Center Point Community Church 2008 Stewardship Campaign

Only hours before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus prays not only for his disciples, but “for those who will believe in [him] through their message” (John 17:20). As those who belong to the Savior, our priority concern should always be communicating the gospel to those who do not yet know him, and seeing them become his disciples.

Center Point Community Church’s 2008 stewardship program is the result of a sincere effort to serve God using the resources he has given to us. About 10 years ago the church received a large bequest. At that time one of our elders said this would challenge and stretch us. The church leaders easily decided that this gift should be used to strengthen the church’s ministry in a way that would honor God. The less obvious answer was how. But paramount was their concern for the process: that we would be committed to unity even though different perspectives would be welcomed and expressed. We would love each other not only with words, “but in actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

One of the immediate issues was that the church was no longer experiencing growth while becoming increasingly ingrown. The church was concerned that its ministry might not be able to effectively reach the un-churched in our community in its current location. One of the elders negotiated the purchase of 15-acres on Livingston Road north of Immokalee Road. The church was not convinced it should move, but agreed to buy the land either as an investment, a replacement site for the current church, or for the planting of a sister church.

Approximately four years ago the church board decided it wanted to plant a church on the north site while also maintaining and strengthening its current campus. At this time it was common knowledge that an entrance and exit ramp to and from I-75 was to be built on Golden Gate Parkway, less that 1 mile from the church. We believed this would give us much better access and visibility and connect us to the community in way we way we simply had not been in the past. The question of how to strengthen the current site led the church to retain a consultant for guidance.

A diverse group of church members met for over a year to think through who God wanted us to be and what we should seek to accomplish as his people. The group articulated the mission of our church as: To connect one person at a time to a family of committed followers of Christ. They identified our “strategy” to encourage discipleship and spiritual growth as: worship (primarily attending a worship service), connect (becoming a part of a small group), serve (using the gifts God has given each of us to minister to others), and invite (consciously including others in what God is doing in our own lives). And they expressed our “values” for ministry as: truth with gentleness, grace with acceptance, compassion with initiative, relationships with authenticity, and influence with relevance.

The church recognized that younger people are an overlooked and unreached segment of our community. With this in mind, the board made a commitment to hire additional staff members to minister to younger families and youth within Collier County.

A little over a year ago several staff members attended a church building conference. At that time we were also organizing a stewardship campaign to fund the church plant as well as make improvements at the current site. This conference raised concern with respect to the north site’s visibility and access. Consequently an exchange of land was arranged for an adjoining property. Just as the exchange was to take place the other party withdrew from the agreement.

As all of this unfolded, the church experienced significant growth (approximately 15% this past year); many younger individuals and families were being invited and joining us. Others were simply discovering us with the opening of I-75. People were responding to the gospel and coming to faith in Christ. It is not really surprising that many of the new families had children and youth. And teenagers were also inviting friends who joined them for youth activities. Our youth facilities had previously needed expansion; now the high school ministry was—and is—experiencing space strangulation. Further, our children’s programs have filled all available rooms and continue to grow.

We realized that our focus needed to be on the current site. We put plans for a second site or sister church on hold. The board retained a church design firm to prepare a long term master plan for the current site. The result of extended meetings with staff and many others involved in current ministries is the building and site plan we are now pursuing.

Our emphasis in this building program will be on creating much more effective youth and children’s spaces. A significant majority (some estimate as high as 90%) of those who come to faith in Christ do so before the age of 20. If we hope to reach our world with the gospel we really must have a heart for youth and children. Our board chairman made the observation that most of us now worship in a church facility that was built by others. This is a time for us to give to the next generation that which was given to us. We have an opportunity to impact our community with the message of Jesus Christ that we simply should respond to.

Simply stated, God is bringing us young people who want to know him and, of course, we want to help them learn to love him in every way. For Those Who Will Believe is designed to be a significant part of this forever life-altering process. It is not about buildings. It is truly about our Savior’s Kingdom.

SUMMARY The new I-75 exit and the recently completed flyover give us much greater access and visibility, and connect us to the community in a way we have not experienced in the past. We’re experiencing consistent growth at this site; many new people walk in each week. We have immediate space needs with our youth that need to be solved as soon as possible. The high school ministry has been experiencing space strangulation for some time. There is also a real need within the community for an effective facility for reaching out to youth who have not been exposed to the gospel. Our children’s programs have filled all available space and continue to grow. The narthex area is somewhat confusing to visitors and can be much more effectively used. We need to update and expand our public spaces, including our coffee areas and restrooms. We need additional parking.