The elders would briefly like to keep you up to date on our building process.
Land: We have fully raised the purchase price of the 3.5+ acre lot located in the Spotsy Village community next to the Planters Bank and facing Courthouse Road. We have a firm agreement with Vakos Properties to purchase the land. However, no money will change hands, and the land will not close, until we have a fully approved site plan.
Site Planning: Our new church sanctuary and educational buildings will be right in the center of the Spotsylvania Courthouse Village high-density development. This means two things. First, we’ll be surrounded by people and residential housing. Praise the Lord! We will never have to cast far as fishers of men. Second, site planning must be exact and meticulous. All our site plan must physically be designed to fit in a tight space and have a look that matches the community. As a church, and with Vakos Properties, we have talked through the basics, but now it’s time to get an architect involved. Elder Michael Shively, who is a commercial architect, will be working with the main site planning architect that has overseen the design and build of the entire community so far. This will be a back-and-forth process and we’ll keep the church informed at each member meeting.
Once a site plan, building elevation, and building architectural plan are complete, those plans will go the Spotsylvania County permitting board for approval. Once we get approval of all these plans, then we will be clear to close on the land and build on the land. Vakos Properties estimates that the total architectural development and final plan approval process will take nine months at least.
Building and Budget: The period of time that it will take to design the buildings and permit the buildings gives us time to raise money to build the new church. We remain committed to our core principles of committing our needs to the Lord by prayer and to the church in a basic unpressured way. We also remain committed to never getting into debt that would compromise the spiritual priorities of the church. At a minimum, we will not build until the mortgage payment is at least the same, or less, than what we currently pay in rent. In this way we know that the change will not affect the ministry priorities of the church – which is why the church gathers and exists.
We have a designated building fund, and all contributions to that fund will be used exclusively for the church building. Please prayerfully consider making regular contributions toward achieving this major goal in the life of the church.
Prayer: Please pray for this process! Anyone that has ever entered into a major building project knows that a million things can go wrong. Pray that above all the Lord Jesus will be glorified by having a Christian church raised in the center of this community. This is how communities used to be in America. Redeemer will truly continue to be a community church! Pray that adequate funding will come in and will come in a way that glorifies the Lord. Pray that the process would not be unnecessarily prolonged. Pray for the salvation of souls and the discipleship of Christians throughout this process. Pray that in all things Jesus would be glorified!
The Elders of Redeemer Bible Church,
Nick Bultinck
Victor Carpenter
Clay Hicks
Mike Patterson
Michael Shively
Rodney Swann
Eric Wright