Two Sundays ago, the elders and I presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that defines a pathway for our Associate Pastor Jamie Kinman to make a gradual transition away from his current role and plant a church here in Mineral Wells. In a few weeks, we’ll ask you to make a decision about that MOU so we know how to move forward as a church.

Sending a group of people to plant a new church is a big commitment. I know you know that. To give a trite illustration, it’s like when you got your first pet as a kid. Your parents had to explain to you that it really isn’t right to make the initial purchase and then change your mind or go half-way. You have to be all in!

In order to see a new church launch, grow, and thrive for years to come, Indian Creek will need to be all in. If you say “yes” to this MOU, you’re saying “yes” to a long-term partnership, and that partnership will involve sacrifice. It’s kind of like what Jesus says in Luke 14:

“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’” 

We don’t want to start something we can’t see through to the end. We have to “count the cost,” and I mean that literally.

Let me zoom out a little bit. Last year, you approved a budget for 2026 in the amount of $757,745. This means that we intend to spend this amount of money on missions, ministry, personnel, and basic operations during 2026.

As you know, Indian Creek doesn’t sell products or services. We’re a church, and we cover our expenses through the generous tithes and offerings of our members. If current patterns hold, we’ll receive about $650,000 in undesignated offerings this year.

That means that our annual expenses could outpace our giving by about $100,000.

I shared in our meeting on June 28 that if we move forward with the proposed MOU, the 2027 budget will increase by approximately $50,000 (the 2028 budget will be impacted too). Most likely we’ll have other budget categories that need to be increased as well.

Finally, keep in mind that some of our most committed members will most likely join the core group for the new church plant. I expect (and hope!) that they will begin tithing to the new church rather than to Indian Creek.

If you’re still with me, you can see that there is a gap between patterns of giving, planned expenses, and future commitments related to a new church plant. How will we address this gap?

Should we simply cut expenses? Keep in mind that many of our expenses are fixed (think utilities, insurance, etc.). Cutting back in other areas would mean cutting back on ministry. I believe this would be counterproductive to our mission. I’ve been meeting with ministry leaders since early spring to plan our ministry strategy for 2027 and believe that these plans will help us grow in Christ and reach our city. I can’t wait to share more!

We do have some reserves (about 3-4 months’ worth). There are going to be times—for the sake of the mission—when we as a church spend more on ministry than we receive in tithes and offerings. But this won’t cover the whole thing.

The fact is that if we are going to move forward with this church plant, we’re going to have to depend on the Lord for growth. 

Do we believe that the ministry of Indian Creek changes lives? That we belong to a healthy flock that will bear fruit and grow? As I’ve talked with other pastors who have sent out members of their congregation to plant a new church, I’ve learned that a healthy church is like a healthy plant: When you trim away a branch or two to plant somewhere else, the original plant sprouts three or four in its place.

If you ask me, we’ve seen a lot of evidence of that health and growth over the last couple years: new followers of Jesus, Christians taking steps of faith and obedience, and believers caring for each other in love. 

Obviously, the elders believe that our church is growing and healthy to the point where we can sacrificially invest in a new church plant.

We hope you agree, and we trust that you’re doing your part to support the work of the ministry and invite others to join us as we follow Christ together. Meanwhile, if you have doubts or questions, please take a few minutes to read the MOUand listen to the audio from the recent meeting, and bring those concerns to an elder.