A Sea Of Red

last night was the annual meeting and some interesting things were told:
FINANCES
1. debt dropped from 21 million to 10 million due to LU purchasing the parts of north campus that they use for 10 million. (LU did not have to do this as they had a 99 year lease at $1 per year)
2. giving has increased 6%
OUTREACH
1. considering buying a portable water park to take around the area
2. considering settting-up drive in movies in different areas across the area
3. considering a cinco de mayo celebration as the TRBC spanish church is growing
4. considering neighborhood block parties
5. considering growing the kids carnival (halloween) in addition to the one they have now on campus to at least four more sites.
items 2-5 will happen this year. item #1 may be a year off. this is all with the mindset of "earning the right to be heard".

exciting times indeed at TRBC.

$10M is still a considerable amount of debt. I fully understand the challenges of churches being missional while showing fiscal responsibility. Hopefully through some wise stewardship of resources the church can close that gap on debt fairly soon.

The other ideas are being utilized at churches across the country right now. They can be effective to open doors to the unchurched.

And it is great to hear the Hispanic ministry is growing. I state it at every opportunity that when Latinos are exposed to the vibrant experience of Evangelical Christianity they are extremely receptive because the passion of our brand of Christianity is more congruent with their culture than the staid Catholicism that for many of them has been their only religious exposure. The key is making sure the Hispanics are allowed to feel on equal footing with the church's English-speaking members. As we state at my former employer and still the place where I worship:

• One Church ... Two Languages

Lynchburg has a rapidly growing Hispanic community. It's great to see that TRBC is being pro-active in reaching out to meet needs there.

And they can get a degree from Liberty University Online Español http://www.luonline.com/index.cfm?PID=21499

they better not waste too much more money or LU will own whats left of their assets. Seems to me like LU buying North was a huge debt relief to TRBC and that instead of spending money on a portable waterpark they should reduce their debt a little more first. I think community outreach is great, don't get me wrong, but it can be done through less expensive means while becoming more fiscally responsible.

Like piggybacking off of all of the community outreach things LU already has in place....that sounds a little cheaper to me...

JDUB wrote:they better not waste too much more money or LU will own whats left of their assets. Seems to me like LU buying North was a huge debt relief to TRBC and that instead of spending money on a portable waterpark they should reduce their debt a little more first. I think community outreach is great, don't get me wrong, but it can be done through less expensive means while becoming more fiscally responsible.

Agreed.

i have to think TRBC owns the old property on thomas rd. if they could get rid of that, it could take away another big portion of the debt.

bigsmooth wrote:i have to think TRBC owns the old property on thomas rd. if they could get rid of that, it could take away another big portion of the debt.

We (LU) bought that a while back...

http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=13807

TDDance234 wrote:

JDUB wrote:they better not waste too much more money or LU will own whats left of their assets. Seems to me like LU buying North was a huge debt relief to TRBC and that instead of spending money on a portable waterpark they should reduce their debt a little more first. I think community outreach is great, don't get me wrong, but it can be done through less expensive means while becoming more fiscally responsible.

Agreed.

There are so many ways to do outreach that are much, much cheaper than a portable waterpark.

SuperJon wrote:

TDDance234 wrote:

JDUB wrote:they better not waste too much more money or LU will own whats left of their assets. Seems to me like LU buying North was a huge debt relief to TRBC and that instead of spending money on a portable waterpark they should reduce their debt a little more first. I think community outreach is great, don't get me wrong, but it can be done through less expensive means while becoming more fiscally responsible.

Agreed.

There are so many ways to do outreach that are much, much cheaper than a portable waterpark.

A slip-n-slide cost about $50 bucks. Accomplishes the same purpose.

TDDance234 wrote:
A slip-n-slide cost about $50 bucks. Accomplishes the same purpose.

$50? You must've lived on east where the money was ours was free

(also, we can only embed 3 quotes now. thanks a lot scorch, killin all our fun )