According to the Charlotte Observer, Elevation Church is planning on an expansion that could cost around $30 million:
Elevation, one of the country’s fastest-growing evangelical congregations, plans to build a $20 million facility in Ballantyne to house its administrative staff, along with a 1,500-seat sanctuary.
Elevation also is considering two sites in Huntersville for a campus there. In all, the projects will cost more than $30 million.
This month, Elevation hopes its new “Banner Years” campaign will raise the up-front money needed so the church can pay cash for the sites – $3.5 million for 20 acres off U.S. 521 in Ballantyne, and another $2.5 million for the Huntersville tract of its choice.
“We are not building a church for our own benefit. We are designing a movement for the glory of God,” Pastor Steven Furtick said in announcing the campaign.
“Which means we can’t stop or back down … We want to be available and ready to launch new Elevation locations anytime and anywhere God leads.”
Elevation, a Southern Baptist congregation that is only 7 years old, already has seven Charlotte-area campuses plus an extension church in Toronto.
In 2008-09, the congregation raised $4.6 million to build Elevation Matthews. Its 2010 “Kingdom Come” campaign funneled $5.1 million toward its Blakeney location.
Church leaders say they have pre-approval for a loan to pay the estimated $25 million needed to build and equip the Ballantyne and Huntersville projects. Plans call for the work be completed by 2014.
As of Saturday night, and a little more than a week into its “Banner Years” campaign, Elevation had already raised $5 million, most of which will go toward buying the land, spokeswoman Tonia Bendickson said.
Sounds more like the tower of Babel than David’s temple. I saw a clip of Furtick and he used the old standby metaphor of a crowd at a football stadium cheering for their team…you know how it goes, if all these people can get excited about football, surely we can excited about God. Except he used it this way, if Jerry Jones can build a billion dollar stadium for football, why can’t we build a billion dollar stadium for Jesus?
That analogy is flawed in so many ways…first off, Jerry Jones spends money to make money. Its a business investment. The church spends money to get more and better disciples, and I can think of many more efficient ways to make new and better disciples with 20 million than building a bigger building that mostly attracts other churches members and christians.
If he wants to build the kingdom for Christ, take that money and send it with missionaries to China where people are actually getting saved.
BTW, I am a hypocrite too. If I were him I would probably build a giant building and grow my church as big as I could as well. Not because its the right thing to do, but because I’m selfish and egotistical. I’m sure people would say that I am projecting, but honestly I think its just that I am a junky who can spot a crack house.
Will we EVER see an article about a church expanding in the USA without the sour-grapers chiming in, always with better ideas of what to do with the monies raised instead? This country is a great mission field. Hooray for Elevation!!
The guys good – really good