Help Us Launch Resilient Church // May '22 Update
“The calm before the storm”—a phrase often uttered during the silent moments leading up to a major event.
That’s what our month of May was.
May was relatively quiet. At the beginning of the month, we hosted an Interest Party for a few people to learn more about our church. Halfway through the month we took a morning retreat with some of our core team members to spend some time with the Lord before the summer season was fully in force.
Other than that, we embraced May as a month of transition as we shifted gears into summer rhythms—and with that, the fourth and final phase of our 4-Phase Launch Plan. So here is what Phase IV of our Launch Plan looks like over these next 3 months:
- Connect as a team over group messages and bi-weekly zoom calls
- Host a variety of serving events to bless our community over the summer months
- Mass marketing campaigns in July and August, including mailers, advertising, and door hangers
- Finally, we’ll host 3 practice services during the month of August so we’re ready for our launch day on August 28th.
However.
Although that’s what our launch plan looks like for our Core Team in Vermillion this summer, we’re also launching a summer-long initiative that anyone can participate in to help Resilient Church.
We’re hosting a giving campaign!
$75k In 75 Days
Our Launch Resilient! Giving Campaign will set out to raise $75,000 in 75 days, lasting from June 1-August 15. The $75,000 is the total cost of our launch expenses, which is comprised of all the equipment we’re purchasing through a company called Portable Church Industries. Here’s the exact breakdown of costs:
- Portable Church System Design, Project Management, & Training Weekend – $6,457 (9%)
- Auditorium Audio – $14,809 (19%)
- Auditorium Video – $3,782 (5%)
- Auditorium Lighting & Custom IO – $6,532 (9%)
- Auditorium Environments & Signage – $4,827 (7%)
- Additional Signage (outdoor & indoor) – $4,480 (6%)
- Hospitality – $2,051 (3%)
- Resilient Kids Ministry – $13,211 (17%)
- Trailer & Equipment Delivery – $16,825 (22%)
- Contingency Fees (in case of supply chain shortages & delivery delays) – $2,500 (3%)
Additionally, 10% of whatever we raise will be given to local nonprofits who do incredible work for our Vermillion community.
Some of you are already excited and are ready to give now! If you’d like to give towards the campaign, you can mail checks to Resilient Church at PO Box 533, Vermillion, SD 57069, or click this button to give digitally:
If you want to learn more about the “why” behind the campaign, the breakdown of costs, and how everything will be used for Resilient’s ministry, then I invite you to read on!
First Things First: Why a Giving Campaign
Before I break everything down, I should explain why we’re doing a giving campaign. First, I’m thrilled to say that the Lord has already been so faithful in his financial provision for us. Between our district of the Wesleyan Church, our church partners, and individual partnerships, we’re projected to be in good shape for our first 3-years of these partnerships.
With that said, we want to be good stewards of everything God has provided for us so far to ensure the ministry of this church lasts well beyond its 3-years of partnerships, especially with us reaching students and young adults in a college town.
Because here’s the thing. The number 1 reason why church plants fail isn’t because they didn’t reach anybody, or because their mission wasn’t compelling enough… The number 1 reason church plants fail is because of the lack of funds.
This is just the reality of church planting in the United States: It’s expensive! And while our current projections are very promising for our first 3 years, we’re choosing not to be naive about the financial realities behind church planting, our unique demographic, and the state of our economy, all without doubting the Lord will provide in every scenario.
We believe every dollar counts towards providing a church where people can meet with Jesus for the first time, and be transformed by his grace. And this invites everyone in our networks across the nation to be a part of this mission of God in Vermillion!
So this giving campaign is designed to cover our launch expenses, not only so we can launch with everything we need and to bless our community, but also to give us that extra cushion of funds in our savings to see us through to years 4, 5, 10, and beyond.
So if you’re still with me, let’s get down to the nitty gritty details!
Portable Church: System Design & Training Weekend ($6,457)
The first expense on the list is paying for Portable Church’s services. These guys are incredible. They design setup and teardown systems for portable church models, and order all the equipment needed to make those custom environments work for whatever venue the church is in.
