We are doing this because God placed this plan on the hearts and minds of several individuals within our body. We need to be obedient to His calling.

New facilities and businistries (business as ministry) will allow us to provide jobs for those in our church family and those in the community. New church outreaches that we have never before been able to offer will serve thousands in our community. We believe God wants us to have a bigger “platform” to display the vision He’s given us of Church Like Heaven, to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Our current facilities are insufficient for several reasons, including: They do not permit us to have an early education center for children. They restrict what ministries and outreaches we can provide. They limit our people who have disabilities.

An update is not what God placed on our hearts.

Plus an update does nothing to increase our ministry capabilities. Generations before us didn’t just update, they always added space and ministries. We are not called to maintain, but rather to increase the Kingdom for the Glory of God.

We believe these dollars invested now will be multiplied many times over for the sake of the Kingdom in years to come.

When we built in 1952 and in 1984, the dollars we spent served generations and impacted the world. What we invest today will do the same over the next 50–75 years and beyond. In 1952 and 1984, we invested well over $20 million in today’s dollars. We’ve grown, and our ministry and Kingdom responsibilities have grown. We believe these dollars will yield many times their value in growth, giving and economic impact in Cincinnati and beyond, for generations. Thus, we don’t think this investment is excessive; in fact, we believe it is wise stewardship.

The Deacon Board has determined that we will not break ground until 30% of the funds are secured. The grant writing will yield many more dollars in the second and third years of the project – and for years to come.

No. Both are functions of His Kingdom.

Revenue streams will cover operating costs of the new campus, from which ministry will flow. In fact, most of the revenue streams themselves will function as a blessing to our neighborhood and city.

At the same time, the church will be able to function more fully and freely than we ever have, all while keeping our tithes, offerings and gifts dedicated towards Kingdom work.

This business model developed by our team is already being replicated by other churches and non-profit organizations around the country.

If we tried to execute this project in phases, cost would actually increase and functionality for the church would be nearly impossible.

Due to the size and footprint of the new building on the existing site, it would create more complexity and potential safety risks to the congregation to try and phase the project in order to maintain church activities on-site. Plus, to have demolition contractors mobilize to site multiple times is costly. Therefore, to minimize risk, to minimize impact on church functions, and to be more certain of timing and costs, the best path forward is to move church operations off-site as a single event, while demolition and construction occur.

The Transition Team, made up of lay leaders from within our congregation, has been diligently pursuing opportunities in the Uptown area where our church can gather for this season. There are a handful of options being considered by that team currently. We believe God is preparing a place for us to stay the entire time of demolition and construction—and not have to move from place to place. On this campus we will have space for Peeps, UNITED, Spanish, Habesha, church services on Sundays, ESL, and offices.

We are still praying for the space God has for us to continue our New To You thrift store in the Uptown area. Please pray with us!

Yes and yes. We believe we are called to help lead the way. And there are other churches doing similar work. But we are one of the first and oldest churches leading the way in Church Like Heaven on Earth (local church of every tribe, language, people group, and nation).

As this church has already been leading in other ways for over 100 healthy years, we believe we now have a responsibility to help lead the way in this.

Pastor Chris’ role and responsibility is to lead Peoples Church. This includes leading vision, culture, teaching, and overall strategy.

We also know that the Lord distributes gifts and parts of the body as He sees fit (1 Corinthians 12:18). In this way, He has placed people other than Pastor Chris in our church body who have more of the particular skills and experience that are relevant to leading this project.

Pastor Chris is informed and involved as needed, but not hindered in his leadership of the body by the day-to-day aspects of the project.

Our Deacon Board and Senior Leadership Team of pastors have discussed this at length. We believe that the Lord is calling us forward–to trust Him. We are not ignoring the realities of today’s global economy, but we also realize His economy is different from ours. We walk with our eyes and our hearts wide open toward Heaven for His instruction every step of the way.

Simultaneously, it appears that the worst of the world inventory shortage is over and trending up. Thus, building materials could actually be more readily available (and at reduced prices) by the time we need them. His timing is always perfect.