Beyond Today. Beyond Tithes. Beyond Our Own Ability.
Over the last 160 years, God has richly blessed and provided for our church. Just in the last 30 years, we have experienced immense growth—both in our physical footprint and our reach to our community. Each step of the way, God has spurred people like you to go beyond. Countless individuals have faithfully sacrificed and given towards God’s ministry here at FBCO. Now he is presenting us with an opportunity to do the same.
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In 1978, our church purchased the first portion of the land that we now gather on. Over the years, we have both added acreage to the property and conducted seven different building projects. At times, the church has used debt to our advantage to accomplish what we believed the Lord was leading us to do. When we built the current Worship Center in 2001, our debt reached a height of $7.5 million (5 times our annual budget). Since then, we have faithfully paid it down to just under $2.9 million.
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While our debt-to-budget ratio is the best it has been since relocation, we believe the Lord is leading us into a season to intentionally pay off more. In January 2028, we will refinance our debt to a new interest rate. This new rate will almost certainly be higher than our current rate of 3.41 percent. We believe it is in the best interest of the church’s future to reduce the amount as much as possible before that time.
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Therefore, over the next 22 months we are asking you to go beyond with us. Beginning March 1, 2026 all donations given to the Building Fund will go towards debt reduction. Our goal is to reduce our outstanding debt by at least $1 million before refinancing in 2028.
As you consider joining us in this effort, we encourage you to think in these three ways:
Beyond Today
What we do today impacts the Kingdom in the future. We may never see the fruit of what God asks us to do, but we know that he is always faithful to bring growth for his glory. As we commit to give, we want to do so with our eyes set on the future generations that will benefit.
Beyond Tithes
Our tithes should always be to the general church budget. Tithes are what allow us to accomplish the mission and ministry of the church. Therefore, we believe these gifts and offerings should be over and beyond your normal tithe amount.
Beyond Our Own Ability
The goal we’ve set and the total amount outstanding are ambitions numbers. To reach them, we will need more than any one person. Only together, through the blessing of the Lord, can we reach this goal.
We encourage you to prayerfully consider how you might support this mission. God calls each of us to give sacrificially, but also cheerfully. Your one-time or recurring donations can be made online, through our church app, as well as our regular offering envelopes. Simply mark your gift as Building Fund.
I am thankful for the many blessings that God has given our church. I am excited for this next season of ministry, and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us. I hope you will join us as he leads us in going beyond.
Blessings,
Pastor Doug
Over the last 30 years
God has blessed our church with…
