As Five Oaks grows, we need to make space for more people and families to join our community. We know that healthy churches plant healthy churches. By starting a church rather than expanding our current space, we are participating in God’s work in Cottage Grove because new churches reach more people better, faster, and cheaper than existing churches. In the kingdom of God, multiplication is more powerful than addition. We also decided against expanding the worship space (including children’s and parking space to match) for several reasons, including (1) the enormous cost of expanding worship, kids’, and parking space (especially while we still have debt), (2) the challenges churches face filling and maintaining large buildings after a leadership transition (Pastor Henry is 66, so in a few years we will be experiencing a leadership transition), and (3) we place a high value on personal connections and functioning as a church family (we feel like a small church that has the advantages of a large church).

Yes, there are many Sundays and holidays when we do not have enough space for a family to sit together. This makes it challenging to continue to be a welcoming church and be able to invite friends, family, and neighbors to attend.

The quick answer is that they do not make more land. The 9.5 acres we own on the southern edge of our property have been useful and will continue to be useful for negotiations regarding the ingress and egress of our property in the future.

If and when we expand on the current building site, we will need that land to expand parking.

The first priority will be the slow plant, which will continue to make room for more people from the community. The first $1M will be for the slow plant, and the rest be used for debt reduction.

We want to be ready for the future. By paying off our $2.4 million in debt, we can invest the money we now pay toward our mortgage toward a future expansion of our Kids’ and Student Ministry space, keeping our building updated and welcoming, and meeting large deferred maintenance costs (e.g., we’ll soon need a new roof). Additionally, in May 2026, our mortgage of $2.4 million will re-amortize at a significantly higher interest rate. We also want to ensure that our emergency fund is always fully funded.

The debt was acquired over the four campaigns that covered the three phases of our building (1998, 2002, 2005) and the property acquisition to the south (2013).

The loan will re-amortize in May 2026. If rates stay where they are currently, the interest expense could increase from $232,000 per year to nearly $300,000 per year. If we don’t pay off the debt, a larger portion of our operating budget will be needed to service it.

Having debt is not necessarily bad, as there are benefits to using debt. An example is the debt that we originally took to expand the campus, which has helped support the growth of Five Oaks. However, we believe that having a clear plan for how to pay off debt is an important part of good stewardship and positioning the church well for the future, especially as we look at a leadership transition in a few years.

The giving timeline will be from May 2025 through April 2027.

A slow plant is a church that starts as a campus of the sending church, offering significant advantages provided by the sending church (e.g., board-level leadership, senior staff leadership, financial administration, digital and print communications). The campus has its own preaching/lead pastor, under the direction of the sending church’s
Governing Board, Elders, and senior leadership staff. A growing number of multi-site churches have spun off their campuses to become autonomous. We are starting a campus that is moving toward autonomy as the strategy. The Cottage Grove campus will have live worship, live teaching, small groups, and kids’ ministry while sharing in Student, Men’s, and Women’s ministries with Woodbury.

To learn more about the slow plant, visit www.fiveoaks.church/slowplant

We believe there is a continued need for healthy churches in Cottage Grove. In addition, Cottage Grove was the second fastest-growing suburb by number of people from 2020-2023 (Woodbury was #4). Finally, the proximity between the two campuses will make it feasible and convenient to have shared ministries during the first few years of the slow plant.

To learn more about the slow plant, visit www.fiveoaks.church/slowplant