What is the “beyond” campaign?
beyond is a capital stewardship campaign to help follow God’s leading in the vision for Westbrook Christian Church. It’s a way to make the spiritual and financial resources match our growing need to reach more lost people. This will be accomplished through 36-month financial commitments that are over and above your regular Make A Way offering. It is imperative that this commitment be over and above your regular offering, as the regular offering meets the needs necessary to continue ongoing, daily ministry. As we continue to reach more people, it is very evident that we need to provide more space for ministry. This initial phase will help provide the funds necessary to build the first phase of a new ministry center.

Why do we need to relocate?
Facilities and parking are inadequate to support our thriving congregation and are definitely insufficient to allow for growth. Relocating will permit expansion of Westbrook’s facilities for all ages, enabling us to win more lost people to Jesus for generations to come. It is time go beyond where we are now, to ensure that all who desire to hear of the love of our Lord Jesus can do so at Westbrook.

Is now a good time to be doing something like this is light of current economic concerns? In other words, why is now the time to do something like this?
In short, we believe God has spoken. It seems clear that now is the time, based upon our search, our prayers, and our patience. In addition, building projects and trades prices are at an all time low. We are sensing the need to move forward with this to preach the message of Christ and His love.

How much will this first phase building cost?
In 2006, Westbrook purchased a beautiful piece of land on Veterans Parkway in Bolingbrook. This completely buildable, ready pad of land is spacious enough for a large ministry center, classrooms, and parking. The land was purchased for $2.4 million. Westbrook, along with Schramm Construction, has developed an initial drawing and rough estimates to build are $6.25 million.

Can we afford to do this?
In our strength alone, no we cannot. With God’s help, YES we can. That’s why throughout this process you will be asked to seek God for guidance regarding your part of His plan. Once you hear from Him, we challenge you to be faithful to obey Him. How will the money for the current campaign be raised? The funds will be commitment pledges by our Westbrook family members during our beyond capital stewardship campaign, October 31 – November 21.

What will be asked of me?
A Kingdom effort of this size will only succeed with the prayers and finances of everyone. So, each family connected with Westbrook will be asked to make a sacrificial commitment to Christ and His church. This offering should be over and above your regular giving to our Make A Way Offering. All are asked to pray for God’s guidance, to simply listen to what God would have you do, and then act in obedience to His call.

How will the commitments to this campaign be made?
Commitments will be made either by giving weekly, monthly, or annually over a three-year period. Commitment cards will be signed at the Leadership Commitment Event on Sunday, November 14 and the Celebration Service on Sunday, November 21. Some people may also be led to give non-cash gifts, such as real estate, jewelry, or similar items.

Will any monetary commitment I make be made public?
No.

What if I need to change my commitment at a later date?
Then you may change it. You may either increase or decrease your commitment at any time as the Lord leads you. When are we going to build a facility on this land? Our current plan calls for facility relocation to take place immediately; however, it appears reasonable to have a purchase contract on our current Lily Cache site. It also seems clear that a capital campaign needs to be in place and executed, thereby encouraging our Westbrook family to share in this journey. Without these two items in place, we would have to take a step back and seek God’s leadership. While God may lead us through this relocation without the sale of our Lily Cache site, He will have to perform what our vision statement declares: Making a way when there seems to be NO way.

Why don’t the numbers seem to add up?
With the concern about our economy, and the challenge of our weekly offerings not measuring up to our stated ministry plan goals, this doesn’t seem to be a logical or fiscally responsible plan. From our human perspective, that certainly might be accurate, but God often has other plans. To date, with extra gifts received through our Now is the Time campaign (which is officially completed), we are currently up-to-date with our debt-servicing plan. In other words, our monthly mortgage is current. Nearly half of this monthly mortgage is provided through our general operating budget, which is funded through the weekly Make A Way offerings. The remaining amount has been paid through the gifts given to the Now is the Time campaign. We are seeking to sell our current Lily Cache site for approximately $2 million. This will result in carrying over the remaining $2 million to the next project. The additional loan amount will require great sacrifice and commitment from the 400 families who make up Westbrook Christian Church. It will also require a significant amount of faith in God’s blessing.

What is the projected growth of Westbrook when we enter a new facility?
Upon entering a new facility, if God allowed Westbrook to grow at a rate of 20% (which was very common in the early years of the life of Westbrook) our weekly attendance would reach nearly 2,000 people in the first two years. While these numbers are only projections and the final blessings would come from the Lord, it is very possible that many new people would come to learn about Jesus and His wonderful love for them through Westbrook.

Over the years, Westbrook has taught and challenged its congregation to live debt-free. How should we process the inconsistency of seeking financial freedom from debt while moving deeper into debt?
This is a very valid question. While we still desire each family to live debt-free, likewise it seems important for the church to minister debt-free. Being debt-free would allow our congregation to be even more generous to the world around us. The same is true in our individual lives. Being a debt-free church has been and remains a goal; however, two tensions come into play. First, while we teach stewardship principles on a regular basis, the fact remains that many within our church have not begun tithing at a level that is proportionate with their income. If 100% of the families that call Westbrook home were giving in that way, then there would be no need for debt – or even capital campaigns for that matter. Thus while we faithfully teach these stewardship principles, we also pray diligently that God will work in the hearts of our families and will move them to faithful financial stewardship.

The second tension comes as a result of the first. While this teaching and growth takes place, the fact remains that hundreds of thousands of people around us still live lives apart from Christ. They are bound for a Christ-less eternity. We are placing a higher priority on reaching those people than we are on our preference to be debt-free. In the process, we’re partnering with ministries like the Church Development Fund (CDF) who willingly provide funds to do ministry. Over the years, CDF has been a faithful ministry partner with us, providing many resources (not just capital) to help us fulfill the mission God has for us. Our prayer is that this campaign will encourage everyone in our church family to begin tithing to the Make A Way fund, find some areas of sacrifice over and above their Make A Way giving so that they can be a part of this campaign, and then be a part of helping our church exponentially grow with people being won for Jesus. When new Christians surrender their lives to Christ, they too begin surrendering their all to Christ. How great would it be for us to then pay off this debt in a rapid way and be able to set aside funds that allow us to pay cash for the next phase of our growth and lavishly fund Kingdom works through our faithfulness? That is possible. It simply requires EVERYONE (not just a few faithful families) to give as the Lord calls us to give.

What are the current numbers regarding costs and Westbrook’s indebtedness?
To clarify our earlier published campaign case statement, below is the current data regarding “the numbers”:

• $3,900,000 – current indebtedness to Church Development Fund
  • $2,400,000 from the land purchase on Veterans Parkway
  • $1,500,000 owed from the building and addition on Lily Cache facility
• $2,000,000 – $2,300,000 asking price for current Lily Cache facility
• $1,400,000 – amount given to date from our last capital campaign (Now is the Time).
  • The funds raised for this campaign were used to service the mortgage on the Veterans Parkway parcel.
  • This amount was not collected in full over the last four years and applied to the principle of the loan. The gifts given to Now Is The Time were used to pay the monthly mortgage on the land. In addition, several months of reserve were set aside.