Last year at our annual meeting we voted to take the next steps for a new field house/pavilion building to expand our capacity for SpyKidz and to give our youth a larger space to meet and have activities. Is there any update on this?

We have been meeting and working with the village of Minooka for the last several months to get the preliminary permission to proceed with this project. Through these meetings, the village discovered that our property plat was incorrect and needed updating. This took a few extra months. This has been corrected and approved by the village and we have been given the initial green light to move forward with this project. Our next steps will be getting engineers in to evaluate the topography and begin architectural drawings for the building and the project itself.

We support mission trips to various parts of the world, which is very good. However, as a church, I also think we should be as bold to organize/support similar missional activities in the United States.

Yes for sure! We try to focus on our local community with various projects through Endeavor (Local Missions Team). Now, instead of traveling overseas, our high schoolers are going on mission projects in the US. Over the last few years they've been to Tennessee, inner-city Minneapolis, and this year there are several possibilities, including south Chicago.

One of the values we see in foreign mission trips is the opportunity for people to experience a different culture. Of course, that can be done within the US as well, but leading teams out of the country is a great opportunity to experience different customs and cultures, all while connecting with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We get to truly see how big and diverse Christ's Church is around the world.

With the recent natural disasters, we may potentially have more opportunities for adults to stay stateside and minister in other areas of our country. We will keep our eyes and ears open to opportunities that are truly a good fit for Mission.

What does the “administration” portion of the budget entail?

Three areas have the title “administration” included. Office Administration includes supplies for the office, online giving fees, church insurance, mortgage interest, etc… Pastoral Administration is staff training, Lead Pastor and Executive Pastor expenses such as conferences, training, study tools, etc., and Board Administration includes salaries, benefits, and employer taxes.

Are there plans for a Morris Campus building?

We continue to pray and actively keep our eyes open in Morris for land or a building. We are currently rehabbing the old Morris CYC building to offer a place for small group gatherings, children’s ministry, youth ministry, and other midweek activities. This project has taken increasingly longer than anticipated, as we have had several roadblocks along the way. A new floor has recently been poured into this building, and soon, our own Facilities Team will be able to begin the process of deep cleaning, refurbishing, and building out the needed rooms in this building.

As far as a site capable of housing the campus for weekend services, we continue to pray for God to provide the perfect place for us. We are currently in the very early stages of talking with an owner of a property in Morris that will be coming to the market and may work for us. At the Business Meeting, more will be shared, and we will be calling our church to pray over this subject.