Bold &
Unhindered

Bold & Unhindered is a journey inspired by the final verse of the Book of Acts where it describes Paul as “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” (Acts 28:31) These five weeks are designed for each of us to discover the role we can have in helping South Shores Church become free of our debt and emboldened in our ministry and proclamation of the gospel.  Bold & Unhindered is about opening ourselves to God and partnering with Him, so future generations can minister the gospel effectively. It will take all of us working together, giving resources and praying to see this dream become a reality.

The vision of Bold & Unhindered is to retire the church construction debt and release us to proclaim Jesus freely and empower the next generations to do the same. It’s not just about the debt, it’s about what God can release us to do once the debt is behind us.

We are asking for everyone at South Shores Church to pray during this journey, “God, how do you want to use me?” At the conclusion of our Bold & Unhindered journey, November 24th, 2024, you will have an opportunity to make a “First Fruits” offering as well as a two-year commitment of giving above and beyond your regular offering.

In 2017, as we began construction, our church membership voted to borrow $10 million ($6 million at 3%, $4 million at 4%) from a friendly church foundation to begin building sooner. In 2020, when we moved back into the “new” campus we owed $10 million. In 2021 using a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the San Juan Campus, through continued generosity, we reduced the loan total to $6 million, and restructured it at 2.5%. Since then, our church family has generously given regularly to reduce debt and has successfully paid off more of the loan reducing it to the current state of $5.5 million.

Currently we pay $137,000 in interest-only payments. This money does not serve to pay down the principal of the loan. The interest rate rises to 3% in 2027.

The loan becomes due in seven years, in 2031. The annual payment for a $5.5 million dollar loan amortized over seven years is approximately $860,000 a year, or about $72,000 a month.

We are called to steward the resources that God has entrusted to us. A couple of our Deacons felt God’s promptings in their times of prayer to begin this effort to eradicate the debt—and brought it to the church leadership. They gave significant gifts themselves, and invited all the Pastors, Staff, and Deacons to be the first to give. We don’t know what the future holds, but we know a debt-free church is more flexible in how it fulfills the mission of making disciples for Jesus Christ. We want to be unchained from this debt, so we can more freely engage in God’s mission in the world.

Unfortunately, we can’t look ahead and assure that the economy will improve any time soon. There is no guarantee that food prices, gas prices, or inflation will make a big change in the near future. We can only seek to be good stewards with what we have right now. Another question we could ask is, “What if this is the best the economy is going to be for a while?” “What if in the near future giving dramatically drops?” We don’t want to end up in a spot where we can no longer afford to make our payments or risk defaulting on our loan because we didn’t move to pay it off when we could have.

While it is easy for our church staff (and probably you) to dream up ideas of how to utilize that savings, we have identified four areas that are already growing, are future focused, and we think will continue to make a great impact for Jesus Christ:

Just in the last year we have made tremendous in-roads in our community through gifts to our Orange County Sheriffs of Dana Point, as well as the teaching and administration staff at Dana Hills High School. Already, our generosity toward the DHHS teachers is leading to some exciting new opportunities for ministry and partnership. These gifts were made possible by the South Shores Church Foundation and South Shores Church working together. Our desire is to increase our involvement in the community.

As the cost of living and the cost of camp continues to increase, we don’t want finances to prevent middle school and high school students from getting the life-changing opportunity to go to camp. Every year scholarships are an important part of what enables some of our kids to go to camp and we only envision this increasing. We want to be prepared.

One of our greatest “God stories” from this past two years is the inception of “Living Water,” our Young Adults ministry, alongside of its Saddleback College Outreach. Currently this thriving ministry of around 60 young adults are involved in Friday night Bible Study, Sunday morning church, Rooted Groups, and many serve in Youth Ministry. These efforts have been led by Jillian Gellatly (Youth Ministry) and Kristian Davis (Communications), who have been stretched and need some help to continue to meet this exciting ministry.

Since 2020, South Shores Church has given over $2 million toward missions and missionaries, and given $100,000 in local church plant support. We want to continue to look beyond the limits of our campus for ministries we can support that fit into the mission of reaching the lost, making disciples, and starting new churches.

