Fueling Our Mission, While Finishing the Building

Onward Building Campaign | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Downtown Cornerstone,

I hope this finds you on the cusp of a restful and life-giving Thanksgiving weekend. We have much to be thankful for, in Jesus. “I thank God…as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day” (2 Tim. 1:3).

The purpose of this brief pre-holiday note is to ensure we are all up-to-speed on the next phase of our plan to fuel the mission of our church, while simultaneously funding our future building, which we announced this past Sunday.

If you’re unfamiliar with our new building, you can learn more about it here.

Jesus has been incredibly faithful to us. Over the last eleven months, we have raised $2.5 million to prepare our future building as a gospel outpost for, Lord willing, generations to come. Thank you to all who have generously given to this work. Our progress is incredible, especially amidst a once-a-century pandemic marked by social distancing, lock-downs, inflation, and ample uncertainty.

Of course, at the same time, we need to fuel our ongoing mission through our general giving. The everyday work of making disciples, gathering for worship, spreading the gospel, developing leaders, meeting needs, equipping the saints, hosting training events, and counseling doesn’t stop for anything, let alone a building project.

This dual dynamic—holding a building campaign while keeping up general giving—is a challenge for every church that I know of, including our own. We’re currently behind on both accounts.

Therefore, as of December 1st, we’re going to simplify our strategy by directing all financial gifts to our main DCC giving channel. So, whether you wish to fuel our present mission (via our general fund) or help fulfill our future mission (via our building), we will direct you to a single “DCC Giving” fund.

The reason for this is to ensure our current everyday budgetary needs are met. Then, any giving over these needs will be put toward the building. For example, if we raise an additional $150,000 beyond our budgeted needs in December, that will be put toward our building. If we raise an additional $50,000 beyond our budgeted needs in January, that too will be put toward our building. And so on.

Put simply, this means ALL of our giving will now go towards supporting BOTH needs at the same time. So, we won’t have to decide where to direct our giving, because all of it will, in effect, now be going toward both. Again, this will take effect December 1st.

“What if I still want to designate a gift toward the building?”

You have until Tuesday, November 30th, to do so—which providentially happens to be Giving Tuesday! After that point, please reach out to us directly at . Again, our goal is to meet our everyday disciple-making needs, so our preference is for individuals to give via our main DCC giving channel, but we understand (and anticipate) exceptions to this.

“What if I still have a giving pledge to fulfill?”

No problem! You can continue to fulfill the remainder of your pledge via a separate giving link that will be emailed to you by December 1st.

“Why are we doing this?"

Per above, by God’s grace, we’ve raised $2.5 million to help cover constructions costs for our new building. This is tremendous, even though we’re short of our overall target. We can get the construction started with that in place. Therefore, it is a fitting time to shift into phase two to ensure our everyday mission is adequately fueled (i.e. general fund).

“How much do we have left to raise for construction?”

We are seeking to raise an additional $1 million (mainly due to inflated costs over the past year).

“Is this even possible?”

With God on our side, all things are possible (Mt. 19:26; Mk. 9:23).

“When do we hope to get into our building?”

Our hope is to get in by next Christmas ‘22, perhaps earlier. Let’s pray!

“Is it rare for a center city church to have its own building?”

Extremely rare, especially in Seattle, and a sure sign of Jesus’ kindness toward us.

“How can I give?”

You can learn more here.

May the God of heaven continue to give us hope, peace, and joy, especially amidst these divided times, and allow the kingdom of his Son to be powerfully advanced in our hearts, and for his unsearchable riches to not be hidden from our eyes. Yes, Lord! He is able.

Warmly yours, in Christ alone.
Adam