The Rooted Town Hall Meeting was a platform to inform our church family about what has been going on with the Rooted campaign, land project, and short-term facility efforts, as well as pray and give an opportunity for everyone to ask questions.

Update and Overview from Pastor Scott and Elder Daron Anderson.

Short-Term Plan: We continue to pursue a short-term facility option and are currently talking with the property owners of the retail center near the intersection of Douglas Blvd and Auburn-Folsom Roads in Granite Bay. The new property owner has recently refurbished the center and we think it would be a really cool space for us as a 7 day a week facility. We are really excited about this possibility but we know that only the Lord can open or shut the doors!

Rooted: Why buy land? Why build a building? We are surrounded by some of the least churched cities in the nation. We believe that to reach this area effectively we need to equip more godly leaders. We would love to be the training and leadership development hub for the Harvest churches in California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. We believe God will build quality disciples in this area, and if we continue to grow in the way we have over the past 3 years, then we know there's no stopping what God can do. We want to see the lost saved, the saved matured, and the matured multiplied. We believe in dreaming big with the Lord.

Long-Term Plan: We are starting now to plan for and pursue and save-up for our future facility. We are in contract to purchase the 16 acre property and have a Go/No Go deadline in February 2017. We would need to put down a significant amount of money in February and then our goal would be to pay-off the property over the next two years.
We have until February to make this decision. We would need to get approval from the County of Sacramento during those two years to build our two-phased facility. The first phase could include a muti-purpose facility with meeting rooms, children’s facilities and offices.  It would likely take two to three years to obtain approvals for our building from the County.

Like a wise family, we have been planning and saving for the future. And, with the continued help and prayers of our people, we remain committed to not forcing things and to trusting God to lead us and to provide favor and the finances as He sees fit. For a church that’s only 3 years old, we are especially grateful for His provision in the Rooted campaign and the favor God has provided already in this process.

Q&A

Are we still giving to missions?

We believe that the mission of the church is missions. And the mission of missions is the church. We want to plant churches first and then out of that comes other projects. For example, we’ve already helped contribute to an orphanage in Nepal through Harvest in Nepal. We believe that through the church we will meet practical needs but they all will be funneled through a place they can call home - a church. We believe God’s highest priority is the church.How will the Youth Program change with the new facility?

The youth program is going to continue to grow because Zak Graves is going to begin serving full-time as Director of Students and Young Adults in January! On Sunday they will still be in service with us - we believe in raising young adults and treating them that way.

What savings is allocated to the short-term facility plan - does this impact the money accounted toward the Rooted Fund?

$0 is allocated to the short-term facility plan. Our church has been exceedingly generous towards our long-term facility during our Rooted campaign. Praise God! We are humbled and totally grateful for what God is doing. There is a very large percentage of people in our church who are new or that didn't give any money to the Rooted Campaign. So, we are hoping the Lord will stir in their hearts to come alongside the church in our short-term facility opportunity once it develops. We know that God has the resources for us - if it’s His plan for us. We want to avoid using the Rooted campaign funds designated for our long-term church home for a short-term facility.

How will the church shepard the flock if we grow to thousands, enough to fill the new building? Why not help other churches plant if we grow to that size?

We will shepherd our people by equipping them for ministry. Because small groups are our primary means of shepherding our people, we believe we can continue to grow smaller and bigger at the same time while people are discipled. We are going to do both - we are going to train people up and plant churches.

Will new, short-term space have a place for KidsMin?

Yes, we will look for GREAT space that will be incorporated for that.

How do we keep from making growth and land an idol?

An idol is a good thing that becomes a God thing, which makes it a bad thing. The focus has to be on the Lord, on following His lead, and making His plan the ultimate plan. We want to make sure the Lord is in all of it - the building is a tool, not the mission. It’s what’s happening inside the building that matters.

After the Go/No Go date (Feb 2017) will the Strawberry farm rent back from us?

Yes

Is there a biblical basis for borrowing money?

The bible talks about specifically what to do when you borrow money - and it’s you better pay them back. We would love to not have any debt on the Rooted land. But any financing that we might need to take-out, we will have a solid plan to pay back asap.

What does Go/No Go mean? And who will decide that?

Currently we have only spent a minor amount on our potential long-term project. Up until the Go/No Go date, that will still be the case. We could walk away before our Feb 2017 deadline without having spent hardly any money. If we choose to “Go”, then we would make the one-third of the purchase price payment to the property owner. This would also trigger quarterly, interest-only payments over the next two years to the property owner. At the end of two years we would then have to pay the final two-thirds for the land, unless we chose to exercise one or two of the extension options we have in our purchase contract. We’ve done a thorough feasibility analysis of the land and ultimately the Elders will decide whether or not we Go/No Go.