Multiplying Our Community to Reach Our Community — Brochure

MULTIPLYING OUR

community

TO REACH OUR COMMUNITY

2023 PROPOSAL

A LETTER FROM THE ELDERS

Greetings, church family!

Over the past year, “great grace has been upon us all” (Acts 4:33) as we have seen nearly a thousand more people find a church home here. That means every area of ministry has also experienced this growth! And the most encouraging thing is that we’ve been able to care for and disciple the people God keeps bringing through our doors, helping them grow in their faith and desire to pursue life and mission with Jesus. However, we have grown to the point that we are just about out of space.

Our weekly attendance has increased from 2,000 in 2016 when we added Auditorium 2 and the NextGen building to 3,200 in attendance today. Our services are packed, and that’s one reason we added a 5:00 pm service, and fortunately, that did free up about 175 seats on Sunday morning. But again, those Sunday morning seats are filling up again.

In order to create more space to care for and disciple the people God keeps bringing here, we considered building an “Auditorium 3” on the back of our property. But, as we pursued that possibility, the Adam’s Mill YMCA property was brought to our attention. We placed a bid of $5.5 million for the property (25 acres and a 38.000 sq/ft building) and won the bid! Even though the YMCA received offers higher than ours, God gave us favor in their eyes.

After much prayer and discussion with our architect, contractor, and bank, we’ve now done the due diligence work of what it will take to purchase and renovate the Adams Mill YMCA to make it “Fellowship Greenville: Adams Mill.” This brochure will unpack all the details for you by giving you the what, why, and how of the opportunity we believe God has placed before us.

So, we ask you to prayerfully read through this proposal with an openness to partner with God in what He’s doing here. It truly is a God-sized project that will require faith and sacrifice. But, we’ve been here before. Moving from Augusta Road to Woodruff Road, moving from Woodruff Road to our current location, building the two buildings out front— at first, all those projects seemed impossible to the congregations of people in our past who faced those steps of faith. But what did God do?

God turned the seemingly impossible into the building you enter here every week. He multiplied the ministries of the past into the ministry that cares for and disciples you and your family today.

Would you join us in moving forward by faith?

Grace and peace, The Elders of Fellowship Greenville

THE WHAT

CHURCH GROWTH

Throughout the history of our church, God has blessed us with the grace of consistent growth, and the people of our church have always responded to that grace by creating space for the new people God brings to us.

Since our most recent expansion in 2016, nearly 900 more people now attend our Sunday worship services. 600 children are involved in FG Kids and around 400 students are active in middle school and high school ministries. Over 1,000 people enjoy fellowship in community groups and other small group ministries. And, we have over 1,500 people who actively serve inside and outside the walls of our church.

WHAT we must do is create the space to care for and disciple the new people God keeps bringing here just like we care for and disciple you and your families. And based on how it seems that God is working, we believe expanding to the Adams Mill property is what God has in store for our future.

*In order to understand how we think about “church growth,” see the appendix (page 20), “A Biblical Look at the Growth of the Early Church.”

As you know, Greenville isn’t considered to be a small town anymore. People are moving here in masses from all parts of the United States and even from other countries. And this community growth is reflected in the growth we are seeing at Fellowship Greenville.

The population within a 5-mile radius of our church is continuing to increase and we still have people in our community who don’t attend church.

During the eight years before the COVID-19 pandemic, we averaged 2.25% growth in worship attendance each year. When the pandemic hit, we moved everything online until we could begin meeting again in June of 2020. It took two years to get our numbers back but our growth rate this year compared to last year is 24.5%!

THE WHY

WHY MULTIPLY IN THIS WAY?

First, expanding to the Adams Mill property allows us to grow bigger by growing smaller. Second, our basic ministry goal has always been “to do more of what we’re doing, more effectively, with more people as God gives us opportunity.” In other words, do more of what we do here so more people near to us and far from us can experience the kind of ministry you find helpful.

This is what “multiplying ministry” is all about. It’s what “living on mission” is all about—following God’s lead to multiply this community of grace so that more people are invited to passionately pursue life and mission with Jesus with us.

WHY ADAMS MILL?

We could build an “Auditorium 3” on our existing property. Our architect said that would cost us about $12.5 million, and that was indeed a possibility. We could sell our current property, move to a new location, build a 4500-seat auditorium which would cost upwards of $35 million.

We never considered this as a possibility because it violates one of our cultural principles, which was stated earlier, “If God grows us bigger, we have to find ways to grow smaller.”

In 2016, the reason we built Auditorium 2 rather that a much bigger Auditorium was to grow bigger and smaller at the same time. Plus, we’ve never considered it to be good stewardship for us to build a huge building that sits empty and unused six days a week. Given the way we see God working, it seems good to us that we become “one church in two locations.” This is not a new idea. Before we added the NextGen/Auditorium 2 building, we were very excited about the possibility of purchasing property by Roper Mountain Road/I-385, the new floor-covering business, which was about 5 miles from our current location.

