Building Lives
Why does Riverwood want to buy the property?
Two reasons: our mission & good stewardship.
Our Mission
Riverwood’s mission from the very beginning has been to invite spiritually disconnected people to find and follow Jesus. This mission is not dependent upon a building, but rather upon God’s Spirit working through us as followers of Jesus to “love like Jesus loved and live like Jesus lived.”
However, we live in a region of the U.S. where “church” is defined as a group of people who worship in a particular building. We believe that in order to continue to accomplish this mission of building lives, a dedicated building would be a helpful tool toward this end. Already, in the two years we have occupied this building, we have seen our space used for:
- one-on-one counselling and discipleship
- two weekly Growth Groups for spiritual growth
- a monthly city-wide women’s discussion group
- numerous meetings, including community groups
- the Area Education Agency, for work experience opportunities for at-risk teens
- and a new Film & Theology discussion group
Not to mention our weekly Worship Gatherings, where anyone from the general public is invited to attend and hear the gospel. And we believe with time, we will utilise this building even more to help make Jesus-followers who will help make more Jesus-followers.
Good Stewardship
By owning the property, we lower our monthly payments, allowing $750/mo more to go towards further ministry — such as overseas missions, outreach, discipleship, staffing, church planting, or more.
A guided FAQ from Riverwood Church
We are holding a capital campaign called Building Lives from April 24 until May 29.
On January 23, 2022, the Riverwood Partners voted 23-4 to give permission to the Finance Team to pursue a purchase agreement with Waverly Holdings (current owners of the property we lease at 2704 5th Ave NW) and investigate loan options with an interest rate of no larger than 6%.
We are seeking to raise at least $50,000 to meet a matching grant of $50,000 to make a $100,000 down payment on the purchase of the building. The purchase price is $400,000, and the bank requires a 25% down payment.
We currently pay $2,300/mo ($27,600/yr), plus property tax of approximately $690/mo ($8,280/yr) under the three-year lease we signed at the end of February 2020.
Yes! If we secure a loan at 5%, we would pay $1,980/mo ($23,760/yr). We would also eliminate property taxes (since a church would own the building). Insurance would increase $2,000 to $3,000/yr, meaning we would save roughly $9,000/yr ($750/mo).
To be honest — we don't know. The Elder Team would probably pray about ideas to bring to our Riverwood Partners. It is worth noting Waverly Holdings would allow us to sign another lease.
Glad you asked! There is a lot we want and need to do with the building. We have decided any additional funds would be used as such:
- $10,000 — Gathering Space upgrades: chairs, acoustical treatments
- $20,000 — Exterior improvements: repainting the front of the building, landscaping, parking lot lights
- $30,000 — More Gathering Space upgrades: a sound system designed for the room (and an upgrade to aging equipment)
For every $10,000 added to the down payment, we would only lower our monthly payment by an estimated $63/mo ($756/yr). While paying off the loan sooner is desirable, we feel the improvements are a better use of funds at this time.
No. To give time for those who want to creatively raise funds to give (sell stock, personal fundraisers, short-term second job, earn "side-hustle" funds, etc.), we are asking all funds to be given by July 3.
Pay by cheque: you can drop off or mail a cheque to 2704 5th Avenue NW, Waverly, IA 50677. Make sure to write "Building Lives Campaign" in the memo.
Give online: click here to give. (Please note, online giving costs us a 1% fee.)