CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 15, 2024
St. Mark is stepping forward into bold adventures and unstoppable unity!
On Sunday, September 15, Pastor Adam Sharp led a congregational meeting to talk more about the new campus at College Park Missionary Church.
College Park recently made the difficult decision to close their doors and write a new chapter in their church's history. The church will now become an extension of St. Mark.
“We're going to do a hybrid church model meeting,” Pastor Adam explained. “We're going to have Live worship over there. Whoever is speaking here will be projected over there, and then, just like we do, they will end with a Live worship song. They will have a campus pastor who will be going over there to help do the discipleship and help run the ministries as we grow from there.”
Pastor Adam has a vision of unity in this new chapter for St. Mark and College Park.
“I look at the book of Acts, and I see this fiery birth,” Pastor Adam described. “I see this bold adventure that the church started, and I see unstoppable unity inside the book of Acts. That's what we're praying for here today—unstoppable unity—something that's going to be born, something new with bold adventures going up before us.”
This transition involves not only spiritual growth but also practical stewardship. Pastor Ryan Busse provided insight into the church's financial situation, explaining how their offerings, general funds, and investments have been carefully managed.
“College Park has been incredible stewards with what their people tithe and what God has given them,” Pastor Ryan explained. “The general fund investments and lease property funds all generate income. That income gets folded into the overall bank account and budget, and then finally, other restricted net assets. Each year, they've stewarded this money incredibly well. Present day, because of some utilities, upkeep, and maintenance, the money that's in the bank account that would be coming our way to help address renovations and things of that nature is somewhere just north of $72,000.”
Jeff Clay, the chairman of the church board, further clarified the logistics surrounding property ownership and obligations.
“The region owns these properties at College Park, no different than they own our property at St. Mark,” Jeff explained. “The properties that are at College Park would basically be entrusted to us. The only obligations we have are to pay taxes on the houses, keep up the property, keep up the houses, and that sort of thing.”
As this new venture for St. Mark was put to a vote, the congregation agreed with a unanimous “yes.”
Q & A
How many people attended before the church closed?
Pastor Ryan: On an average Sunday, from what we've heard, attendance was around 14 people. On the higher end, it could reach the mid-20s, and on low days, especially during bad weather, it could drop to around 10. So, overall, the average was about 14 to 17.
Will the finances of both churches be kept separate moving forward?
Pastor Ryan: Yes, we’ve discussed this, and while we’ll be functioning as one church with two campuses, we want to track the finances separately. This isn’t set in stone, but we’re writing things in pencil, as this is a new venture for all of us. Separating finances will help us monitor how much money is coming in, how much money is going out, and allow us to budget and forecast accurately. We don’t want everything to be lumped together, so while it’s essentially one big bucket, we’ll keep some distinctions so we can assess how things are going. That way, when we ask if it's working, we’ll have concrete evidence.
Are the houses rented?
Pastor Ryan: Two of the three are rented. The third one has been reserved over the years for missionaries coming into town, so it was more of a short-term stay arrangement rather than a long-term rental. The other two houses have leases: one runs until December of this year, and the other until May 2025. Both rent for around $1,000 a month—one is a four-bed, two-bath, and the other is a three-bed, one-bath.
How long will it take to know if this is working?
Pastor Adam: After three years, you can typically see how things are progressing, but it usually takes around seven years to fully change a culture. With the healthy culture that we have at St. Mark, our plan to renovate, and bringing some of our people over to the new campus, we believe that in three years, we’ll have a good idea of whether it’s healthy and sustainable.
Is there any debt or loans?
Pastor Ryan: No, it’s debt-free. Everything’s paid off.
Will the buildings and houses become part of St. Mark’s assets or the Missionary Church’s?
Pastor Adam: They’re part of the Missionary Church’s assets. It’s under the region’s ownership and will stay there.
You mentioned sending people from this church to the other—can you explain more?
Pastor Adam: Right now, we’re not sure of the exact number, but we might ask 20 to 40 people from here to commit to going over to the other church. They’ll form a core team, pray, and volunteer as the church grows. As we evaluate the progress, we can decide when to transition leadership to those who are regularly attending and volunteering there. We’re still developing this plan, but the idea is to take some of our health here and use it to build up that church.
How many people can fit inside the church?
Pastor Adam: We can probably fit about 140 people in the pews.
