The story of Transform Church is a story that only God could have written! There are so many variables, twists and turns that point us to the providential hand of God behind the scenes. God is adding to our numbers at an incredible rate. In fact, over 50% of our church is new within the last two years! Not only are more and more people coming to church but they are finding spiritual growth, lasting friendships, and a family that they never knew before.
When we reached an agreement with Prairie Oak Community Church to purchase the building in the fall of 2022, we knew we would eventually outgrow the space and have to add on. I told our church (about 400 people at the time) that once we filled two services and moved to three, we would begin to look at expanding the building. What no one predicted was that it would take us less than 18 months to get to that point!
If we want to continue to provide space for deepening relationships and have room for more people in our community to hear about a life-changing relationship with Jesus, now is the time for us to act. We are going to step by faith into the future by launching the Deep and Wide campaign.
“Not only are more and more people coming to church but they are finding spiritual growth, lasting friendships, and a family that they never knew before.”
The heart behind Deep and Wide
Since the beginning, one of our values has been to be simultaneously deep and wide. Some churches are good at being deep-they have solid theology, they teach the Bible and the people have deep and lasting relationships with each other.
There are also churches that are good at being wide-they do evangelism well, they reach unbelievers and unchurched people successfully and grow large because of this emphasis.
At Transform, our commitment to being simultaneously deep and wide has never been stronger. Deep community, deep teaching and deep discipleship drives us to stay wide and to reach more people for Christ because Jesus said “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
What can I do?
Pray
The most important thing you can do is pray. Pray for your church. Pray for our future. Pray about your role in the Deep & Wide campaign. This is a spiritual decision, not a financial one.
Talk
If you’re married, begin to talk it over with your spouse. After each of you have prayed about it, share what number you feel God is leading you to give.
Pledge
After prayerfully considering, come to a decision as to how you want to make a financial impact over three years. Turn in your card on Commitment Sunday, April 6th!
Giving to the Deep and Wide campaign will allow Transform to significantly expand our footprint and continue to reach our community for years to come!
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question that isn't answered here?
This is completely dependent on the number of pledges that come in and the amount of cash we have up front. We have been in close contact with our lender (Wesleyan Investment Financial) and builder (Kinghorn Construction) throughout this process. We are shooting for groundbreaking in the middle of 2025 and opening the building in summer of 2026.
Yes and no. The reality is that our church is ever changing. We have been careful to protect our unique culture as we purchased the building and moved from one to two and then to three services. We have no aim of becoming another mega-church. The preaching, the kids/youth, the groups and the community are only going to improve as the facility enables us to be more fully together, add staff and increase opportunities.
Our leadership wants to use wisdom and be good stewards of the resources that Transform has. Adding together our current mortgage with this new building debt is a stewardship question. We need to keep our debt low enough that we can safely operate the church and fulfill our vision and values without a huge financial burden. Raising 60% of this project through a capital campaign allows us to do just that.
Even if we put away 10% (which is a sizable amount!) of our regular budget, it would take over twenty years to raise 4 million! With both inflation and building costs on the rise, each day that passes increases the cost of this addition. Sooner or later, we will have to raise this money, and our leadership and staff believe the time is now.