This takes away hours—literally hours—of work off our hands. So instead of spending the time this past spring and summer ordering equipment, unboxing equipment, storing the equipment, and figuring out how to setup and tear down everything ourselves, they take care of all that by showing up to Vermillion at the end of July with a trailer filled with our equipment, already organized in custom made cases, and train our team how to setup and tear down everything in a weekend. Not to mention, if any of our equipment ever breaks, then they provide life-time service to help us order new equipment and trouble shoot any issues.
The time this saves us so we can focus on serving our community and building our team is worth every single penny. If you want to take a look at the kind of work Portable Church does to get an idea of what they’re providing us, visit their website here!
Worship Center ($32,001)
Obviously, our biggest expenses are going towards transforming the Dakota Center into our Worship Center:
- $14,809 is for audio expenses, like a sound board, speakers, mics, in-hears, and cables
- $3,782 is for video expenses, like a camera for capturing Sunday sermons
- $6,532 is for lighting and additional tech (like a confidence monitor, so our worship people don’t sing the wrong words)
- $4,827 is for environmental signage, like large banners for displaying our mission statement and values, and large black “scuba walls” that will go on either side of the auditorium
- $2,051 is for our hospitality area, which includes banners and tall tables for the Connection Center and coffee
These renderings will give you an idea of how the Dakota Center will be flipped into our Worship Center:
This equipment is all necessary, because it’s all going to help us gather for worship in a way that is done well, because the Lord deserves our best; creates a welcoming environment for newcomers to belong; and, the cost is a perfect middle ground, being both cost-efficient while ensuring we have equipment that can last awhile.
Resilient Kids ($13,211)
The next expense is everything kids ministry! These costs include:
- iPad check-in system
- Scuba walls and gating for Nursery and Preschool
- Foam flooring (so if a kid pukes or drops a snack, we just have to clean our stuff without staining our venue’s floor)
- Toys, cribs, changing table and all the other fun nursery stuff
Here’s how we’ll be transforming the Dakota Center into our Kids Spaces:
First, we’ll be taking this conference room, putting the tables and chairs on either side of the room, so we can split it in half for our Resilient Nursery (ages 0-2) and Resilient Tots (ages 3-4) to each have their own space.
Then (my personal favorite), we’re able to use the Dakota Center’s two golf simulators for our elementary kids space. (The mockups are pretty self explanatory and we don’t need to order a ton of equipment for these spaces.)
We are so passionate about reaching the next generation, whether they’re college students, teens, or kids of all ages. It’s of our highest priority to ensure that our kids ministry is an incredible experience for them to learn about the love of Jesus, engage with adults who care deeply for them, all in environments designed just them.
Trailer, Delivery, & Contingency Fees ($19,325)
All our stuff has to be stored somewhere. So the last large chunk of our expenses goes towards the purchase of a 16-foot trailer that will hold all our custom-made storage cases. It’ll be delivered by Portable Church on July 30th for our training weekend. And the best part? We’ll get to keep the trailer parked at the Dakota Center! This means that whenever there’s another event being hosted at this event center, then everyone will walk by our trailer with our church name, logo, and website—a perfect witnessing opportunity for anyone who might be in search for a church.
The last thing I should note here is the $2500 contingency fees. Because of supply chain shortages and delivery delays, this $2500 is reserved for any last minute changes that might come up (for example, the mics we wanted didn’t get here in time, and Portable Church needed to purchase a different set that was slightly more expensive). Whatever is not used of the contingency fees will be reimbursed to us.
Blessing Our Community (10% of Whatever Is Raised)
Lastly, I firmly believe that if a local church asks its members to tithe 10% of their income to the ministry, then that local church should tithe 10% of its own earnings back into its local community and the mission field. That’s why no matter how much we raise, we will give 10% back to our community to nonprofits that do an incredible job of providing for Vermillion. So not only is your support helping us, but it’s also helping Vermillion.
• • •
That was a lot! If you’re still reading, I sincerely thank you for making it this far. But further, I thank you for your continued prayer and support for Resilient Church. We seriously couldn’t do this without the Spirit of God and your advocacy!
So with all this said, I ask that you prayerfully consider how the Lord may want you to partner with us to help launch Resilient. No matter the amount, God will use it to build his kingdom, save the lost, and transform lives. That’s what this is about. Not getting a bunch of equipment and toys. It’s about saving souls. And your partnership directly helps make this happen.