Lincoln
10 a.m. - Worship Service
Parking and Directions
Midtown
10:45 a.m. - Worship Service
Parking and Directions
What's the cost?
By Shannon Caughey
As we’ve talked about a potential Scott Park site and expanding ministry at our current Lincoln/Michigan location, financial questions are often raised. “What’s the cost of doing this? Can TCBC really afford to do this?” These are legitimate questions.
While cost estimates are being generated for both a second site and possible next steps at Lincoln/Michigan, I want to focus in particular on the potential Scott Park site. Last weekend, we published and distributed a “Second Site Vote” document. Included in this is an estimate for renting space for a Sunday worship service in the Scott Park area when we get to that point (based on a quote we received from a facility near Scott Park). There is also an estimate for general ministry expenses for the launch and first year of a Scott Park site (technology needs, kids’ ministry needs, marketing, coffee/refreshments, and other miscellaneous expenses).
Based on our research, our best guess is that the initial year of a Scott Park site could cost around $24,000. This is not cheap. You may again be asking, “Can TCBC really afford to do this?”
I believe we also need to ask the “flipside” question: What’s the cost of not doing this? Our decision about a second site goes far beyond financial considerations. Think about the potential cost if we choose not to pursue a Scott Park site: we’d miss the chance to take this concrete step to share the outward-focused heart of Jesus and to obey his commission to go, we’d miss the possibility of seeing the gospel bear fruit in the Scott Park area as we reach out to people, we’d miss the growth that happens in our own lives when we’re willing to take a significant step of faith, we’d miss the chance to see the development of new leaders that a second site requires, we’d miss the potential for this faith venture to also encourage the faith of those who are part of the Lincoln/Michigan site…
There is a cost to pursuing a second site. Likewise, there is a cost if we choose not to pursue a second site. Maybe we need to ask ourselves, “Can TCBC really afford not to do this?”
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Regarding the "flip side",
Regarding the "flip side", what Shannon describes is known as the "opportunity cost". In otherwords what opportunity is lost if the "investment" in not made.
I think there is another aspect to consider and that is the "lost opportunity cost". This is a term that is appropriate when the simple "opportunity" has the potential to compound.
As Robert Coleman documents in his book The Master Plan of Evangelism, the "lost opportunity cost" is the generations of students that won't have a TCBC influence.
Just think what the "lost opportunity cost" would have been had the Lincoln and Michigan location not been developed!
"Lost opportunity
"Lost opportunity cost"--great point. It's likely that those who originally had the vision for TCBC at our Lincoln and Michigan site had no idea just how extensively God would use this location. Someone who has been at TCBC for a long time told me that the vote about whether to build at this location was very close. According to them, it barely passed. What was a significant (controversial??) decision 50 years ago opened up innumerable opportunities for ministry. My life is one of those that God has touched through TCBC!
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