Our church has gone through different phases; in the early years we didn't have a building fund in operation as we lived in rented and leased facilities. Within a couple of years, the need to have a specific fund, focused on the challenge of acquiring a facility that would serve us well into our future, necessitated the formation of a building fund. This enabled us to focus on this challenge, and with clarity and vision provided the means by which we could move forward together in this essential area.
Once the major task of getting rid of the debt on our city campus had been accomplished, we folded our building fund into our Trust structure, which was designed to raise money for purposes of outreach and helping the poor. The last few years have seen the Trust grow and grow and the energy put towards our facilities has been on a lower level. However, the time has come to ramp this area of the church back up again; as you are aware, the church is growing especially with the commencement of our various campuses. We feel the best way forward is to have a specific fund, which people can give towards with a focus on creating more space for the church to gather in. This will in turn enable us to focus the Trust specifically on the areas delineated in our Trust Document; Evangelism, the Broader Church, Caring for the Poor, Community Services and responding to various global crises that arise from time to time.
We trust that, as we continue to move forward as a church, not only will the amount of things we can do through the Trust increase in size and effectiveness, but also we will be able to provide a growing stream of resources into this vital area of facilities so that the church will remain strong in every area as well as being highly effective in both the spiritual and practical mandates of the Gospel.
Whilst we know that the Body of Christ is not an earthly building, but a living organism (made up of those people who call Jesus their Lord), this Body needs to gather together. In doing so, it grows strong and has a place to become all that God has called it to be. The Body needs a context for gathering to encourage, repair, heal, challenge and renew our faith. A building is a facility to allow that gathering to function efficiently. Furthermore, it provides the entry point for many who do not know God and will first meet Him through His people and His house. The house needs to be safe enough, large enough, well enough equipped and, indeed, beautiful enough to facilitate the fulfillment of the unique call on this Church's life.
When our church consisted of only 13 members gathering in a little hall in the outer suburbs, there was an overwhelming impression that our church would become a large, multi-faceted church that would impact our city, nation, world. God has blessed our church and over the past 25 years we have seen amazing growth in the number of people who call Riverview home. We feel very strongly that what God is doing amongst us must be taken and communicated to as wide an audience as possible. As our city spreads north and south and as technology brings the global community closer, our God-inspired vision of being one church meeting in multiple locations is becoming a reality.
Our vision for the future has always been large and as our numbers increase so does our ability to make a difference and our need to expand our 'earthly' building in order to make room for more people.
