The Need

The Ponte Vedra campus of Christ Church is a hub of activity throughout the year. In addition to activities related to our own robust ministries, formation, arts, fellowship, and service, we host nearly one thousand non-church related community meetings and events here each year. We had reached a point where we couldn’t accommodate more weekday and Sunday ministries in our existing space.

Built in the early 1950s, much of our campus did not meet our physical needs for space, and the older, less efficient structures at the center of our campus needed to be replaced. The aging structures had developed significant maintenance issues, which led to higher operating costs each year, and our preschool facilities required security upgrades.

In addition to our current capital needs, we seek to pay down existing debt from the building of the Parish Center, which brought much-needed space and functionality to our campus. Over the course of that previous project, however, the economy took a bad turn, and some pledges were not able to be fulfilled, resulting in our carrying over $4 million in debt. We’ve paid down $2 million of that so far, and we hope to retire $1.4 million more to proceed confidently. Additional funds raised would go toward our endowment to build in more financial security for the BOLD Future of the Church.

A Plan for the Future

We firmly believe that now is the time – a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure a BOLD future for the Church and the community we serve.

Guided by the goals and imperatives of our Mission and Strategic Focus, and seeking input from parishioners and school families, we have created a Master Site Plan that will help us and future generations of Disciples build God’s Kingdom.

We have engaged the services of Jacksonville-based architecture, planning, and design firm ELM | Ervin Lovett Miller, along with Auld & White Construction to define a building project that will help us bring our vision into focus. In total, the plan calls for approximately

20,268 square feet of renovation, and 21,000 square feet of new construction.

Target Dates:

• Construction began in Summer of 2018
• Estimated time to complete is 22-26 months

Financial goal: $13,900,000

Projected Usage

• Building design, construction, FF&E, etc. $11,600,000
• Financing cost $700,000*
• Debt relief $1,400,000
• Endowment $200,000

*Early gifts (cash) will reduce financing costs by lessening construction loan interest. God willing, we hope to allocate additional campaign funds toward paying down a portion of our existing debt as well as building our endowment, in support of the Church’s mission into the future.