NEWS & UPDATES
Stewardship Campaign

NEWS & UPDATES

Check back frequently as we go through this building project to see updates, news, and pics!

3/19/24 Church Building Update

Dear Hutto Bible Church Family,

We closed on our loan - and can start construction! Now to the ministry planning phase!

On Monday, March 18th, we closed on the construction loan with First Texas Bank and Aday and Associates got the green light to begin construction. You should see things starting to happen at the site very quickly.

May the Lord use this location and this facility to further His Kingdom here and around the world (Matthew 6:33). Our goal is to occupy it within a year, and there’s a lot of work to get to that place, so please be praying (and available) for all the planning and preparation and activities and increased ministry at the new site over the coming year.

Since the last update, we have:

Enjoyed an awesome ground-breaking on March 3rd at 150 Main Hippo Drive! SEE PICS HERE!!
Had continued favor from those in the financing arm of First Texas Bank. We’ve opened accounts with them and received help on a few diving catches that allowed us to close on the construction loan on time. Throughout this process, we maintained our good interest rate and loan arrangements (despite some challenges).
Experienced successful completion of the city's building permitting process with minimal cost or schedule impact to the plan.
Continued to work cash flow for the financing with an agreed maximum loan amount (during construction) of $3.3M. That number will go down as we receive our parting payment, receive remaining pledges, and gain “mortgage payments” from the budget. Be praying for materials cost reductions and additional gifts to reduce those amounts!
Receive NO NEW ASSESSMENTS for the property. Early in the process, we were shown a document with substantial (6 figure) fees that we are not now being asked to pay!

As a result of your generosity, we’re in the range of our desired long term loan position of a $2-2.3M loan at occupancy. As an elder team, we’re continuing to step forward believing that God is in these plan and that He has prepared the way and that He will reveal that path as we seek Him faithfully (Hebrews 11:6).

As we’ve communicated throughout this process, we’re thankful for your continued generosity, above and beyond. Moreover, we’re grateful for the life-change that is occurring due to that faithfulness and generosity. Life-change is what matters and what God values in each of us and life-change is what really lasts. As Paul writes,"Not that I seek the gift itself, but I do seek the profit which increases to your [heavenly] account [the blessing which is accumulating for you]." Phil 4:17 Amplified Bible.

Please continue in that prayer asking the Lord to show His Glory throughout this process. May we be good stewards of this opportunity and be ready to love and serve those He brings to us (or us to them). Each ministry leader has the opportunity to plan now for what ministry will look like with our move to a larger facility in north Hutto.

If you came to us later and want to have a chance to participate financially, there's still an opportunity to do that; your generosity may well influence our decisions and will determine how much debt burden the church assumes. Extra gifts can be designated for the Until Everyone Knows project on either the mobile app or our website here: www.huttobible.com/give

Please continue to pray for:

Insightful planning by ministry leaders, the elders and staff as we anticipate all of the needs of those who will come to Jesus and need grace, places to serve and be served, and discipleship!
God's leading through each of the hearts and minds - and hands and feet - involved in the execution of all of the details of building this project. We walk by faith!
Patience with any issues that surface as we build - and that we would know that they are surfacing in His timing and for His Glory.
Successful coordination of all of the design, engineering, utilities, and other processes to proceed and fulfill their intended purposes.
Project Costs - that costs would actually decrease as we walk through the construction process.
God’s Presence to be evident in His Church and that all we do would be directed by His Hand, and that His Spirit would emanate from this place to change lives.
Our continued awareness that it is God and His People, not a building, that constitute His Church in Hutto!

As I hope you are experiencing in your own walk with God, we can rejoice in how He has been faithful to us as we have believed and followed Him. Again, from the Pilgrim's Credo:

I am not in control.

I am not in a hurry.

I walk in faith and hope.

I greet everyone with peace.

I bring back only what God gives me.

Grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Tom Albers

Elder

2/16/24 Church Building Update

Dear church family,

We wanted to give you a few substantial updates regarding our new home for ministry in north Hutto. On the 28th of January, our church membership gave approval to a $5,000,000 construction loan which would lead to a long term note of approximately $3,500,000. However, our goal and prayer has been that God would provide cost and financing leading to a $2,000,000 loan. That amount would allow us to budget for the needed ministry growth, particularly at a newer location with larger facilities and proximity to the new high school. We expect this location to attract additional seekers needing a clear expression of the Gospel and we want to READY! We are committed by contract to move from this site by June of 2025 and we felt like God was telling us to continue to step forward by faith, expecting Him to meet us at the places and times that give Him the most Glory. We asked for your prayer for either additional giving, additional cost reductions in the plan, or just simply, miracles. We most deeply desire anything that will give the Glory to the Giver of all Good things.