First of all, thank you! We are grateful for the risk you took to give above and beyond and join with your church in that faith adventure. Now, why should you give again? As a church, we took on this project and committed ourselves to it.
You might give because you believe in what God is doing at South Shores. You might give because we haven’t finished what Inspired started. You might give because you are passionate about future generations empowered to proclaim Jesus freely in our community.
However, we aren’t directly asking you to give again; we are asking you to spend time thoughtfully praying, “God, how do you want to use me?” And if God moves in your heart to care about the future vision of South Shores Church, then He can help you decide if you should give again.

There are many people who are part of South Shores Church now, that were not here when we voted to take on the debt to complete the construction. However, all of us that are here are beneficiaries of the planning, sacrifice, and generosity ($25-30 million already given) that led to the beautiful and functional campus we see today. Like the person who marries someone who already has a home and a mortgage, those that have joined in in the last eight years have joined a family with assets and liabilities. We are all beneficiaries of the past, stewards of the present, and partners in the exciting future. Yet again, what we are primarily asking you to do is to thoughtfully pray, “God, how do you want to use me?” And if God moves in your heart to care about the future vision of South Shores Church, then He can help you decide what to give toward this loan, even if you didn’t take it on.

Debt is difficult to get excited about paying off because it is unseen. In some ways it would be more motivating to participate if 18% of the parking lot and classrooms (and bathrooms) were unusable until we paid off the loan! What if we felt the pressure each week because each unpaid-off part was blocked off! Thankfully, it doesn’t work that way—we can fully use all the campus each and every day! This means we need to find another way to motivate ourselves to join into what God is doing for us and future generations.

We are so glad you are here! While this is primarily for those who call South Shores Church “home,” we believe this is a faith journey that can be beneficial for anyone who loves Jesus and is motivated to partner in God’s mission.
The number one thing we are asking anyone to do first, is to pray, “God, how do you want to use me?” So, if you reflect and pray, and get excited about the direction that God is taking South Shores, and don’t want to miss out on the blessings of being part of it, then yes, find a way to join! If you’re unsure, don’t worry about it. If in the future you decide that South Shores is going to be your home and you want in, there will be other ways to be involved.

First, remember that it is not about equal gifts, but equal sacrifice. It’s not how much you give, but your commitment to be faithful to how God is asking you to participate. Secondly,  I would challenge you to prayerfully walk through the Commitment Guide. You may find there is more that you can do if you are willing to get creative, do more, or deny yourself. For example, if you reduced by one $10 purchase a week (one venti mochaccino), you could give $1,000 over the period of two years. Third, if you have an idea of another way you can serve the church, raise funds, or help us cut costs, you can contact the church office to let us know.

Sunday, November 24 is Commitment Sunday. Our hope is that everyone will have prayerfully walked through the Commitment Guide in our Bold & Unhindered materials and will come in ready to make a two-year commitment (ending in December of 2026) as well having prepared a “First Fruits” offering to give that Sunday (or before the end of December 2024). However, giving can be done at any time through going to southshores.org/give and selecting “Bold & Unhindered” or sending in a check with “Bold & Unhindered” in the memo line.

Bold & Unhindered is an opportunity for sacrificial giving that goes “above and beyond” our regular giving. Bold & Unhindered is an initiative that does not impact our regular ministry budget. This means that we are trusting that those who regularly give will continue to do so, so our ministries and missionaries can carry on their tasks as normal. Bold & Unhindered is extra giving for a two-year period where we will pull together to make this vision reality.

The South Shores Church Foundation (SSCF) exists to provide an enduring endowment that supports the missions and ministries of South Shores Church. Since its inception in 2003, the SSCF has provided substantial support to our missionaries, approved community outreach programs, and the needs of our church that go beyond day-to-day operations. Occasionally some of the SSCF’s disbursements have gone to the Building Fund Campaign as well as to help reduce the debt. However, these decisions and the Foundation’s involvement in Bold & Unhindered is up to the direction of the SSCF’s Board of Directors. If you would like more information on how SSCF works or how to contribute, please visit: southshores.org/foundation

If we didn’t answer your question, please don’t hesitate to send an email to Pastor Derick. He will do his best to get you the answer you need.
dzeulner@southshores.org