First and foremost, we are asking that you pray and seek God’s direction for how He is asking you to grow in giving and generosity as a follower of Christ in this season. Prepare your heart to hear Him and then listen to what He says. In obedience, take your next step. Engage in personal reflection with God in this guide. Talk with your spouse, your family, or others about what this commitment will mean for this season of your life. We are asking that you make a sacrificial commitment to gospel-centered generosity. —However God leads you, follow His leading. We want you to prepare to be amazed! We serve an awesome God, and He is going to move in powerful ways. We anticipate an unprecedented impact from our collective Prepare the Way commitments—something only God can do. Please mark your calendar for Commitment Sunday, October 13, and prepare to experience a life-changing worship service that will forever be remembered as a defining moment for our church and our own faith.

The City of San Diego has asked us to bring our Scripps Ranch building up to current building code so that we can continue using the facility. We believe that God has placed each of our campuses in their communities for a purpose. Leaving those communities would be detrimental to the mission God has called us to. We want to honor the city’s request and renovate our spaces so that we can continue to serve the needs of our communities. Beyond just renovating our buildings, we believe God is at work in each of our communities and discipleship is needed more than ever. We believe that God has more for everyone at Newbreak (in our personal relationships, families, communities, etc) and that Prepare the Way will be the start of a greater discipleship opportunity in our church.

We are focused on everyone at Newbreak seeing their giving as an integral part of the discipleship process, and then being challenged by God to take a next step. The bulk of this initiative is focused on helping us dig into some key Biblical principles that guide us in this area as we follow Jesus. This is one of our Prepare the Way priorities—100% engagement. Even if someone wrote us a check today for our financial goal of $12.8M, we would still do this initiative. Whether we’re just starting in our giving journey or we’re very committed givers, we all have a next step to take and room to grow in this area.

Between both tithes and Kingdom Builders, our current annual giving is approximately $3.4M, which multiplied by two years is $6.8M. We’re believing God to increase our resources by $6M over two years for a total of $12.8M.

$12.8M will allow us to accomplish the vision God has given to us and do it debt-free. If we come in under this amount, we will have to choose between taking on a construction loan or delaying the projects (His people, His house, His mission).

When we first received word about the work that needed to be done to bring the building up to current code, our leadership spent months praying about what our next step should be with the Scripps Ranch facility. There were over 20 options considered regarding what we could do with the property. While selling the Scripps Ranch facility initially seemed to be a valid option, the reality is that finding a new facility that could meet our needs in San Diego is neither easy nor cost-effective. Moving to a new location would require us to sever many relationships that we have developed over the past 10 years with local partners, businesses, and schools. We have also seen God restore marriages, redeem lives, and heal years of pain because of the faithfulness of our church being in Scripps Ranch. We couldn’t ignore the impact God has had through Newbreak in this community. With that, we believe that keeping and renovating the Scripps Ranch facility is the best option for us as a church.

When will it begin? How long will it take? Based on the estimates from our architect, the entire process of getting building permits, breaking ground, and finishing the renovation will be between 10-14 months. Our start date is largely contingent on your giving. If the funds don't come in as expected, we will look into taking on a construction loan for the project. Our plan through Prepare the Way is to not take on construction debt in order to renovate the Scripps Ranch Campus. If we hit or surpass our commitment goal of $12.8 million, we estimate construction can begin without a loan near the end of 2025.

Our current plan is to continue meeting on site during construction. Our team is working on creative solutions for kids and students during that time. We will know more as construction timing and scope is finalized. We have already explored contingency plans if we need to move off-site during construction. We have great relationships with local schools (Marshall Middle and Scripps Ranch High) and have discussed use and availability should the need arise. We know that if we will be meeting in a school for a season, we will see it as an opportunity to serve the school, its faculty, and students like never before.

Our mission at Newbreak is to connect people with God through authentic relationships to serve communities, and that will never change. This mission is what guides us to serve our communities both locally and globally. Historically, we have called our global outreach ministry, “Kingdom Builders.” While global missions are an important piece of building God’s Kingdom, we believe that what we do locally in San Diego builds God’s Kingdom as well. Everything we do flows out of our hearts to be Kingdom Builders. Kingdom Builders is not simply something we do or a fund that we have; Kingdom Builders is who we are.

While it would be really easy to decrease funding missions in order to fund our buildings, we know that this is the opposite of who God has called us to be. So while we may not specifically refer to global missions as Kingdom Builders, global missions are still a huge part of who we are! Through Prepare the Way we will continue supporting our 97+ missionaries and global partners across the world in order to spread the gospel and build the Kingdom of God both locally AND globally.

Be creative as you explore ways you and your family can give toward Prepare the Way. You might have some stocks, property, or other items of that nature. Or you may have stored resources that God has blessed you with in the past that He just might be calling you to give during this time. Please let us know if you need assistance with facilitating gifts of property or stock, and we would be happy to help you. Sheri Larson is able to assist with all such gifts at slarson@newbreak.org.

Prepare the Way was crafted specifically with you in mind. Prepare the Way is a “one fund” generosity initiative. It’s different from a traditional capital campaign where you are called to give an extra gift above and beyond your tithe, thus creating two steps for people who aren’t yet giving. Prepare the Way is a call to sacrificial, gospel-centered generosity for everyone at Newbreak. If you have never given before, this is your opportunity to get in the game. We really hope you will.

We are asking that everyone make a two-year (24-month) commitment. The giving period for your commitment will begin with Big Give Sunday on November 3, 2024 and will culminate in October 2026.

Prepare the Way is about the vision for our church and our personal discipleship in giving as followers of Jesus. We believe that the local church is one of the most compelling missions to give toward. If you choose to plant roots and make Newbreak your home church, we invite you to join us in Prepare the Way when you are ready.

What does that mean for my Prepare the Way commitment? Prepare the Way is about your total, radical, sacrificial generosity to God’s mission at Newbreak. We believe that God calls us to action in times of hardship just as much as He does in times of abundance, and that looks different for every person. Prepare the Way is about a heart change—one that is only accomplished by surrendering our lives completely over to God in this area of giving and declaring that we are a people who are unfinished. That may mean that you are being challenged to sell things, to pick up odd jobs, or to trust God in faith to provide for the commitment He is calling you to make.

We believe that God wants us to give in every season, and that people in debt should still give. Remember: “Giving isn’t about what God wants from you, it’s about what He wants for you.” If you are working your way out of debt, we commend you for your effort! We have resources to help you; head to newbreak.church/groups to sign up for our Financial Peace University Life Group.