June 2008 Financial Update

As you know, each month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total June GIF giving was $9,877.07. That means we were short by about $2,100.00.

Even though June marks our sixth consecutive month with a deficit, we have been able to move forward in spite of this continuing shortage. This is because of the equity that has built up in our property. However, our development "nest egg" is being slowly used up to cover the monthly shortfall.

June GIF giving $9,877.00
Minimum to “pay bills” $12,000.00
Difference ($2,123.00)

Please pray for God's blessing as we continue to move forward.

Steady Progress

Here is the latest update on the plot plan status. As we have been responding to some earlier denials, you will notice that some of them have turned into approvals!
Click the image for a larger view.
Please don't forget to keep the Growing Faith Project in your prayers!

Indiana Jones and the Plot Plan Approval

What does Indiana Jones and our plot plan approval have in common? Archaelogy. Believe it or not, one of the dozen county departments that sign off on our plot plan is Archaeology. Maybe it's to make sure there isn't buried treasure, or dinosaurs camped out on our land. Anyway...we got approval from the Archaeologist! That makes two approvals down, about ten to go.

Keep praying as our plot plan goes through the county.

Plot Plan Approval Update

Our Plot Plan is currently in the approval process with the county.  Getting the plot plan approved is what gives us official permission to build our proposed church on the property. 

As you can see from the screenshot above (if you have really good eyes), it will be reviewed by about a dozen different departments.  Good news, we're already approved by the Fire Department!

Once each department has signed off, it will go to a Planning Director's meeting for formal approval.  Please pray with us for the speedy approval of our plot plan. 

P.S.  If you want to stay up to date on the details of our approval status, you can go to this website at the planning department and enter our plot plan number - "pp23454".  It will pull up the screen you see at the top of the page with an up to the minute update. 

P.S.S. Thank to everyone who is giving to Growing in Faith!

May Financial Update

As you know, each month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total May GIF giving was $9,786.00. That means we were short by about $2,200.00.

Even though May marks our fifth consecutive month with a deficit, we have been able to move forward in spite of this continuing shortage. This is because of the equity that has built up in our property. However, our development "nest egg" is being slowly used up to cover the monthly shortfall.

May GIF giving $9,786.00
Minimum to “pay bills” $12,000.00
Difference ($2,214.00)

Please pray that God will give us the ability to remain strong in our commitments and that He will bless the finances of our members and our church.

GIF Video from Sunday

Here is the video we showed on Sunday Documenting our Plot Plan Submittal to the County.

April Financial Update

As you know, each month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total April GIF giving was $9,606. That means we were short by about $2,394.
Let’s pray that God will give us the ability to remain strong in our commitments and that He will bless the finances of our church.

April GIF giving $9,606
Minimum to “pay bills” $12,000.00
Difference ($2,394)

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

GIF Update

Good News! We Just submitted the plot plan for our new building. Once approved by the county, we will have initial permission to move forward in building a church home of our own.

Please pray for a quick approval with the county and stop by the lobby to see the color drawings for our building.

Thanks to everyone who is supporting Growing in Faith. If you are new to church and would like to play a part in Growing in Faith, pick up an Information packet at the Growing in Faith Table in the lobby.

Landscape Plan

The landscape architect just finished our conceptual landscaping plan. This is a required document that will be submitted to the county as we seek to get approval for a building on our property. To find out about getting involved check out the Growing in Faith section of our website.

Aerial photo of building position

A requirement of our plot plan submittal process is submitting an aerial photo showing the position of our building on our lot. The photo above shows the position of the building and the parking area. Keep praying as we assemble the pieces of required by the county to get approval for our building!

Rough Draft of Building Exterior

The architect is making progress on the building. Here is a rough draft of the building exterior. The shape of the building may change during the submittal process to the county. Also - the colors are not final, just thrown into add a little depth to the drawing.

Conceptual Grading Plan

A technical (but important) part of our developing our site is the creation of the conceptual grading plan.  This will be submitted as part of our plot plan package.  Thanks to everyone who is supporting Growing in Faith.  Each month your giving helps us make progress toward a building of our own. 

Building Sketch

This is a quick sketch drawn by our architect of what the front of our building will look like. We are only weeks away from having a complete plot plan ready for submittal to the county!
Please pray with us that there will be no delays or unexpected hurdles to get over!

March Financial Report

As you know, each month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total March GIF giving was 11,507.00. That means we were only short by about $500.00.
March marks our third consecutive month with a deficit. The good news is that the giving has been improving each month!
Let’s pray that God will give us the ability to remain strong in our commitments and that He will bless the finances of our church.

March GIF giving $11,507.00
Minimum to “pay bills” $12,000.00
Difference ($493.00)

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

GIF - God@Work Story

Today (Thursday) One of our members shared an encouraging story that we wanted to pass along to you. This member has been giving to Growing in Faith. But recently made a commitment to increase their giving for the last twelve months of our three year project. After making the commitment, they received a review at work, and as a result they were given a monthly raise that matches the increase in their Growing in Faith giving. They mentioned that this was more than a coincidence!

It’s encouraging to hear real life stories of God at work in the life of our members!

If you have a story to share, let us know at info@newlifecommunitychurch.net

Property Activity

I took this picture yesterday. It seems like just about any time you go to the property you can catch some level of activity going on. Most of this activity is associated with the adjoining properties, however, there is a large amount of work that is being prepped and planned that is shared with us (such as roads, driveways, pedestrian walkways, etc.)

Milestone Praise Report!

One of the milestones we’ve been praying about has to do with a traffic study and installation of a traffic signal. We finally received word from the county that, at least for now, we are not going to be asked to do it!
This is really great for us since it represents a significant additional cost.
Let’s take the time to thank God for this development!

Did you miss the Growing in Faith Anniversary Dinner?

Did you miss the Growing in Faith Anniversary Dinner?

We had a great turnout, and a time of food, fun and fellowship! Mike Hannah gave an update of where we are at and what’s next for Growing in Faith. Below is an edited version of the presentation (about 15 minutes long).

If you would like to hear the presentation, you can listen online, or click on the link below to download the MP3 file.


MP3 File

Prayer Request!

You probably know that churches are exempt from property taxes. But that is only true when the land is actually used for church purposes. Specifically, that means when a building is constructed.
But there is a provision in the law that allows exemptions to be granted once a building is “under construction”.

With the recent progress on our property, we believe that we may qualify as being “under construction” and as such, we’ve applied for the exemption.

Currently, our church pays $16,000 a year in property taxes. If this exemption is granted, it represents a significant savings! Please pray that the exemption will be granted.

February Financial Update

After a record-setting January shortage, February showed good improvement! As you know, every month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total February GIF giving was 8292.00. That means we were short by over $3700.00.
February marks our second consecutive month with a deficit. The good news is that there is a separate amount of money set aside for moving forward with development. The bad news is that we will need to pull from that money to cover the shortage.
Let’s pray that God will give us the ability to remain strong in our commitments and that He will bless the finances of our church.

February GIF giving $8,292.00
Minimum to “pay bills” $12,000.00
Difference ($3,708.00)

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
Romans 5:3