Friends,
I’m writing today to update you on the status of our facility search, which I know many of you have been praying about over the last few weeks. THANK YOU for those prayers. They have truly sustained our leadership in their discernment.
In short, we will not be purchasing 2727 Palmer Park Boulevard: at least not right now.
As we continued to pursue the due diligence process on the property, we discovered (to no one’s surprise) that there were several issues that needed to be addressed. We also gained clarity from the city about their expectations for updates that would be needed in order to occupy the building as a church.
In IAC’s Facility Discovery Team, there was a shared sense that these problems required adjusting our valuation of the building to more closely match the state of the facility. After weighing their input and considering our broader financial position, the Church Council unanimously agreed. We are committed to not grasping through over-spending! However, the Council still expressed a strong desire to purchase the facility: the location, spaciousness, and alignment with our vision are the best we have found so far.
Therefore, the Council decided to re-engage the seller with a reduced (but very fair) offer. Unfortunately, he chose to reject our new bid and walked away from the negotiations. However, he could re-engage us at a later time, and we have told him that we remain interested at our new offer.
We are, of course, disappointed. But I believe our choices stewarded our finances and our vision with faith and integrity. And, above all, we trust Jesus’ leading, which has been obvious to us in our deliberations. We asked for clarity, and we are confident that he has given it.
It might be tempting to think we’re “back at square one” in this search. But nothing could be further from the truth. We’ve learned a ton over the past three months.
IAC is more committed than ever to “Creating Space at the Table” on Sunday morning, in Monday-Saturday ministry, and through a rooted missional presence in our city. I am thrilled to see how we’ve grown in these convictions over the last few months, and I trust we’re not going back.
One very important item we’ve learned is that renovation will cost more than we had initially expected on any property we might purchase. Our hopes were to move into a facility at the $10M mark. Instead, we estimate that each property we’ve seen would likely cost over $12M to occupy at current pricing.
However, these numbers are not insurmountable, nor would they necessarily require us to place undue financial burden on the church. They would simply require a different timeline of progress.
As we continue looking, we are developing phased approaches that would allow us to occupy parts of a facility as we can afford them and spread the financial responsibility over longer periods of time. The danger is not just in spending too much, but in trying to go too fast.
In sum, we’ve learned that the question “how long will it take?” is just as important as “can we afford it?” Keeping this perspective in mind will be important for us all as we move forward.
We have been deeply encouraged by IAC’s generosity. Over $3M in immediate gifts and pledges have been received, and more are still coming in. We’re in much better financial shape for a purchase than we were a few months ago. Thank you, and praise God!
You can trust that all gifts to the Facility Fund are designated towards the goal of securing and renovating a facility: they will not be used for other purposes. Giving time for pledges to come in and immediate gifts to accrue interest can actually help our financial position.
We thank you, in advance, for continuing your commitments and pledges to these efforts! We will keep the Facility Fund open for the foreseeable future, since people continue to feel led by the Spirit to give.
I cannot adequately convey my gratitude and joy at getting to walk this road with these teams. They are competent, spiritually sensitive, and fully committed to the good of our church. We have the right people in these conversations. Praise God!
Our IAC Facility Discovery Team members arrived at very similar price points for the revaluation of the property completely independently of one another. That is a sign of Spirit-given competency and discernment. Josh Butrin, the team leader, led a due diligence process that one member of the team (who has decades of commercial real-estate experience) called “one of the best he’s ever seen.” We were well prepared to discern.
Our Church Council has spent themselves in prayer and conversation on our behalf. The breadth of perspectives in the room matches the breadth of our church, which makes for an exciting conversation! But through intensive dialogue and intentional prayer, they discerned a path forward that married wise stewardship and faith-filled “stretching” for the kingdom’s sake. It is a privilege to lead alongside them.
Professional partners have also been excellent. We are surrounded by a robust team of Capital Campaign Consultants, Brokers, Architects, an Owner’s Representative, and more. They have all been a joy to work with and have guided us well at every step along the way. We feel confident continuing to walk forward with them!
For the Search: We will continue the search for a facility to purchase. There are currently no properties on the market that would fit our needs in our search area (Woodmen to Airport Rd. & Union to Academy). But we will continue looking for properties that are for sale, or might be for sale if we asked! Feel free to send any ideas you have to facilityfeedback@springsiac.org.
For our Leadership: As we search, we’re also continuing to move forward in other aspects of our life together.
For All of Us: We would ask that you continue to pray & give towards this effort of “Creating Space at the Table.” It is crucial that our faith and finances continue to grow together as we keep searching.
But we also ask that you would continue to simply give yourselves to the everyday work of the kingdom. Come to worship. Disciple kids — yours and others! Come alongside the vulnerable. Engage a class. Serve your neighbor. Confess your sins.
Because as we continue stepping forward into “Receiving and Releasing the Gospel that Heals — Together,” we trust that God will provide for our facility needs. Our job is to keep the main thing the main thing, our hands open to whatever he has for us.
“Father, give what you will, as much as you will, when you will…We are your servants, ready for anything.” - Thomas a Kempis, “The Imitation of Christ.”
“The Lord will fight for you: you need only to be still.” - Exodus 14:14
In expectancy,
Ken (for all of IAC’s Leadership)
pastorken@springsiac.org