago, this map was used to help guide us to a new church home. As we prayed about moving to this location, we sensed God’s confirmation when we discovered that this location was just a few blocks from the very center of the map. (The small "x" marks the location of the Edgewater facility.)
Imagine...
Imagine God revealing himself through a permanent facility.
impacting families
Families at The Urban Refuge are learning what it means to follow Christ in meaningful ways together. Marriages are being strengthened and parents are serving with their children—building foundations of faith that will last a lifetime. Imagine generations of committed Christ followers growing up here and being sent all over the world to spread the Good News of Christ.
impacting the community
The Urban Refuge is drawing people from the surrounding neighborhoods. Over 75% of people new to the church are from South Minneapolis or Richfield. Imagine those who feel alone and discouraged coming to The Urban Refuge and finding hope in a meaningful relationship with Christ and connecting with a community of people who really care.
impacting the world
In March of 2008, The Urban Refuge launched a Kids Against Hunger satellite location. Since then we have packed more than 188,000 meals to help malnourished children in Nicaragua and Haiti. Imagine the millions of people whose lives will be saved with all the meals we pack in the future and the opportunities they’ll have to learn about the love of Jesus Christ through this program.
impacting community organizations
Relationships with South Minneapolis organizations such as the Southside Boys and Girls Club and Minnesota Teen Challenge are established and growing. Imagine the potential harvest as we continue to serve and reveal God’s light year after year.
impacting immigrants
Mission to the City has been able to expand by using this facility as its headquarters. Hundreds of lives have been impacted through selfless love and service. Participants have had their eyes opened to the dynamic globalization of Minneapolis. Imagine the participants returning home with a passion to reach immigrant populations in their cities after their experience here.
impacting ministries
We have been blessed to share this facility with multiple ministries. Imagine a place where Christians synergistically work together for the Kingdom and how greater investments can be poured into ministry by sharing expenses.
impacting churches
Over 60 churches have left the city in the last 35 years and many more are likely to close in the coming years leaving a spiritual vacuum that is sure to be filled with darkness without the light of Christ. Imagine our church and ethnic churches multiplying here to plant churches throughout the metro area and beyond.
impacting the future
This is just the beginning. Imagine with us how owning this facility will help us establish a greater community presence, provide us greater opportunity for ministry expansion to enhance discipleship, and afford us greater opportunity to spread the Gospel locally and abroad.
committing today
STEPS OF FAITH
While we are excited about the possibility of owning a building for our church home, we believe God is even more excited about building our faith. Our walk with the Father is a journey in which we decide if we are going to commit to taking steps of faith with Him or just watch others walk. Think about Peter hearing Jesus’ invitation to come and then stepping out of the boat in faith amongst the crashing waves. He walked on water, while the other disciples only watched. Have you wondered why they didn’t step out of the boat? Maybe it never occurred to them that they too could follow his voice in the midst of the storm.
Each one of us should ask the same question Peter asked, “Lord if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water” and then listen. The pastoral staff and leadership team at The Urban Refuge have asked this question and believe that God is calling our church body to “Come” and take the steps of faith to buy this building even though there seem to be storms all around. We have the opportunity to get out of the boat and walk toward Jesus and we’re asking you to commit to joining us. It won’t be easy, our shoes may get wet, but the joy of being closer to Jesus will be worth it.
the journey
As we follow in the footsteps of the many faithful generations that came before us, we hope that future generations will look back and be inspired that the ordinary men and women of the Urban Refuge followed God’s leading and made sacrifices so that others could know God.
Please prayerfully consider how the Lord would have you contribute financially on this journey. Remember that He has designed the Body so that mighty things happen when every part contributes. It’s not important that we all commit to giving equally, but it is important that we all commit to sacrificing equally.
Q and a
Why buy a building?
God has shown us that an inviting, functional, full-time facility is a critical tool in realizing His passion for expanding the Kingdom and transforming lives. We believe God will expand His Kingdom through our location in this facility in four main ways.
- Strategy - A full-time facility operates a base for creative local outreach as well as developing workers for future church plants in the years to come.
- Stability - A permanent home sends a strong message to our church family and our community: ‘We are here for good—for this generation and generations to come!’
- Security – Bottom line: If we don’t buy, we will have to move to a new location.
- Stewardship – Financial benefits of being an owner verses paying rent indefinitely.
Why this building?
God went before us in unmistakable ways several years ago as He led us to this location for our ministry. We have invested three years in service and outreach to this community. We feel a strong calling from God to reach out to this particular community. Additionally, the demographic study that we conducted four years ago showed that this building is located in a very strategic location for our congregation. We have also invested a significant amount of “sweat equity” and resources into the renovation of the building.
