We are in a series Sunday called Unstoppable Church. Each week, we are exploring how our church is on an unstoppable mission. One of the tools supporting this mission is our new building. While it's just a tool, we’re excited about the vital role it will play in helping us fulfill our mission to help people find and follow Jesus.
 
We’re eagerly anticipating our new building! However, in the past few months, we’ve communicated that due to inflation, growth, and site infrastructure costs, the price of the building has increased. As a result, we now have about a $2 million deficit to complete the design we’ve planned. We are presenting this need and asking you, as part of Stonehill, to pray about how God might lead you to respond. Below is our Unstoppable Church handout, which includes an Unstoppable Commitment Card.

This ask is for two groups:
  1. If you weren’t part of our previous building initiative—whether you’re newer to Stonehill or unable to participate at the time—we invite you to join us in this 1-year commitment. Our church has grown significantly over the past few years, and your involvement will help us continue to create space for everyone.
  2. If you’ve previously been part of a building initiative at Stonehill and feel led to contribute more to help meet this goal, we encourage you to do so.
 
We’re asking everyone to pray about making a 1-year commitment, above your regular giving. We will turn in the commitment cards at the Groundbreaking on September 29th.
Sample Commitment Card
Detailed Floor Plan
This building is essential for supporting our Stonehill congregation and serving our community. It will provide the necessary discipleship environments for every age group in our church and create a welcoming space for our community to experience our commitment to blessing and serving them. It will be designed to love all people and help them find and follow Jesus! 
Give to the Building fund

building info


* Location: Situated on Amity Road between Linder and Meridian Roads.
* Size: A spacious 45,000 square feet.
* Auditorium: Features stadium seating and will eventually accommodate 1,380 people (with the first phase seating around 900-1,000).
* Foyer: A large, welcoming area for fellowship and coffee before and after services.
* Classrooms: Designed for children and students of all ages.
* Multi-Purpose Rooms: Versatile spaces for hosting various discipleship environments for kids, students, and adults.
* Community Focus: A warm, welcoming, and inviting facility for our community.
* Future Expansion: The building is designed to be expandable for future phases.

latest Building Update

Building Update August 8, 2024
September 17th, 2024
We’re eagerly anticipating our new building! However, in the past few months, we’ve communicated that due to inflation, growth, and site infrastructure costs, the price of the building has increased. As a result, we now have about a $2 million deficit to complete the design we’ve planned. We are presenting this need and asking you, as part of Stonehill, to pray about how God might lead you to resp...

more info

History of Building
* We are blessed with being given over 13 acres. It is fully paid off. The property is located on Amity Road between Meridian and Linder. Praise God!

* Two and a half years ago, we launched an initiative to raise funds for building a new facility. At that time, the estimated cost for the building was approximately $14 million. Our goal was to raise $4 million as a down payment. We are grateful to share that, through the dedication and generosity of Stonehill, we were successful in raising an approximately $4 million.
Where Are We Currently With the Building?
* So far, we have spent around $838,695.83 on architect fees, civil engineering fees, and other building expenses.

* After paying those expenses, and adding some additional cash we had already in a building fund, we currently have currently $3,726,067.96 in cash set aside for the next part of the building (as of 9-1-24).

* We are also currently saving approximately $52,000 per month to prepare for a mortgage payment, which is being added to our building fund in savings.

* By the end of the year, with this rate of saving for the mortgage payment and additional savings in our budget, we forecast having around $4 million to put down in cash on rest of the building expenses, (this is if we didn’t receive any other money.)


Drivers of the project increase from $14 Million- $18 Million since 2021-2024.
* We were informed by our building contractor that the current estimated cost for the building is around $18 million. This $4 million increase from 21/2 years ago is due to the following reasons:

    1. Inflation: Prices of everything have just gone up. This accounts for a significant portion of the increased cost, approximately $2 million.

    2. Unplanned Site Improvements: The cost for additional government site improvements, such as an extra road, pressurized irrigation, and extended sewer, totals about $1 million. There is a major prayer request regarding this, as a developer is purchasing the property around us. We pray that the developer will join us in covering some of the site infrastructure costs that the city requires. Please join us in prayer for this.

    3. Increased Size of the Building: Since we began the building process over two and a half years ago, our church has grown by 55% (800-1243). As a result, we have added some square footage (a middle school room, a larger foyer, and more kids' space), which has contributed an additional $1 million to the cost.With this, we have seen a total increase of $4 million in the cost of the building needed to support Stonehill Church.
Next Steps/What Do We Need?
We believe this is the building that God has for Stonehill Church. So here is what’s next…

*To build this current building, we need to raise an additional $2 million within the next year to complete the current design with site improvements. (We should also pray for assistance with site improvements but not rely on it.) If we find ways to reduce costs further, we can adjust the amount needed accordingly.

​​​​If we can’t raise the entirety of this money, one way to reduce around $1 million is by removing the front middle school room/flex room. This room is intended for our middle school ministries on Sunday mornings. If we cut this room, we would need to find another meeting time for the middle school outside of Sunday mornings, which is possible but not optimal. If we were to cut this space, we would still need to raise $1 million.
What Can You Do?
* Pray. We believe this is the building God wants for Stonehill, but He will need to provide what we need.

* Get Involved. We invite you, church partners, to get involved and help us overcome the $2 million deficit within the next year by allowing God to show up in remarkable ways.

* Give. We encourage you to continue to give your tithes and offerings. We still have our operations, rents, ministry supplies, outreach, staff, etc. Stay strong in that. We encourage you not to take from that to help with the building, but above that, we encourage you to give to the building specifically. We have set up a Building Fund to give directly to the building to help with the $2 million deficit. Maybe you can give what might feel like a little. That’s great. Maybe God has blessed you financially, and you can do something larger. Heck, maybe you can drop $1 million yourself. Praise the Lord.

* Regardless of the amount raised, we plan on building a facility. The extent of what we can accomplish will depend on the funds received. Either way, we will praise God and look forward to what He is going to do.
Building Timeline
* Groundbreaking Ceremony: We are planning a groundbreaking ceremony on September 29, which will be a significant event.

* Construction Start: Depending on city permitting and weather conditions, we hope to begin construction around February or March of 2025. (We will be looking to do sewer and ground work in the meantime)

* Construction Duration: The construction is expected to take between 14-18 months. Our goal is to have the building completed between Easter and summer of 2026. 
Questions?
If you have any questions at all, please email us at elders@stonehill.church!