Let us tell you a story…
One evening in 2021, a few Calvary pastors and staff sat down with a group of Calvary people, all lay leaders and committed members. The pastors and staff laid out a proposal to the church members: The church would be paying on a $4.8M mortgage for the next 20+ years.
What if we reduced that debt load over the next 3-5 years so more money would be available for outreach?
The responses were positive, but there were good questions:
How much would go to outreach?
What outreach projects would we do?
Who would decide?
How would this affect other ministries?
What kinds of outreach were we already doing now?
How would we avoid some of the pitfalls of other giving initiatives (ours and other churches)?
There weren’t clear answers to a lot of those questions. One member sitting toward the back listened all evening to the back-and-forth, then spoke up: “Why don’t you guys take some more time to pray about this. Ask what God would have our church do to spend this money in outreach if we had it. Then come back to us.” Around the room, every head was nodding.
VIDEO | Pastor Jon on how the Holy Spirit has led the church to this emphasis on outreach.
So we did. We prayed, we asked that group to pray, and the elders, and the staff, and other lay leaders. We convened more groups of Calvary members and asked “What needs do you see in the community and world that our church can meet?” and “How do you see God working on hearts at Calvary in the area of outreach?” Every time we met with enthusiastic responses. Everyone at Calvary, it seemed, was ready to see more outreach happen. We recorded what we learned and then prayed some more.
What God Confirmed
God calls us to do 3 things as Christians: worship him, make disciples, and reach out to others. Over the last several years, God has led our church to a greater understanding and emphasis on worship and discipleship. We seem to be doing well there. What God confirmed through prayer and the faithful responses of Calvary members and attenders is this: It’s time to focus on outreach.
VIDEO | Pastor Josh on Calvary’s strategy to serve God through worship, discipleship, and outreach.
In December 2021, we made an announcement in church: As we prepared to close out the fiscal year, any giving above and beyond the annual ministry budget would go to outreach efforts. We thought there might be an extra $30,000 to $40,000; instead the congregation responded with a gift of $263,822!
Here’s where those gifts are going:
Throughout the latter half of 2021, as we met with groups of church members, the prevailing message was this: “Let’s go!” You were ready for the church family to get outside the walls of the church and share hope and help with people. The outpouring of generosity confirmed it even more.
What’s Holding Us Back
As a church, we are committed to expanding outreach. We’re already doing a lot with the resources we have, and we’ll keep putting every resource possible toward sharing the gospel, caring for people’s needs, and multiplying healthy churches.
However, we’re still looking at the mortgage debt, a stream of revenue flowing out our doors to the bank, and thinking, “What if that money went to outreach instead?”
Every month, Calvary pays out $29,265 in interest and principal to a bank.
Our annual mortgage payment is $351,180.
Imagine if our budget for outreach was $351,180 annually instead! That’s exactly what we hope can happen. Our budget and giving is strong. We can continue as we are and meet the debt obligation for the next 18 years as well as continue to fund ministry here at Calvary, in the community, and around the world. But we would rather the mortgage payment (and the millions we’ll pay in interest over those 18 years) go to ministry. Wouldn’t you?
The Outward Initiative
By now you’ve figured out that we’re starting a fundraising initiative. We’re calling it the Outward Initiative. In the initial phase, elders and staff made commitments to the project. 100% of our elders and staff have pledged to give. In addition, elders and pastors have been meeting with a number of families within the church who have the capacity to lead in generosity.
$1 million dollars is already committed to the Outward Initiative
We’re excited about that, but if more Calvary members and attenders jump in, we can do even more. You can see from the infographic above that even $500,000 more in committed funding would give our church $15,747 a month to direct to outreach!
A word about numbers: When we started talking about reducing or eliminating the mortgage debt last year, our balance was $4.8M. People who commit to the Outward Initiative will have 3 years to give. If we did nothing, in 3 years, the mortgage would be $4.2M. So you’ll see the $4.2M figure used throughout this message and in the Outward Initiative booklet (below).
Strengthening Outreach
As we met with groups from the congregation, it was increasingly clear that our future outreach efforts would have 3 aims: evangelism, community impact, and multiplication of churches. Put more simply, we want to share the gospel, care for people, and grow up healthy churches.
VIDEO | Pastor Josh on the three aims of outreach: share the gospel, care for people, and multiply healthy churches.
How Do We Get From Here to There?
The only way to go from paying $351,180 a year toward a $4.2 million mortgage to funding $351,180 a year in outreach is together. There’s a chart of gifts below. It’s one way we could reach this goal as a church family.
Know this: We are asking you to prayerfully consider a gift toward the Outward Initiative. We are also trusting that God will provide the finances needed to pay down (or off!) the debt and direct that money into outreach. In the meantime, we’re going to keep doing all the things we always do: worship God together, grow disciples who make more disciples, and reach out to people who are vulnerable and in need of salvation and hope.
VIDEO | Pastor Jon on the chart of gifts and how we are trusting God to raise up the givers he wants.
Pray. Consider. Ask Questions. Give.
There is more information below, plus ways to contact Pastor Josh, Pastor Jon, and the Outward Initiative team. There is also an online Commitment Card. If you prefer a paper card, send us an email or call the office (219.462.4026) and we’ll get one to you.
Thanks for letting us tell you the Outward Initiative story.
Commitment Card
Complete the Commitment Card to let us know how you want to give!
Learn More
Flip through the booklet to find out more about the vision for Outward