How much do we need for this campaign – “Committing Today, Building Tomorrow”?
This campaign has two parts:
Part 1
We will be raising $125,000 in financial commitments to be given by participants to the church in the months of December 2008 and January 2009. Of this amount, $100,000 “cash in hand” is needed to fully fund a down payment at the time of closing which is set for January 2009. The remaining $25,000 will be used to cover the costs associated with conducting this campaign, the building closing costs, and to set up office systems.
Part 2
In addition to the $125,000 raised in Part 1, we will be raising another $725,000 in campaign commitments to be paid over a three-year period from February 2009 through January 2012.
We will be asking everyone to make their commitments to both parts of this campaign at a special service on Sunday, November 23rd.
What are the terms for the purchase of the building?
- Purchase price is $825,000.
- $100,000 down payment due upon execution of the contract for deed.
- The unpaid balance is $725,000; we will make monthly payments of simple interest only (3.5% per annum) on the unpaid balance for 3 years.
- The unpaid balance will be reduced by one principal reduction payment on January 30, 2012 for $100,000.
- Starting February 1, 2012 we will make monthly payments of $6,629 (including 5% interest) on the unpaid balance of $625,000 for up to 10 years.
- We do have the right to fully or partially prepay this contract at any time without penalty and will do so if possible.
Do we have a working budget and can we really afford the building?
Yes, we have a working budget based on information we have received from the previous owners and have thus determined that we can afford the building. The ongoing operating expenses of this facility are comparable to renting a school auditorium and auxiliary spaces for Sunday mornings alone. A thorough building inspection was also completed to identify future building expenses.
Is the building purchase price reasonable?
Yes, in fact it’s very reasonable. The building was valued by assessors to be worth over $1.2 million. Our relationship with Edgewater Baptist and the Minnesota Baptist Conference has enabled us to purchase the facility at a discounted price. In addition, the purchase price includes the majority of the contents in the building such as tables, chairs, kitchen equipment, etc. The inclusion of these contents significantly reduces costs we would incur if we were to purchase another facility.
What happens if we don’t raise all of the money needed?
Based on the results of the campaign and anticipated expenses, our Board of Trustees will make the final decision to move forward with the purchase or not.
Will more campaigns like this be needed in the future?
We cannot say with certainty that there will be no future campaigns. We are hopeful that this campaign and the future growth of ministry, in terms of attendance and giving, will cover the purchase price and all of our anticipated building expenses and operating costs. If the campaign goal of $850,000 is not met and/or attendance and giving do not grow as we hope, we may need to follow up with a smaller secondary campaign to pay off the building and/or cover some building expenses such as window and roof replacement.
Are there other things I can give to the campaign in addition to monetary gifts?
Non-cash gifts such as stock, property and other similar type investments are welcome. Please contact our Finance Director, Jim Bird, at 952-564-3771 or jbird@evergreencc.com to discuss the details.
Will the Urban Refuge staff or others know how much I pledge?
No, only our Financial Director, Jim Bird, will know the amount of your pledge.
I am already giving regularly to The Urban Refuge. How can I be expected to give more?
We greatly appreciate your faithfulness in giving regularly to The Urban Refuge. Your gifts to the general operating fund are absolutely critical to the ongoing ministry accomplished through The Urban Refuge. We know that giving above and beyond that is an uncomfortable challenge. But we ask you to prayerfully consider what God would have you do. Kingdom work here on earth is never ending and God directs that this work be funded by gifts from His people. Through faith we are able to do far more for God than we might at first believe. This requires that we live with different priorities and some amount of sacrifice. Please go to God and ask Him what you might do.
your role
COMMITTING TODAY
As we follow the faith filled example of generations that came before us, we hope that future believers will look back and be inspired by the ordinary men and women of the Urban Refuge who followed God’s leading and made sacrifices so others could know God.
Ephesians 4:16 (NIV) From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Please prayerfully consider how the Lord would have you contribute financially on this journey. Remember that He has designed the Body so that mighty things happen when every part contributes. It’s not important that we all commit to giving equally, but it is important that we all commit to sacrificing equally.
BUILDING TOMORROW
What is needed to fulfill the vision God has called us to?
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PART 1 $125,000 |
Gifts given and received in December 2008 and January 2009 to cover the down payment, campaign costs, closing costs, and set up office systems. |
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PART 2 $725,000 |
Total three-year campaign gift commitments February 2009 – January 2012 to pay the remaining balance of the building. |
