The Plan
Building an additional ~3500sq ft at our Grand location will enable us to address the needs of our limited classroom spaces that are already at capacity while being at the forefront of the anticipated population boom in Kansas City.
This campaign and its components are designed to ensure a place for all generations by addressing debt and adding essential facility space to welcome new people, build Christian community, and be a part of God’s work in changing lives and transforming the world.
Reaching Every Generation
We want our spaces to offer radical hospitality with a focus on creating more spaces for children, students and adults. These plans include a flexible multipurpose room and additional upstairs classrooms for community and fellowship. And we will address our debt to help us prepare for our future.
The renovations to our upper level will create three additional classrooms that can be used for our growing children’s ministry on the weekend, yet flexible enough to provide spaces for students and adults to meet for small groups and community groups.
We envision our new narthex to be a vibrant place for welcome and connection so that all people may experience the extraordinary community of Resurrection Downtown and know they belong here.
The lower-level upgrades would include a large multi-purpose room. This functional space can be used for large group teaching, mission outpost, fellowship, an overflow worship space and more, multiplying our impact with future generations.
Resurrection History
In 1990, a group of visionaries shared a dream that they could build a Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people of all ages would become deeply committed Christians. Launching Resurrection in a funeral home, they laid a foundation for generations to come. They had no idea the number of lives that would be transformed or the impact the church would have on the community, but they trusted God and dreamed big.
Resurrection has always been about people whose lives can be transformed when they follow Jesus, and who in turn can change the world. But, as we’ve grown and expanded, we’ve recognized that facilities and resources are important tools for ministry. Today, as a thriving church with six physical locations and a growing online presence, we are committed to ensuring that our buildings and programs continue to welcome and care for our community – from those yet to be born, to teens and young adults, to our oldest adults.
Resurrection Downtown Story
Launch
In November 2009, Resurrection Downtown launched as the church’s third physical location to be the living presence of Christ in the heart of Kansas City. Our congregation grew and grew, outgrowing our ability to use temporary space for worship and community. So, this bold congregation sacrificed to purchase our first building at 16th and McGee, renovating a bar into a sacred place for worship.
Transform the Heart of the City
By 2016, 1,000+ people were joining us in worship, including many families with children. Again, we were running out of space. Our diverse, growing congregation responded to God’s call to “Transform the Heart of the City.” God was moving, and this city block became the site of our new home, the first church built in downtown Kansas City in 80 years. A new sanctuary, nurseries, and children’s classrooms gave us space to grow and build community.
Paving the way
In the Paving the Way Campaign, we had the opportunity to secure our future more fully by completing the purchase of the entire parking lot where our sanctuary is located. Every act of sacrifice enabled us to not only reach more people, but also further our presence in the life of the city through missions, outreach, and community building.
Expanding Ministry
Despite coming out of the pandemic, 2022 was a transformative year for Resurrection Downtown. We launched our student ministries program and have seen continued growth. We welcomed more and more families with children into the nurseries and kids programming. We partnered with local mission agencies on projects to extend love to our neighbors, including a huge initiative helping to resettle refugees in Kansas City. Resurrection Downtown remains outwardly focused and strives to serve and welcome non and nominally religious people into our unique and diverse community.
Sifa Mubyeyi
My three sons and I came to the United States in 2021 from a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At Resurrection, my kids have
learned that with God all things are possible
and student ministry has taught my son how to
navigate the road of life and find his way through
a relationship with Christ.
Pay Down Debt and Expand Ministry
One of the goals of this campaign is to pay down some of our debt from previous building projects. A portion of our annual ministry budget goes to debt service. By reducing this debt and the associated interest, more funds will be directly available for programing, missions, and outreach.
A Vision for 2030
In 2019 our congregation helped shape, and then approved, a set of visions for the year 2030. Creating the right tools for ministry with new and remodeled spaces and reducing our debt will allow us to more effectively live into these visions:
- Closing the Spiritual Gap by helping our congregation and community grow in their faith
- Closing the Generational Gap by reaching future generations for Christ
- Closing the Kindness and Justice Gap by helping our city and world look more like the Kingdom of God
- Closing the Opportunity Gap through efforts focused on education with an emphasis on PreK education and by addressing poverty
Together We Can Ensure a Vital Ministry for Resurrection Downtown for Generations to Come
Campaign Need $4 Million
We can clearly see how God has used our sacrificial gifts to help Resurrection Downtown establish itself as a beacon of light in the community. Our leaders have prayerfully considered this campaign with faith in the future of our church, knowing that the size of our congregation and the size of our ministry budget pave the way for us to meet this realistic need of $4.0 million. But it will take sacrifice and it will take everyone’s help and participation.
How will we get there?
Capital campaigns are an investment in the future, and the legacy we leave behind. Over the next few months, you are invited to consider the goals of the campaign, the ministry impact of the buildings and paying off debt, and then pray, inviting God to guide you to consider a sacrificial gift that can be given over a period of three years, a gift over and above your annual giving to our church.
Generation to Generation is a time of spiritual growth – for our church and for each of us individually. You have the opportunity to be part of something that will have a tremendous impact on the mission and ministry of the church. We need your commitment as we continue this incredible journey of transforming lives, renewing churches and changing the world. We hope you will join us in praying about making a sacrificial gift to ensure our congregation has a vital future caring for all our generations.
David Wilson
When I tell people about Resurrection Downtown, I tell them that no matter where you come from, you will be welcomed and treated the same as everybody else. We want everybody that other churches would turn away, and it’s done out of love. God doesn’t say help when it’s at your convenience.
God says help all.
Campaign Commitments
Investing in the Future Through Sacrificial Gifts
This is your opportunity to take a bold step in your spiritual journey, make a sacrificial gift to invest in God’s work, and experience the joy of knowing that you will be sharing Jesus with current and future generations.
Generational Ministry Impact Stories