This is to let you know that God continues to answer our prayers! He has chosen this last week to again demonstrate His Faithfulness and His Provision. Within the last 10 days, we received gifts totaling $1,000,000 that have substantially closed the gap towards our building budget goal. You will see that reflected in Sunday’s bulletin. In addition, there is very promising work ongoing to reduce cost on our site plan based on a better design for our site utilities. And, if you go out to the site, you will see that some DIRT is MOVING! The bank is projecting that we will close on the loan later this month and we’re planning to break ground on March the 3rd after church. Put that date on your calendar as a reminder to pray! Please also take a minute right now to -

Thank Him for His undeserved kindness and grace towards us!

I believe He chose to do all of this, in this way, to demonstrate that He is indeed God, He is indeed the Giver and it is His pleasure to (exceedingly) reward those who seek Him in faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Please continue to pray for the project, for the upcoming loan execution, for our planned groundbreaking celebrations, and for true worship to continue to occur as we gather here now and there in future. God can and will surprise us with His Grace! Especially pray that we would be READY to serve our expanding community in Hutto, whether they come to our door, or we go to theirs. And as the world celebrates love in its various forms this week, let's take this time to Praise the Source of Love that Lasts, and ask that Jesus would continually fuel our Passion for those whom He loves. This shows up in how we treat each other, how we welcome newcomers, and how we reach out to those around us. We want to be the kind of people who are saying “Yes, Lord” to be ready to love the people whom He brings through our doors (and us, through theirs!).

That we all might Know Him, Love Him, Live for Him and Tell others about Him.

Grace,

Your HBC Elder Council

1/25/24 Church Building Update

Dear Hutto Bible Church Family,

Welcome to 2024! May it be a year of blessing and growth (challenge!) for you and your family. In the last few months, we’ve made significant strides on the building plans and I wanted to bring you all up to date on our status and plans for the design, planning and build process for our property on Main Hippo Way just south of the Hutto ISD Ninth Grade Center.

Since the last update, we have:

Received and signed off on value engineering (cost reduction) items recommended by our builder (reducing the project cost by $600,000).
Reviewed and updated the building exterior look and presentation.
Received an approval for our site permit from the City which determines our address as 150 Main Hippo Drive.
Prepared excellent financing for the project at a below-market rate.
Worked cash flow for the financing that will include a construction loan amount of about $5M and a long term loan amount in the $3.3M range. Be praying for materials cost reductions and additional gifts to reduce those amounts!
Signed off on a building permit submission and received initial comments.
Received much lower impact fees assessments than we were earlier expecting!
Scrubbed our budget to free as many dollars as possible for both this project and for the operation of the church. This included preparing our monthly budget for loan payments and capturing past funds that are assisting the building and general fund.
Further refined our “owner’s budget” for audio visual and internal fixture, furnishings and equipment to understand our total move-in costs
Received a gift of 500 nice chairs that our awesome staff moved into the sanctuary last week!
Received a gift of 2 playground equipment sets complete with awnings!
Secured the price of the metal structure before a significant cost increase occurred.

As a result, we’re still roughly $1M off our desired long term loan position of a $2M loan at occupancy. As an elder team, we’re stepping forward believing that God wants us to move in this direction and believing that He has prepared the way and that He will reveal that path as we seek Him faithfully (Matthew 6:33).

We’re thankful for your continued generosity, above and beyond and we’re grateful for the life-change that is occurring due to that faithfulness and generosity. Life-change is what matters and what God values in each of us and what lasts! As Paul writes, “Not that I seek the gift itself, but I do seek the profit which increases to your [heavenly] account [the blessing which is accumulating for you]." Phil 4:17 Amplified Bible.

We want to further reassure you that, as your leadership, we are committed to responsibly managing what God has provided and directed through your gifts, and to borrowing only what we believe the church can afford. We’re grateful for your prayers for the wisdom and grace we need to discern the Lord's will and walk by faith in the way He has prepared.

Please continue in that prayer asking the Lord to “close the gap” in the way that brings Him the most Glory. We’re thankful for the faithful givers of Hutto Bible Church, who follow the heart model of Joseph (Barnabas) in Acts 4, not the model of the infamous couple of Acts 5 whose hearts weren’t seeking God’s glory. As a result, over 70% of the pledged giving has occurred less than halfway through our 3-year building campaign. Praise God!

If you came to us later and didn't have a chance to participate, there's still time and your generosity may well influence how much debt burden the church assumes. Extra gifts can be designated for the Until Everyone Knows project on either the mobile app or our website here: www.huttobible.com/give

Please continue to pray for:

God's leading through each of the hearts and minds - and hands and feet - involved in our design, planning and execution of all of the details of this project. We walk by faith!
Continued favor with the city regarding any residual site-based assessments.
Patience with any issues that surface - and that we would know that they are surfacing in His timing (We do ask that they surface early, and as we are able to respond).
Patience to allow all of the design, engineering, permitting, and other processes to proceed and fulfill their intended purposes.
Plans for a ground-breaking very soon at 150 Main Hippo Drive!
Permitting: Successful completion of the city's building permitting process with minimal impact to the plan.
Project Costs - that costs would actually decrease as we walk through the construction process.
Financing: Continued favor from those in the financing arm of the local bank that we are working with.
God’s Presence to be evident in His Church and that all we do would be directed by His Hand, and that His Spirit would emanate from this place to change lives.

