December 2021

Dear Indian Creek Family,

God is good! This past Sunday, I was able to share with you that if we all keep the commitments we made over the last few weeks, we’ll be able to get started on our new building early next year. Commitments are still coming in, but we’ll have approximately 2.1 million dollars to devote to the building. This means that we’ll be able to move forward with very little—or no—borrowing. Praise the Lord!

Keep in mind, when we started this project, we gave our Planning Team a list of requirements:

Climate-controlled, ADA-compliant access between buildings
Children’s ministry moves to the east side of Indian Creek Road
Fellowship space that will accommodate the entire church
Capacity for church growth
A large kitchen with commercial-grade appliances
Recreational area for children, so that families can share life together safely

With the money currently committed, the team believes we can achieve most of these objectives, and reach others when more funding becomes available. The team is working through the design to determine which building features are “nice, but not necessary,” or “needed, but not now.” We want to be faithful stewards with the resources God has given us.

Next Step

The next step is to complete a building design. We need an architect to take our Master Plan and draft construction documents so that (a) we can finalize the budget and (b) we can start obtaining bids for different parts of the project.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of detailed tasks involved in designing a building like this. The total cost of the building design will be about $140,000.

Since we’re so close to the Christmas holiday, the elders and I have decided to postpone any decision-making until after the first of the year. This will give you time to pray, ask questions, and offer feedback. As we get closer, we’ll schedule a time to vote on this next step. Give me a call or reach out to the elders or Planning Team if you have questions.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Jake

August 2021

vote

July 2021

The video below is the building update Pastor Jake gave the church during the morning worship service on Sunday, July 18, 2021.

Here is a brief summary of Pastor Jake's update:

The Building Itself

We're at a point where we're ready to take the first of three steps. At each of these three steps, you as a congregation will have the opportunity to decide whether to move forward:

Create a "Master Plan." A master plan is a top-down view of our entire campus along with a proposed new building. This will provide a high level picture of the basic shape and function of the new building. It will have limited detail, but should give us a little bit more information so we can decide whether to move forward to the next step. We are asking you, as a congregation, to decide whether to move forward and complete step 1 with a budget of $60,000. We have this money in the bank and it is already designated toward the building project. The vote for this step will take place on Sunday, August 1 following the morning service.
Design the building. Before we can build, an architect will need to create detailed construction drawings. When the time is right, you'll have the opportunity to decide whether to take this step.
Build the building. Once the master plan and the detailed design are complete, we'll have a very specific idea of what the building will look like and what it will cost. You will have the opportunity to decide whether to move forward on this step as well.

The Building Campaign

Obviously, in addition to planning a new building, we also have to start thinking about how to pay for the new building. To this end, we have begun to plan a building campaign for this fall. You'll begin to hear more about it as we get closer. In addition, we have hired a consultant who will help us with the details of this campaign. His name is Lamar Slay, of an organization called Partners in Church Consulting (Most of you will probably not meet Lamar; he'll stay kind of in the background).

What's Next

Next Sunday (July 25), we'll give you the opportunity to ask questions. The following week (August 1), we'll have a vote to decide whether to complete a master plan at a cost of $60,000. Please be praying for wisdom in these matters.

Blessings,
Pastor Jake Grogan

February 2021

We are in the planning phase! The church and the elders have worked together to install a Building Planning Team to help the architects with the vision for the new building. Please pray for each member of the team: Sam Zettle (Team Leader), Riley Barham, Skipper Bennett, Danny Clifton, Janie Glover, Sammy Poynor, and Kelly Simonton. They begin their work this month!

February 2020

Last spring, the elders asked the church to consider purchasing the property just to the south of our main building, in hopes of eventually expanding our campus. As a congregation, we decided together to move forward with the purchase, and since that time, I’ve been asked periodically when we’re planning to develop it. I’d like to explain where we are in that process and ask for your help.

What’s happening now?

When we purchased the land, it was occupied by a tenant. We entered into a lease agreement with that tenant, but after several months, the needs of their business required them to move to a different location. Recently, we entered into a new lease agreement with Cowboy Diesel (I won’t bore you with the details but the paperwork is on file in the church office if you have specific questions). Our new tenant understands that we have plans to expand onto that property, but we’re very glad to have them as our neighbors in the meantime.

What’s next?

Obviously, this is a major project for our church. The elders and I have spent the last several months praying for God’s wisdom and timing. We’ve spent time discussing the overall needs of our community and our congregation. We’ve talked about the unique opportunities God is giving us, asking for guidance in developing a vision for the future.

After a while, it became clear to us that we should solicit the advice of experts, so we made contact with five separate architectural firms and were able to have an in-depth conversation with four of them. While we haven’t narrowed down which of these firms we’ll end up partnering with, each conversation taught us a lot. For example, we learned that instead of just making plans for a new building, we should really develop a “master plan” for the entire campus, based on a clear vision for the future. We’ve also seen the importance of working with partners that truly understand who we are as a church.

In addition, we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to dream together as a congregation for the future of Indian Creek. Our church belongs to Jesus Christ; we’re His property. But he’s commissioned all of us to serve as stewards over His household. Since we all are responsible to Him for how we move forward, then it stands to reason that the entire congregation should play a role in formulating a plan for the future.

With that being said, if you’re a member of Indian Creek Baptist Church, I’d like to invite you to an informal Family Meeting on Sunday, April 19 at 5pm in the main auditorium. The purpose of this meeting will be to hear your ministry burdens for the future of our campus, including your thoughts about a new building.

Please plan to attend, and pray about what the Lord might want you to share. I look forward to hearing from you!

- Pastor Jake -