First, as Doxa Kids continues to grow, the rooms we have available are not working well for kids ministry. We’ve been working hard to make Doxa Kids safe, fun, Gospel centered and all about discipleship, but without adequate space this isn’t possible. (We do not have enough classrooms for all our kids and the rooms are too full to adequately disciple our kids. Furthermore, we only have one bathroom stall for 150 kids.)

Second, our auditorium space is limiting the number of people who can come gather to worship Jesus, while also allowing us to maintain our value of family.

Finally, we are constrained by our current space when it comes to equipping, classes, a youth space and smaller meeting areas. Functionally we have no meeting or equipping space on a Sunday morning outside of the auditorium, so all additional classes or meetings are taking place during the week, and therefore competing with gathering in connection groups and going with the Gospel.

Overall, we are not able to do the ministry we feel like God is calling us to do, but God is providing a way for us to move Forward as a church family.

What will happen to the trampolines and rockwall?

During this building project, we will be removing the trampolines and rockwall. This was a decision that we talked about at great length, as it has been a blessing to our neighborhood. The decision to remove the recreational equipment came down to one thing: stewardship.

To meet the needs of our growing church family (kids rooms, youth space, meeting/equipping rooms, etc.) we need to use the space that the trampolines and rockwall currently occupy. We tried to figure out a way to get the space we need while keeping the rec equipment, but the only option was to add on to our current building, which would double the building project cost (taking it from a $4M project to closer to $8M).

As stewards of all that God has given us through the generous people of Doxa, we could not in good conscience make that decision. For these reasons, we have decided to move forward with removing the rec equipment.

What is the current state of Doxa’s giving patterns and what does it mean for our Forward Campaign giving potential?

In analyzing giving statistics for 2023/24, the data revealed patterns of both wide disparity and BIG potential for Forward giving. Here is what the numbers showed: In 2023/24, 32% of our congregation gave 98% of our annual financial contributions, meaning 68% of our congregation gave the remaining 2%.

While that is a very wide disparity in generosity and overall biblical stewardship, closing that gap represents huge potential for both meeting and potentially exceeding our Forward goal. If everyone in our church family takes at least one step forward in their discipleship and generosity,, we could easily see our Forward initiatives become a reality.

What is different about a ‘One-Fund’ approach to our 2-year vision?

The strength of this approach is that it allows us to better help everyone who calls Doxa their church home take a step forward in generosity. In a typical two-fund approach, fundraising is the primary objective. In a one-fund approach, fundraising is a by-product of the real goal: discipleship around how we steward our resources. Our prayer is that we will be able to celebrate how God moved in our midst, and how He moved people at all stages of life to take a step forward in the discipleship of generosity that will last well beyond two years.

Why not buy more/different land? Why renovate instead of build new or start a new church in the area?

Over the last year, we have explored the option of buying land and building a new space. However, as we looked into this option, the price tag was closer to $15M. Along with this, we would need to relocate to more of the outskirts of Madison, losing our central location that we currently have.

In terms of planting another church in Madison, that is not something we feel led by God to do right now. We feel called/led to plant new churches in university cities around the nation/world that don't currently have many churches that reach into campuses. Furthermore, planting a church is a long process that involves a lot more resources (money and people). This ‘could’ be an option in the future but is not right now.

Why not just add more services?

There are essentially two reasons:

One of our core values at Doxa is Family. In going to 3+ services, this would violate that value, as people would not be able to overlap and see eachother on a Sunday.
When you move to 3+ services, this becomes a very heavy load for volunteers on a given Sunday (specifically for the volunteer worship team who leads us every week)

Will we go back to one service?

When the building project is complete, we will return to two services. This will allow for more room in each service for the people God continues to bring to Doxa and also allow our church family to serve at a service and then attend a service, every Sunday.

What specifically is changing in the building?

There are five main changes being made: (images and videos will be available soon)

A secure kids wing with adequate space for our growing Doxa Kids ministry
A larger auditorium
A first floor youth/equipping space
A designated staff office space
A second floor multipurpose room (current mezzanine)

How are we viewing this building campaign?

