Building Update

In 2010, Trinity embarked on a new journey to move to Village Gardens, a part of town where our way of being Christian had too little representation. From the beginning, the intent was to eventually build a sanctuary to go along with our existing multi-purpose space.


Fast-forward to 2024, and Trinity is doing so well that it’s bursting at the seams! But more than that, our congregation’s LIFE is not only special— it’s worth sharing with even more people who really need it.


If you haven’t read it yet, check out this document that tells more of the story.

Original Dream

So, given our need for more space, about 18 months ago we formed a Building Committee. The Building Committee’s first task was to determine if constructing a new building was the right next step and to identify our specific needs for the addition.


After a year of study, the congregation authorized the Building Committee to begin talking to BVH, our architects. They began with some of the sketches the architects put together around 2008— a dream of what could be.

Building Plans

From there, they drilled down on our priorities. As often happens, the initial list of priorities had to be pared back a bit, but the result was a design that would solidly meet our needs while avoiding unnecessary costs.


(One note: at this point, we’re only drawing the locations of rooms. Details like the sanctuary layout and seating are placeholders for now to make the room's purpose clear.)


Sampson Construction was also involved, providing us with a carefully assembled cost estimate. The cost is high, as one might expect with the large amount of building currently going on in Lincoln. The total cost, including all architect fees, furnishing like sanctuary seating, 10% contingency for unexpected costs, and 1.5 years of price increases, comes out to $11,926.921. Of this, the sanctuary portion is just under $9 million and the children’s portion just under $3 million.

Funding

While working with the architects, the Building Committee also brought in Horizons Stewardship, a firm with extensive fundraising experience. 


They started by looking at our attendance and giving patterns. Most churches have not seen their attendance rebound since COVID-19, but we have. What’s more, our giving has also held steady— no small feat given the current state of other churches like ours.


We surveyed the congregation, and the results revealed a high level of enthusiasm for the project—93% believe that building is our best next step. What’s more, 76% said they’d be willing to work on a committee to help with the fundraising effort, which is a very strong gauge of just how committed Trinity folks are to this!


The survey ended by asking people for an estimate of how they might pledge to the effort. Given the number of people who responded, those results were then projected out to the entire congregation. The result was that we can be quite confident of raising $850,000 - $1,200,000. Keep in mind that this is early for asking the question, before plans were put out and excitement generated. Still, the number is useful for putting a plan together for what we need to do to fund the project.


As you can see, with the high cost of building in Lincoln, there is a significant funding gap to fill. While we wouldn’t expect to raise the entire $12 million all at once, we would want at least 40-50% of it on the first effort. While financing should be easily obtainable, we’d still need at least $4 million cash-in-hand to start construction. There is a plan for our childcare to help support the project over time. But it’s still not quite enough… yet.

Recommendation

On July 25, 2024, we held a joint meeting with our Church Council and Building Committee. The goal was to make a recommendation to the entire church.


The leaders in that room might have been dejected, saying “we just can’t afford it.” But they DIDN’T. Instead, the attitude was 100% “We need this, this is where God is leading, how do we get it done?”


At one point, one of the committee members said something like, “What if we ask members to go ahead and start giving, even though we know it will be a while before we can actually start building? It’d be a leap of faith, but it’s right for our church.”


Pastor Jeff replied, “I’d give to that.”


The language that developed is that we CAN do $12 million, we just need a “longer runway” to get there. You might also compare it to a young family saving up a down payment for their first home— sometimes you have to save up, trusting that you’ll soon be ready for more.


If you've seen Pastor Jeff's timeline graphic, we're suggesting it change to look like this:

  • Old Timeline


  • New Timeline


Save the Date: August 18!


And so, on August 18, 2024 at 11:30 am (right after our two morning services), we will have a special Church Conference where the church as a whole will vote on the recommendation to go forward with fundraising, in faith that it’s the right next step for Trinity and that we’ll be able to build down the road, which the time is right.


In the meantime, if you would like more details or if you have any questions, let us know in the office! You can also ask any member of the Building Committee or Pastor Jeff.