Sanctuary Fund Remains Open in 2026

New Church Home - 2025 was been a remarkable year for our young church filled with God's unexpected provision of our first church home – 105 Timothy Pl Athens, GA 30606. We raised an incredible amount of money through our Sanctuary Fund to renovate and renew the campus of Edwards Chapel Baptist Church for our use. We met our initial fundraising goal of $250,000 in the Spring and then brought in 85% of our second $250,000 goal in the 4th Fiscal Quarter.

At the same time, we also came close to breaking even with our actual operating budget for the year even with the special giving emphases for the new building. In 2026, we still need at least $50,000 for campus projects and improvements. The most urgent need is to receive funding for a playground area outside for St. Thomas Kids to serve various ages.

2026 Campus Projects (Funding Needed)

• Playground area outside for St. Thomas Kids to serve various ages

• Remaining Interior Projects:

  • Wiring and equipment for the music team in the Sanctuary

  • Explore hanging speakers in the Sanctuary

  • Library / Welcome area in large main hallway classroom

  • Sacristy in main hallway classroom

  • Interior artwork and decor throughout main building

• Remaining Exterior Projects:

  • Replace basketball goal and store recreational equipment

  • Repair, repaving, and restriping of parking lot

  • Grounds beautification

  • Remaining Exterior Projects 

There are several other optional or future projects on our radar including a copy / print center in the main hallway empty office, a walkway from the lower level to the Fellowship Hall, and the upper area between the Fellowship Hall and the Kids Hallway.

There are several FAQs that we want to continue to address:

How long will we be at this new home? We thought we would be at the Foundry Building for several years. However, it became apparent that we needed to look for a new option and the Lord clearly opened this door. Our initial agreement is for 5 years plus the option to renew for another 5 years. We also have a right of first refusal to purchase the church building and land. We hope this is a really long-term home for us! Conversations have already started about what it could look like for us to acquire the campus permanently. City on the Hill Mission has agreed to take these capital investments and improvements into consideration as we prayerfully walk through those conversations together.

What other options did we consider? We have looked at lots of options over the last few years including conversations with many churches, potential commercial leases, and even purchasing land and building. The commercial leases we were looking at were all 2-3 times the amount of rent each month and needed 2-4 times the amount of upfront costs to make them suitable for our purposes for a lot less square footage. We did look at the option to build, but buying land and building in the areas we would want to be would have required at least $5 million or more dollars. So we are really grateful for what the Lord has opened up at this new home!

Video Update Archive

Below are several videos from ~ the last year about this door God has opened, work days held over the Summer for our new home, our “soft open,” and our fundraising progress on the Sanctuary Fund. We have now completed these initial workdays, begun worshipping in our new home, and concluded our initial set of projects! We have also completed a second round of fund-raising in 2025 and been able to update our HVAC Systems and renovate the Fellowship Hall for ministry use!