When Darril Holden assumed the role of lead pastor at Christ Community Church in Rochester, Minnesota, in 2020, he was given a tall order: Transform us from an inwardly focused church to an outwardly focused church.

For many pastors, this might seem like a daunting task, with expectations running high for a much-needed shift in the church’s trajectory. But Pastor Darril had several things going for him: a passion to lead the congregation on mission together; an earnest desire among the leaders and laypeople to move more deeply into their community; a thriving preschool program with more than 200 kids attending; and . . . a coming pandemic?!?

 

 

As Pastor Darril explains, “During the pastoral transition, the church wanted someone who would lead them into a deeper faith, more meaningful relationships within the church body, and greater ministry impact in the local community and throughout the world. In my mind, those things are all connected. Deeper faith comes from obedience. More meaningful relationships come from being on mission together. And we can’t experience these things unless we’re living out the specific mission Jesus gave to us.

“It’s not that the church didn’t have an outwardly focused vision. We’ve always had a heart for people who are far from Jesus, but we were also a really busy church. And so when I got here, I sat down with the leadership team and we had conversations about everything that was going on. We filled an 8-foot whiteboard with all the church events and activities. It soon became clear that we were far too busy managing activities that primarily benefited those within the walls of the church. We knew we had to make some hard choices about what needed to stay and what had to go if we were truly going to fulfill our call as an outwardly focused church.”

 

 

An Opportunity in Disguise

When COVID hit, it devastated the church and its community as much as it did anywhere else. But God had a silver lining for Christ Community Church. The pandemic put a stop to all the activities on the calendar. It “rebooted” the church, forcing its leaders to become more selective about what they would bring back.

“We got to blame a lot of the deaths of our inwardly focused programs on COVID—and most of them were never resurrected. We were constantly communicating to our people, ‘We don’t want you at church every night. We want you hanging out in your front yard with your neighbors. We want you available for friends or for co-workers. We want you serving in community events. We want you engaging with our community’s nonprofits.”

 

 

An Outward Turn

The church was grateful for God’s generous provision during the pandemic but soon realized that the provision was not only for them but also for their community at large. This further drove home the urgency of being outwardly focused. So, the church began partnering with local organizations that were already having a meaningful, impactful presence in the community.

 

 

“We picked nine nonprofits representing various ministry and justice causes and engaged with them. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, we decided to let the experts lead us in supporting causes that served the community with excellence and compassion. These nonprofits had been on the church’s radar before, but we hadn’t really engaged with them. So, we became big financial supporters of each of those nine organizations and began providing volunteers for them. We let them use our campus when they have needs for training and other gatherings. We invest in them out of gratitude for their investment in our community. But they also invest in us. If we need some training on trauma-informed care, we have one of these ministry partners come and help us train our people. If we are planning a student event and activity, we invite Young Life or the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to come and help us out. We’ve been able to foster genuine partnerships that fulfill the missions of these organizations and our church as we serve the needs of our community together.

“So, we launched our community groups. Our big hope for these groups is that people will encourage one another as they reach into their circles of influence. Each group would adopt a cause—a justice cause or a missional cause—that they would own together.”

 

 

The Facility Factor

The church had already enjoyed higher visibility in the community because of its thriving preschool and summer children’s camp and the growing partnerships it was forming with local nonprofits. But as the leaders began taking a closer look at their church facility, they soon realized it wasn’t as welcoming and hospitable as it needed to be. There was plenty of space for the church’s worship and internal ministries, but nothing that shouted “Welcome!” to outsiders.

As Pastor Darril notes, “We were a sanctuary and classrooms basically surrounded by hallways. We had barely any gathering space, particularly for church our size. Fifteen or twenty people could easily clog up our small foyer—which happened on a regular basis. So before and after our worship services, there was very little opportunity for connection. Our leadership recognized a need for something new or different for a long time and now it was time to act.”

 

 

The leaders spent a significant amount of time and energy trying to figure out the path forward. The church had some undeveloped property, and there were tentative plans to build a whole new facility. So they wrestled through a decision about whether to start a massive new facility project or to stay where they were and add the foyer. After prayerful consideration, it was clear that the foyer would best fulfill the right thing.

“Adding a foyer would give us an opportunity to address an immediate need now,” notes Steve Wernimont, the church’s Director of Operations. “Building a whole new campus was still something that would’ve been five, ten years out, and we’d still have to struggle along with a facility that would limit our ability to be outward-focused.”

 

 

A Cultural Shift

“We named the whole initiative ‘The Welcome Project’,” adds Pastor Darril, “and our big conversations on the front end were not just about a building, but a culture. Our church has been welcoming, but we wanted to see cultural growth in welcoming people into our lives, welcoming people into our church, and then welcoming people into the mission and vision that God has given to us. And in order to be that kind of church, we needed a better gathering space.”

In considering their lending options, the leadership contacted Orchard Alliance to discuss the possibility of a construction loan to fund the foyer expansion.

 

 

“We had a relationship with Orchard going back a number of years,” recalls Steve. “We had an existing loan, but in the seven years I’d been here, we had no real ongoing interaction with them. But when the time came to plan this project, it was obvious we should reach back out to Orchard. And I think that the key thing that sticks out in my mind is the shared mission. It’s such a joy to work with a lending institution that loves Jesus and wants to see us be effective in our mission.

“The thing that sticks out in my mind the most is the early phone calls with Sandy Grant from Orchard, when at the end of our phone call, she felt an urgent need to pray for the ministry of Christ Community Church. I had had some experience dealing with bankers in commercial real estate situations, but this was quite a bit different.”

 

 

Through its ongoing partnership with Orchard, Christ Community Church moved forward with the foyer addition and completed construction in late 2024.

“The foyer has made a significant difference in welcoming all backgrounds, all people, non-believers, unchurched,” observes Steve. “Before its completion, it was hard for us to connect with new attendees and visitors, because the practice was to head straight for the exit doors. Now people linger long enough to get to know each other and develop deep and lasting relationships.”

 

 

Pastor Darril adds, “The building really has become a tool for what we see God doing in our church and in our community through God’s empowerment and the efforts of our people. Like Steve said, it is amazing on a weekend to see people looking for somebody to talk to, to see groups that used to stand in closed circles now standing in an ‘open U’ to invite someone new into the conversation. It’s been a beautiful thing!”

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Orchard Alliance thanks our investors for making ministries like this possible. Your investments fund the loans that enable and empower churches like Christ Community to welcome lost and searching people into warm and nurturing communities of Christ.