How an Alliance church in Nampa, Idaho, marries deeper-life principles with a posture of outreach to bring people into the Kingdom

Since its inception in 2003, The Rock (C&MA) Church in Nampa, Idaho, has been all about serving its community. Whether through its thriving children’s ministry program, going into surrounding neighborhoods to perform random acts of kindness, or its outreach to the middle school across the street, the Rock’s meaningful, impactful presence in its community is palpable. “We want to be a church that is having an impact on our immediate neighborhoods and the broader community,” notes lead pastor Terry Gugger. “An impact that if we closed, the community would recognize our absence.”

 

Rock Church pastor, Terry Gugger

 

Going Deeper Into the Community

During and following COVID, The Rock’s multigenerational congregation continued to carry out the church’s vision to help people be transformed by Encountering GOD’S Mercy, Embracing GOD’S Love, Living GOD’S Grace, and Inspiring Hope in Christ Jesus.

Regaining its ministry momentum following the pandemic, it became clear that the church would soon outgrow its classrooms and other gathering spaces—a reality that would hinder its ability to disciple new believers and expand its vision deeper into its community. The growing children’s program alone was encountering space limitations that would keep it from further serving families in its surrounding neighborhoods.

Children’s ministry space.

 

The expansion officially began in February 2020 but gained significant momentum when the church held a Vision Mini-Summit in Spring 2023. At the summit, the Rock church family was invited to speak into the vision and weigh in on a plan to expand the current facility. The initial plan for the expansion prioritized additional space for the growing children’s ministry and for other ministries and community groups to gather.  However, investing more deeply in outreach to the community meant investing more deeply in discipleship, which would require additional classroom space.

 

Rock Church elder, Randy DeWitt

 

The response was overwhelming. The proposal to expand was unanimously passed by the congregation and its leaders. Randy DeWitt, one of the Rock’s elders who played a pivotal role in the expansion plan, recalls, “I think the best way to describe how on board they were was when we went to them to ask to borrow money to finish this project. We had a hundred percent acceptance of that, which is absolutely unheard of in a church. So, to see them—even those who were non-members—fully behind the plan was a confirmation that we were heading in the right direction with this decision.

 

Men from Rock Church gather to seek God’s wisdom and direction.

Going Deeper with Jesus

Early on, the church leaders realized that a ministry vision is not sustainable apart from an abiding, deeper-life walk with Jesus. As He reminds us in John 15:5, If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Randy explains, “We understand that the heart of God is for lost people and for His own people. And so, as we journey deeper in our relationship with God, we’re going to get to know his heart more. And as we get to know his heart more, we will become more intentional about bringing people into His Kingdom. So, what are those next activities or outreach elements that we do as we go deeper? I believe God’s going to clarify that for us as we remain in Him.”

 

Church members gather to celebrate the groundbreaking for the renovations.

The Importance of Financial Discipleship

In the life of the believer, financial discipleship is a vital part of the sanctification process. If we, as wise stewards, truly want to align our hearts with God’s, we must be willing to commit what He’s entrusted to us to His purposes. The people at The Rock are learning to embrace this vital truth. “We’re in a debt reduction program right now where we’re paying back debt, and we just started that a few weeks ago,” notes Randy. “It’s encouraging to see the amount of people who are already giving and the questions that are being raised. I’ve been really excited to see the church get on board as we’re starting to work off some of those debts.” Pastor Terry adds, “We’ve had ongoing conversations with people about how we use our finances to glorify God. So, I’d say it’s a part of our DNA that continues to emerge.”

 

 

The Fruits of Faithfulness

The Rock recently completed its property improvement project and immediately put it to use, with a charter school meeting in the facility and expanded outreach efforts to the middle school across the street. The church is also in dialogue with other ministries about gathering here in the near future.

 

 

“Our Kids on the Rock ministry has moved into the new, expanded space. We have a prayer cohort that meets here once a month. We’ve expanded our Sunday School space, and we’re already talking about some of the next options for that going deeper element. So, it’s already starting to happen, and that is the dream. We don’t want the facility to sit there empty. We built it with intentionality and trust that God’s going to bring the opportunities along.”

 

 

In addition to its local outreaches, The Rock has maintained strong support for international missions. Under the leadership of its Missions Mobilization Team, the church is always kept up-to-date on the activities of its Alliance and non-Alliance partners, including the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, which is headquartered in Nampa.

The church is supporting five international workers/teams throughout the world and has recently sent out a family who will be doing language study for the next two years in a creative access country through Frontiers. The Rock supports two Alliance international worker families, staying in regular contact with them and directing the majority of its GCF giving toward their support and ministry activity.

 

 

Partnering with Orchard Alliance

In funding this expansion, the church explored several loan options but ultimately chose to partner with Orchard Alliance. As Pastor Terry reflects, “I love the idea that even as we’re paying interest, it’s going to something that is advancing the Kingdom as opposed to some CEO’s pocket. So, there’s intentionality behind that. The services Orchard offers, along with its focus on financial stewardship, align with what we’re all trying to do in building Christ’s Kingdom locally and globally. The picture that I get from my interactions with Orchard has been, ‘We’re here for you.’”

Randy adds, “I think that was one of the reasons it made it easier for us to sell this to the congregation. If we were like, ‘Hey, big Bank X is going to lend us this much money,’ it would have been a different conversation. But when we told them what Orchard does, how it helps churches expand their presence and impact, and how our loan interest payments support Kingdom causes, it made it much easier for the congregation to support the loan approval.”

Orchard Alliance congratulates The Rock on the completion of its expansion and its ongoing commitment to disciple its people, serve its community, and support the worldwide work of The Alliance.