Will there be programs for kids?
Pastor Adam: We won’t start kids' programs right away. Initially, we’ll just have the 10:30 service, and we’ll evaluate to see when to add more. Typically, the first thing to add in a setup like this is a children’s ministry.
Will there be any study groups?
Pastor Adam: Yes, probably as we grow. We’ll be using the building a lot and will evaluate the need as we go.
How will the approach for College Park be different this time around so its doors won’t have to close again?
Pastor Adam: This time, we want to bring solid leadership and a clear plan. We’ll shut down the church temporarily, renovate, and build a core team to pray and plan.
Do you see any potential drawbacks?
Pastor Adam: Yes, we do see drawbacks in this. We know that we're going to be extending ourselves because this is something that we've never done before. Multi-site churches are difficult to manage. We can manage this by taking some of our volunteers from here and bringing them over there. Then that brings up the fact that if we're going to take some volunteers from here and move them over there, we want to make sure that we can fill these volunteers back in at St. Mark. So we have to cast a good vision, recruit, and train.
Another drawback would be finances. Right now, financially, we’re in a healthy spot, but we need to stay cautious to maintain that health as we expand. Of course, we’re going to be getting gifted some finances, but we have to make sure that we're staying healthy and in really, really good place so that we can continue the ministries that we have.
What kind of renovations are planned?
Pastor Ryan: College Park has great bones, but it needs some cosmetic updates. The bathrooms, light fixtures, and ceiling tiles are outdated and need sprucing up to be more inviting.
The rental properties were built in the late 1940s and early 1950s, so obviously, they're not brand new homes. Two of the rental properties are currently occupied, so we haven't knocked on the door and asked to come in to see what might need renovated. The one that isn’t currently occupied, we went into, and they actually renovated a few things in that one last year.
Will volunteers from St. Mark handle renovations, or will they be hired out?
Pastor Adam: Probably a mix of both. If people here have the skills and can save us money, we’ll have volunteers help. For larger projects, we’ll probably need to hire professionals.
Will there be a marketing plan for when the church opens?
Pastor Adam: Absolutely. We’ll plan months in advance if we can. We've got some pretty fun ideas in mind already.
Do you believe this is God’s will for the church?
Pastor Adam: I do, hands down. Four years ago, I wouldn’t have been interested in doing this, but God has slowly changed my heart. It's about reaching more people for Christ, and we can bring some of the health that we have here to minister to this neighborhood.
What’s unique about adding this new location?
Pastor Adam: We often see people who are overwhelmed, especially at our 10:30 service. They're looking for something smaller, or they’re missing the traditions, the pews, and the hymns. Many want a place where they can feel known and needed. College Park offers us a chance to bring the discipleship and strong culture of St. Mark to a smaller, more traditional setting. I think that people are walking in here looking for something different that we can't offer here in this space, that we will be able to over there in that space.
What key metrics, beyond financials, will you track over the next three years?
Pastor Adam: Right now, we track about 14 different metrics here at St. Mark, including attendance, volunteer involvement, growth, etc. For College Park, we’ll be looking at retention, involvement, and especially conversion growth—we want to reach people who are far from God and bring them into the church. We’ll track how many new people are coming, how involved they are, and how many are conversions.
How does the Hispanic church that’s currently using College Park factor into this plan?
Pastor Adam: We want them to stay and continue using the building. We’ve had discussions with them, and we want to support them as much as possible.
Do we have a timeline as to when we will open the doors?
Pastor Adam: We’d love to aim for Easter if possible. Typically, there are three good times to start a church: at the beginning of the year, in September, and around Easter. Now, one thing we’ll need to keep in mind is that when we start opening up walls and doing renovations, timelines can get longer. If construction starts and things get delayed, we may need to adjust the timing. I don’t want to set a specific date yet, because I don’t want to have to keep pushing it back. This is still in the planning phase, but once we get into construction, we’ll have a better idea of when we can open.
Do you think there might be an open house, or some opportunity for the rest of us to see the inside?
Pastor Adam: Absolutely. One of the first things we’ll do is start going over there and praying on the property. That will be only the beginning.
What are we going to call it?
Pastor Adam: Right now, the idea is to call it the Liberty Drive Campus. The original name was Liberty Drive Missionary Church, and we want to bring that back.