Annual Business Meeting

2025-2027 Ministry Plan
Frequently Asked Questions

As I look at the budget, I see some line items with a brief description beside them. Why is that?  

If a budget line experienced a significant change, a description of that change is provided.  

We’re counting on a 12% increase in tithes and offerings. That seems aggressive! Do we believe that’s realistic?   

Based on the goal cards and anticipated giving, we believe the Lord is providing what we need to responsibly raise our ministry budget. But let’s be clear—this is not about spending freely. The proposed 12% increase is not a license to loosen our financial standards, but a call to invest more fully in the mission God has placed before us. 

At Celebration, we've long followed a principle of faith-filled budgeting. That means we set a budget slightly ahead of our expected giving—not out of presumption, but to ensure every dollar received is fully and intentionally used for ministry, in accordance with the budget you, the congregation, have prayerfully approved. If we consistently brought in more than we budgeted for, we'd risk creating a surplus that could be spent carelessly, without strategy or accountability. That’s not how we steward the Lord’s money. 

So how do we ensure fiscal integrity?

We operate under a simple, biblical principle: we do not spend more than we receive. We don’t borrow to cover day-to-day expenses, and we never carry deficits from one year to the next. Any borrowing we consider—like the upcoming canopy and cut-through project—is brought to the congregation for approval and prayerful discernment. 

In short, while this is a step of faith, it is also a step of discipline. We raise the budget because the work is great and the need is clear—but we will manage every penny with the seriousness and integrity it deserves. 

That’s a substantial increase on Sunday Morning First Impressions! What’s behind it?   

Our first impressions ministry has typically pieced it’s budget together from a variety of ministries, but as we’ve worked to make our Christmas Eve, Easter and other events better, we’re spending more and need to increase the budget to better reflect reality. You’ll notice that any of our budget lines that deal with food are increasing! You’re probably noticing this at home too.  

Why the large increase in WCA Maintenance?  

 Changes to FCC regulations regarding wireless microphone frequencies have rendered some of our wireless equipment out of compliance. The effected gear has to be replaced.  

  What is going on with the new Video Production budget line?

These dollars are being moved from the WCA budget into a separate line for video production to help us better understand how much we invest in this ministry area.  

Missions spending is quite substantial in this budget! How is our church planting and leadership development effort known as 40/40 coming along.   

When Celebration celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022, we set 2 goals. First, we set a goal to plant, replant or revitalize 40 churches. This is a large undertaking, and our only option was to do achieve our goal utilizing partnerships with the North American Mission Board, International Mission Board and other SBC affiliated organizations from around the world. Second, we set a goal to send 40 people into long term ministry (one semester or longer) by 2027. When we started, we had no church planting relationships and we’d only seen people accept the call to ministry sporadically. But a lot has changed in the last 3 years and 40/40 is doing well! Here’s the break down so far:  

40 Planted:

(As of May 2025, 22 churches have been planted, replanted or revitalized)  

40 Sent: 

(As of May 2025, 25 people have been sent from Celebration into ministry lasting one semester or longer)

In summary, 40/40 is going well and we feel very good about our chances to hit our goal by 2027. Thank you for playing such a vital role in the success of this effort!  

I notice that this budget places less of an emphasis on traditional SBC means of missions giving and a greater priority to our own missions efforts. Why is that?   

Celebration is glad to be a part of the Southern Baptist Convention and supports its missions efforts at a very high level. As we are now within the last 2 years of 40/40, we’re shifting some dollars from traditional giving mechanisms to our own missions efforts to ensure we achieve our 40/40 goals. Also, virtually all of our 40/40 efforts coincide with SBC causes. Most of the church plants we’re partnered with also receive funds from the SBC. We are engaging in these plants in full cooperation with Baptist agencies such as the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board. So we’re still focused on resourcing our SBC partners, but focusing in on a narrower field that directly intersects with our own mission objectives.  

Will those dollars return to traditional SBC missions efforts once 40/40 is concluded?   