This Forward Campaign is primarily about addressing aspects of our building that are broken. However, we pray God makes it something more. The Forward campaign has two goals: the first is about renovating our space for ministry we believe God is calling us to. We’re focusing on the financial target that we’ll need all in to do the ministry God is calling us to and to renovate our space for today and beyond.

Secondarily, Forward is a discipleship goal. All of us are stewards of our time, talent, and treasure, and disciples of Jesus at Doxa are marked by being Investors. We pray God uses the Forward initiative to deepen our discipleship for this season and well beyond.

Are we moving too fast?

We have been talking about the potential need for this building project for the last year, specifically at our last three member meetings. This has actually been a slow, intentional process that has involved a lot of prayer, discussions, and consulting with other ministry leaders throughout our network of churches and beyond. Over the last year, we have taken the following intentional steps:

Praying
Saving (as we knew this was likely coming)
Planning (Interviewing designers and architects, which we ultimately didn't need to use, as a member of Doxa, who specializes in building projects, has blessed us by donating his time/services)
Assembled a building design team (comprised of staff and non-staff members to help think through our current/future needs)
Met with a church fundraising group that helps churches think through the plan and feasibility of raising funds

How will this affect the Milwaukee church plant?

We believe that this initiative will not hinder the MKE church plant at all. For MKE, we have very generous partners through the Send Network and the Salt Network, who will help to fund the plant. In addition, our budget for this fiscal year has already been set for Doxa, which includes our generous financial support of the coming church plant. Thankfully, this means MKE is already set to be fully funded and the Forward initiative will not compete at all.

Will we be able to meet in the building during construction?

While we are still working out the exact timeline, the building project will be done in four phases, allowing us to continue to meet in our space throughout (with the exception of a few weeks towards the end).

Phase 1 - remove trampolines and rockwall and begin construction on kids wing and office spaces
Phase 2 - kids move to new rooms and begin renovation of mezzanine (current equipping room)
Phase 3 - begin expansion of west side of building (currently Doxa 5 and 6 rooms) creating a new equipping/youth space
Phase 4 - begin auditorium renovations (this phase will keep us from meeting in the auditorium for several weeks)

During phase 4, when we will not be able to meet in the auditorium, we will have several options: (this will likely be in the end of summer or early fall of 2025)

Set up a tent in the parking lot and meet outside (able to use kids spaces in building)
Do ‘church at the park’, having just one family style service
Rent one of the big theater spaces on campus of UW

How will ministry be affected while the building is being renovated?

Some ministries will feel the impact of the project more directly when construction is underway. However, we’re working hard to minimize the impact, and especially keep our Sunday services unaffected as much as possible. Most of our regular ministry will keep going during the project, but we’ll need to be creative about how to reach our community when we aren’t able to hold jump nights (See below).

How will we reach our community without Jump Nights?

While the recreational equipment has been a blessing, we were still serving, loving, and reaching our community before we had this building. We will continue our engagement in the schools (tutoring, helping teachers, etc.) with a heightened degree of engagement. In addition, we will continue to be intentional with neighborhood events like:

Trunk’r Treat
The Doxa cookout
And engage in more neighborhood/school block parties for the surrounding neighborhoods

What is the timeline?

Aug 25 - First member meeting to discuss Forward initiative

Sept 11 - Begin to meet with members and leaders to share vision and details

Oct 6 - Church-wide Forward vision meeting

Oct 27 - Begin a 5-week Forward teaching series, studying 2 Corinthians 8+9 as a church

Nov 15 - Advance commitment night

Nov 24 - Commitment Sunday

Jan 2025 - Begin phase 1 of building project

Oct/Nov 2025 - Building project completed

How can I help?

Pray - Pray and ask God what he’s inviting you into as we seek to stay in the passenger seat.

Commit- As a family, we desire to move forward together, where we all put our “yes” on the table and let God take it from there.

Give - As you pray about what it looks like to be generous like Jesus and pushing the church and gospel forward to our city, nation, and world, ask God what this specifically means for you and be ready to join with our church family for Commitment Sunday on November 24th.