The goal was to divide the congregation in half and we would become “one church in two locations.” For all intents and purposes, the Roper Mountain property would function like Auditorium 2 functions today. However, as much as we desired for that to work, God closed every door regarding that possibility. Now, it seems that God has brought that same idea back into the realm of possibility.

THE HOW

After much discussion, negotiation, and exploring bids, the cost of purchasing the Adams Mill property and renovating the building is $18.3 million. That number is actually $3 million less than the number we were first presented.

Remember the options:

• Build on existing property — $12.5 million

• Build a new facility somewhere else — $35 million

• Adams Mill — $18.3 million ($5.5 for land, $13.3 for renovations and up fit) using $2.6 million of the church’s existing capital to bring the project down to $15.7 million

Yes, it’s a God-sized number. But, when you consider that our 2016 project cost us $10.5 million and factor in inflation plus 25 acres and an existing 38,000 sq/ft building, we believe it’s a faith-stretch but not an act of presuming on God. Also, by God’s grace, a congregation of 1,600 people turned the seemingly impossible $10.5 million project into the buildings you benefit from today. What might a congregation of 3,200 people be able to do?

The finished facilities would include a 700-seat auditorium, with space for Kids and Students. Our hope is to be finished with construction by November of 2024.

OUR RESPONSE

THE INVITATION

On May 21, we will vote to move forward on the purchase and renovation of the Adam’s Mill property so that we become one church in two locations.

Several weeks back, Pastor Charlie invited you to pray with the Elders, asking God if multiplying ministry to the Adams Mill property was what He wanted for Fellowship Greenville. Since that time, the Elders and staff leadership have prayed and worked diligently to bring us to this point of decision. We can unanimously say that “it seems good to us and the Holy Spirit” for us to partner with God in how He’s working in us and through us.

Now the question for you is:

Will you step out in faith with us by affirming on May 21, 2023? God’s “great grace is upon us all.” Will you be a part of extending that grace to the people God already knows will join us in the future?

Acts 4:33

“And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”

As the staff leadership team has prayed and processed how God is working here, and as we’ve tried to share what we understand Him to be doing with others, several good questions have come up that we want to address. In fact, early on, we invited the staff to submit their questions and we devoted a whole staff meeting to addressing those questions. So here are some of the questions they asked and that you probably have as well.

1. Is Fellowship Greenville expanding to become a “campus” style church or a “multi-site” church like so many other churches?

No, not exactly. When you think about it, we’re already a “multi-site” church since we do not all meet in one single, auditorium. Expanding to the Adams Mill location is the way we believe we can keep a smaller church environment while creating space for the growth God is causing here. Also, part of the reason Jason Malone is here is to multiply ministry, especially through the Upstate Church Collective (UCC).

2. Will the new location operate independently from us?

No. In the beginning, Adams Mill will be a Sunday morning venue only—worship, children, Middle School. All the other ministries of

the church will continue to operate at this location. Initially, we will staff Adams Mill with our staff and volunteers. It will operate as a mirror image of what happens here. At some point, when the Adams Mill congregation grows to include new people from the community it will more than likely become a part of a family of churches connected to UCC. Our desire and commitment is to export our Fellowship “DNA” to other locations so more people can enjoy and benefit what you enjoy and benefit from here.

3. Why are we pursuing property that’s just 6 miles down the road? Why not in some other area of Greenville?

Great question! The 5-mile radius area around our church continues to be among the fastest growing areas of the state. From 2000 to 2015, this area has grown by 59% and in the last eight years the growth has been just over 9%. Why would we go to some other area of Greenville if the largest are of population growth is right here in our own backyard? Currently over 1,100 people drive past Adams Mill to attend at our current location. By going just 6 miles down the road, our ask will be that 400-500 people from our congregation attend at Adams Mill, giving it the opportunity to grow to a two-service format and it creates space for more people to attend here.

That gives Adams Mill the opportunity to grow into a two-service format, and it creates space for more people to attend here. One more thing, adding to the 5-mile footprint we have here with an overlapping 5-mile footprint down 6 miles down the road, increases our sphere of community impact to over 11 miles! We see this as a way to advance the Gospel and to reach more people.

4. Will there be live speakers at Adams Mill or will it be a video venue only?

Adams Mill will have the same live speaker rotation that we have here combined with video on some Sundays in the same way we operate here. And, other pastors will be rotating in and out of the Adams Mill location so new people can get to know them as well.

5. Will we have to commit to one location and stay there or can we “float” from one location to the other like the can from Auditorium One to Auditorium Two?

You can float. There’s no hard and fast rule. But our hope would be that you would eventually get involved in serving in one place or another and find community in that way as well. As to community group involvement, if you choose to attend Adams Mill you can

continue in your current community group. Community groups will not be unique to a specific location.