We don’t yet know exactly what our church will take on next in regard to church planting and sending people into long term ministry, but one thing is certain, we will continue to engage in planting and sending! Our next step may be to lead out in planting churches rather than relying so heavily on partnerships as we are currently. In fact, we’re having some conversations now about such future church planting opportunities. Also, how will we train and resource people for long term ministry? What will that look like and what will it cost? These are questions that we’ll look to answer in the months to come and the answers to these questions will help us understand how we fund future mission. How we resource these future church planting and equipping efforts has yet to be determined.  

Why the sudden increase in College Ministry spending?

We anticipate adding a new College Ministry Director in this ministry year and we need a starting budget for them to begin with. This is exciting stuff! We’re reducing the number of residencies in the short term to pay for this increase. (see the Spanish pastor’s budget) Our expectation is that a new college ministry will increase the number of people who are interested in residences in the future. We plan to restore dollars to our residency program next year.  

I see in the kinder school program a reduction of budget from 805,468 to 644,240. What happened here?   

Anticipated enrollment this year is 90 children, compared to 100 children the year prior.  

What’s going on with the MTC building and what steps have been taken to decide it’s future?  

 In August 2024, Hurricane Debby caused significant damage to our Ministry Training Center (MTC) when a large tree fell on the building, compromising the roof, electrical systems, and HVAC. Immediate actions were taken to prevent further deterioration, and thorough assessments followed from both our engineering team and the insurance provider. The church has received an initial insurance payout of $527,000, with the potential for more depending on roof repairs, under a policy that covers up to $750,000. Additionally, $150,000 has been secured from the recent sale of 0.25 acres at Shamrock and Centerville Roads to the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency. These two income sources together create an on hand, budget-neutral pool of $677,000 dedicated solely to this project—separate from tithes and offerings. 

Our Building and Grounds team explored a number of ways to use the building going forward. Moving the church offices to the MTC building and converting our current office into student space received the most consideration. But the cost of such a move was estimated at 3.8 million dollars. Rather than pursuing a $3.8 million office relocation and student center plan, our Building and Grounds Team has proposed a more cost-effective renovation of the MTC into a multipurpose ministry space. The new layout includes a worship area, recreation space, video studio, breakout rooms, and a food service area—supporting student and college ministries, adult Bible studies, and small conferences. Architectural plans are in place, and we’re now working with contractors to establish a Guaranteed Maximum Price. Our plan is to use the resources from the insurance company and the sale of land mentioned above to begin the work. Should additional funds be needed, the church body will be updated. No new debt will be taken on without a congregational vote, and early project phases (design, permitting, initial construction) will be funded entirely with existing resources. Present church debt stands at $250,000, scheduled for full repayment by May 2026. Even with the upcoming $1.1–$1.2 million Canopy project, total debt will remain under $1.5 million—well within our longstanding 10/10 principle of fiscal stewardship. (The 10/10 principle was adopted many years ago as a benchmark for undertaking debt. The concept is simple: We will spend no more than 10% of our tithes and offerings on debt in any given year, and we will not hold a single debt longer than 10 years. Holding to this principle, we could currently borrow around 4 million dollars.) Should the trustees determine the renovation cost is not justified, the MTC will be demolished and funds reallocated to the Canopy, minimizing long-term debt exposure. 

What about the Pavilion and cut through between the gym and Broom Tree Café?   

We are fully prepared to be begin construction on the new pavilion in front of the worship center and the creation of a passageway connecting the Broom Tree Café to the gym. This month, the current gym kitchen will be cleared out and a construction barricade will be put in place. The goal is for this project to be complete by Adventure week at the end of July.  

The Pavilion will also get underway in the next few weeks. A construction barricade will cover all of the current “runway” in front of the worship center as well as the yard on the west side of the worship center. The front doors of the worship center will be offline throughout the entire project. The entrances on either side of the bathroom bays in the foyer will be our primary points of ingress and egress. The pavilion is expected to be complete by October.  

The cost of this combined project is between 1.1-1.2 million dollars. In addition to protecting the congregation from the elements before and after services, the Pavilion will used extensively as a multipurpose ministry space throughout the week.