Not Without You

FAQ

WHAT IS "NOT WITHOUT YOU"?

You could call it a capital campaign, but you would be missing the real heart behind it. It's more like a three-year spiritual journey - a movement, even - that will enable the Eagle Brook family to come to a greater knowledge of God's power, presence and provision in our lives. We believe God is not done working through Eagle Brook Church to reach others for Christ in the Twin Cities, and around the world. Life change happens here. We are certain God could do more through us than we could ever imagine. But we know we can't do it without prayerfully following God's leading. And we certainly can't do it without you. We need 100% church participation in investing in people who are far from God.
WHAT IS OUR GOAL FOR NOT WITHOUT YOU?

It's all about reaching people for Christ, something that Eagle Brook has unabashedly done for years. How we plan to reach them is through strategies that we believe have proven to be effective for EBC. In the next three years, we hope to: 1) Add two more Eagle Brook campuses connected through wireless transmission of the message. 2) Continue to fund compassion initiatives in Mozambique and church leadership investment in Norway. 3) Improve and sustain current church facilities.
WHY NOW? ISN'T THIS BAD TIMING?

Throughout all of history, God has chosen to work powerfully in challenging times. In 2001, we launched a campaign in the aftermath of 9/11. Despite financial instability and uncertain national climate, our Lino Lakes Campus became a reality. The timing for bold dreams is rarely ideal, and this will take faith. But, we do know this: we are already approaching or exceeding capacity at a couple of our locations during optimal service times. At current growth rates, if we don't do something now, by 2012 - we will find ourselves 10,000 seats short per weekend.

While many organizations are facing cutbacks, Eagle Brook remains in a growth mode and sees great opportunity to plant churches in areas that make sense as we move forward. We also know God will use our commitment to making a continued impact globally. Even as we say this, we realize that the economy has created real hardship for some people. We only ask that everyone commit to going through the process of this spiritual journey, and then simply respond as God directs. We'll trust God for the results, and move forward in the timetable that makes the most sense.
DIDN'T WE JUST DO THIS?

Yes, we will be bringing our previous "God's Amazing Church" three-year campaign to an end in November, and then going right into "Not Without You" for the next three years. financial campaigns are the strategy we use to raise the needed funds to continue to bridge the gap between what is given through general fund offerings and our ability to keep up with growth.
ISN'T THIS CHURCH BIG ENOUGH?

Eagle Brook is about reaching people who are far from God, and growing them up in their faith. It's never been about size. If a lot of people experience life transformation through our church, our church is going to grow. People keep telling others about how God is changing them through relevant biblical teaching that can be applied to real life. They invite their friends, family and coworkers to experience it for themselves. Growth is a by-product. When we are over-capacity at all of our sites at the prime church-going time, we can't accomplish our mission to reach people for Christ anymore. Given our mission, we'll never "arrive"—not until everyone is reached.
WHERE WOULD NEW EBC LOCATIONS BE?

We believe God is going to continue to use our multi-site strategy to add more Eagle Brook campuses in the Twin Cities in the years to come. One church linked to multiple locations through wireless transmission of the teaching is working. It's efficient and effective in raising up Eagle Brookers who are making a difference in the areas where they live. first, we have our eyes on creating a space in Blaine with 800 seats. We're looking at developing this site first because we must address current overcrowding at our Spring Lake Park location before growth is negatively impacted. A Blaine location can be started with some families from our Spring Lake Park and Lino Lakes locations, allowing those current EBC campuses to have room to grow again. An ideal opening date would be around Easter 2010.

The second site we are hoping to create is in Woodbury. This would be a new construction with 1500 seats. It's in an area where we already have hundreds of families making the trek to Eagle Brook. In Woodbury, we are faced with the very real prospect of quickly growing a campus that will expand our influence and reach people in surrounding communities we currently can't reach. That's why we're planning a larger seating capacity here than we've had at our other muliti-site campuses. Best-case scenario would be opening the Woodbury campus by fall or Christmas 2011.
WOW! HOW MUCH WILL ALL OF THIS COST?

Though it is an aggressive plan, it kind of breaks down into two phases. The first phase would include all of the Global and Local Initiatives, the existing campus improvements, the mortgage, bringing Blaine on-line, the purchase of the Woodbury property and the design of the facility. This phase looks like it will cost about $13 million. The second phase, the construction of the Woodbury facility and the preparation for the staffing of the campus looks like it will be somewhere in the $20+ million range. Once we have the results from the campaign, we will need to determine the timeline for bringing Woodbury into reality - again, our plan is to keep it on track to open in 2011 sometime - we need the seats!
DO WE REALLY NEED ALL THIS NICE STUFF? WHAT ABOUT USING THE MONEY TO SERVE THE POOR?

At EBC, we always carefully assess: "What's a tool, and what's a toy?" We don't just add a flat screen TV or more lights or a coffee machine into the environment without thinking through the reason for it and if it is stewarding our resources well. In order to maintain relevance in today's culture in the place where we live, we continually strive to make sure that the experience had by all is excellent. The environment speaks the language that will draw new people to ultimately engage with the message of Christ. We use flat screen TVs, for instance, because they are the current technology for getting the word out within our facilities, and we buy them at greatly-reduced costs.

The poorest among us are those who will spend an eternity far from God. But we also are committed to serving the physically poor as well. We will continue to invest heavily each year in helping people with real needs, both here and around the world. We can be in a position to do that with huge impact because of big number of people who find their way to our church and collectively serve and give generously through EBC's local and global initiatives.
WILL OTHER CHURCHES FEEL LIKE WE'RE STEALING FROM THEM?

Sometimes other churches can feel like we're stealing their attenders. This is never our intent. Our target audience, and our mission, is to reach people who don't know God or have walked away from him. When we look at potential locations for future sites, we locate areas where we already have a large concentration of Eagle Brook attenders. New momentum and growth can then happen at that new site, as well as at an existing EBC campus again. Through the Eagle Brook Association, we also work to equip and offer leadership training to other local churches, hoping that all of us get better. The reality is, there are so many more people than there are churches to reach them; 70% of people in the Twin Cities don't go to church. We want new EBC locations to reach them, and we hope other local churches will be spurred on to do their best to reach others in relevant ways as well.
SO, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?

First of all, don't think about dollars right now. We just want you to accept the challenge to engage in the journey this fall. Start by praying for people in your life yet to be reached. Pray for what God would want to do in and through you. Let him speak to your heart and simply respond to his leading. Secondly, take the time to go through the 5-week "Journey Guide" we will provide to help you interact with small group discussions, a daily devotional and prayer, and a commitment guide. Starting the weekend of October 24, we're asking each individual or household to evaluate their priorities and spending, consider their current and future resources, and determine how much could be given above their normal general giving that would reflect true sacrifice. Commitment weekend is November 21/22. Everyone can do something, and become part of something truly amazing. God wants to multiply the efforts of his people beyond their greatest dreams. But, NOT WITHOUT YOU!

Have other questions that aren't addressed here? Contact us.

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FAQ

Not Without You