6. Is this the best time to do this?

We understand some may be thinking that with the current condition of our nation’s economy and the state of things in our world, this may not be the most opportune time to undertake this proposal. This is not a decision that the church leadership has come to quickly or lightly. It has taken years to arrive at this proposal and the cost and risk by faith has been carefully weighed. Ultimately, we believe this is the best time to do this, because we believe this is where God is leading us now.

7. How will we pay for all this?

Financing will be combined with a capital campaign in which we will ask the church to make a three-year year financial commitment over and above our current offerings to the ministry of this church. The bank will loan us money against the pledges of our capital campaign. This is the way we’ve done the other two expansions here since 1996. God has enabled us to do effective, fruitful ministry in this way. Also, at some point, we may look into selling a piece of the property that could help reduce the debt load.

8. Why are we trying to raise millions of dollars to build here when the need is so great in other parts of the world?

Why are we trying to raise millions of dollars to build here when the need is so great in other parts of the world? Did that question cross your mind? It’s a fair question. Think about it this way. How would the Church be able to raise large amounts of money to resource worldwide missions? How would you equip people to serve in all those places and support ministry in all those places? How would you raise up the next generation of Christian leaders to serve in under resourced areas like that if it were not for churches like ours that have a growing desire to carry the mission of Jesus forward into the world in our generation?

Some Christian leaders say it’s shameful for Christians to be sitting in $20 million dollar buildings (like ours). But again, our response is: How would you be able to mobilize large numbers of Christ-followers to be deeply involved in the mission of Jesus if it were not for churches like ours?

THE APPENDIX

A BIBLICAL LOOK AT THE GROWTH OF THE EARLY CHURCH (ACTS 2-4)

If you’ve attended Fellowship Greenville for a while, you know that we have never set numerical goals of any kind. I grew up in a church tradition that set goals for attendance, goals for baptisms, and goals for giving. The pastors of those churches (my pastors) had sincere hearts for God and I never felt that they measured their value by reaching goals like that. They simply desired to see people come to Christ and become a part of His church and they were trained to think and press toward numerical goals.

Today, in some circles, church growth is still a buzzword that defines a “successful” church. There are growth seminars and growth websites. There are growth consultants, growth plans, and growth strategies. There are blogs on growth written by pastors of growing churches telling others how their growth came about, in the hope that other churches will grow by adopting the same strategies.

But in the early church, growth is talked about in a very different way.

In Acts 2, we see that when Peter preached the Gospel of the grace of Jesus to a diverse crowd of Jewish people from all over the known world, the Holy Spirit fell on that crowd and over 3,000 of them embraced the Risen Jesus as their Messiah. Luke paints a picture of the new church—they were devoted to Bible teaching, worship, prayer, and ministry to the community.

He shows us a people who met daily, who persevered, and who were living so differently than everyone else around them that they “enjoyed the favor of all the people.” And, at the very end of the passage, we read a word about growth—“And the Lord added their number daily” (Acts 2:42-47).

Then in chapter 3, Peter and John were on their way to the temple to pray and on the way, they heal a man who had been unable to walk from birth. Naturally, a crowd of amazed people gather, and Peter preached another sermon, once again presenting Jesus as Israel’s Messiah, and again, he encourages the crowd to repent of their sin and put their faith In Jesus as their Messiah. As a result, over 3000 people believe the Gospel.

The gospel of grace is preached, people turn from their old lives in Judaism, they put their faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit fills them, and the church continues to grow.

The story of Acts 3 continues into Acts 4, and in Acts 4:32-35, Luke again paints a picture of the life and growth of the church—unity, Holy Spirit-empowered preaching, generosity, caring for and discipling new believers. And we read that, “and God’s great grace was upon them all” (4:33).

Here’s what I want you to see—in the early church, growth was not the goal—it was the by-product—the by-product of the life of a Gospel-preaching, Christ-centered, generous, Holy Spirit empowered community of grace. And so, yes, “great grace was upon them all” and the “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” God did the growing as the church spent her time being the church.

Fellowship Greenville, like many, many other Gospel-preaching churches, are a part of the continuing story of the book of Acts. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say, in our “Acts” story—I believe the same thing can be said of FG that Luke says about the early church—“the Lord is adding to our number weekly” and, “God’s great grace is upon us all.” Not because we’re trying to grow, but because:

1. We are focused on teaching the Bible in a way that people can understand.

2. We have a plurality of teachers and leaders not just one senior pastor who calls all the shots.

3. We put equipping people for life and ministry over having events.

4. We invite people into whole-hearted, participatory worship.

5. We seek to follow how the Holy Spirit is leading us rather than simply come up with pragmatic strategies to grow.

Growth is not the goal; growth is the God given by-product of a church that seeks to put Jesus on display in preaching, worship, community, generosity, and serving inside and outside the walls of the church.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for gracing us with God-inspired growth.

—Charlie Boyd