Our continued awareness that it is God and His People, not a building, that constitute His Church in Hutto!

I will be happy to address any questions you have at the Church-Wide Assembly, this Sunday evening at 6:30pm. Hope to see you then!

I want to remind us all again of the Pilgrim's Credo:

I am not in control.

I am not in a hurry.

I walk in faith and hope.

I greet everyone with peace.

I bring back only what God gives me.

Grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Tom Albers

Elder

12/27/23 Church Building Update

Dear Hutto Bible Church Family,

It's my continued joy to bring you an update on the design, planning and build process for our property on Main Hippo Way just south of the Hutto ISD Ninth Grade Center.

As we've mentioned before, many factors (financial, construction skill availability, design processes, city processes, materials availability - and, yes, the weather) influence when things actually happen, but we'll continue to give you our best view. As of this writing, we've received a completed Final Plat for our property (which was more involved than expected), we've received our allocation of water, and are now awaiting two next milestones. The first is a completed Site Development Permit (SDP) and the second is a revised cost-estimate based on the "value engineering" design work we did in early September. For the SDP, our engineer expects that to occur by mid-November. Then we could officially start building. However, the 2nd milestone will kick off the budget reconciliation work needed to right-size the building budget with our finances. Please pray for both the budget/costing work being done now by subcontractors to our general contractor, Aday and Associates, as well as the subsequent financing work and decisions by our elder council. For the former, please pray for God's favor on the outcome of the costs. For the elder council, we need wisdom and grace to understand the Lord's leading once we try to discern the Lord's will and put the plan together.

As I mentioned in my last update, in order for the council to make the best decisions on resolving the cost and the finances for those costs, it would be helpful for us to know if there are any additional funds coming in (above and beyond the generous pledges we've been blessed with). So, if you have contributed to the Pledge Campaign for the building, THANK YOU!! We continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity of God's people and we believe God is well-pleased! As a church, you've now given over 65% of your pledged amount in just the first year! THANK YOU!! In addition, another $41,000 was given in non-pledged gifts!!

If you came to us later and didn't have a chance to participate, there's still time and your generosity may well influence how much of the plan we can actually build. See below for how to participate. As Paul writes,"Not that I seek the gift itself, but I do seek the profit which increases to your [heavenly] account [the blessing which is accumulating for you]." Phil 4:17 (AMP). As your leadership, we are committed to responsibly managing what God has provided and directed through your gifts, and to borrowing only what we believe the church can afford. Extra gifts can be designated for the Until Everyone Knows project on either the mobile app or our website here: www.huttobible.com/give

Here are some praises since our last update:

Final Plat was completed and filed (this was necessary since we're separate from the subdivision plan/plat).

Comment rounds on our Site Development Permit were completed - now awaiting city response.

Responses to the city's comments were given on the building facade (added articulation), parking, landscaping and ingress/egress modifications as well as minor drawing fixes.

Value Engineering of the project was completed based on reasonable design tradeoffs and options. Completion and submission of the 90% engineering drawings this last week.

Continued grace and favor from the city regarding the provision of $100k worth of fee credits for future permit expenses. We now have a working process to request those credits.

Please continue to pray for:

God's leading through each of the hearts and minds - and hands and feet - involved in our design, planning and execution of all of the details of this project. We walk by faith!

We have not been assigned an address yet. Pray for a memorable and God-honoring address!

Favor with the city regarding any residual site-based assessments.

Patience with any issues that surface - and that we would know that they are surfacing in His timing (We do ask that they surface early, so that we are able to respond).

Patience to allow all of the design, engineering, permitting, and other processes to proceed and fulfill their intended purposes.

Progress on the specific tasks and considerations we’ve outlined here, before we can plan a ground-breaking.

Permitting: Successful completion of the city's permitting process with minimal impact to the plan.

Cost Estimate Preparation: Professional, accurate and timely cost estimates - now expected by the 3rd week of November.

The budget results of Value Engineering and the analysis process required once we have cost estimates in hand: Pray for wisdom not to pursue an elusive "perfect" design - only that it be made a perfect place of ministry to and from His Church.

Financing: Favor from those in the financing organizations that we will pursue for construction and then longer-term loans.

God’s presence to be evident in His Church and that all we do would be directed by His hand, and that His Spirit would emanate from this place to change lives.

Our continued awareness that it is God and His People, not a building, that constitute His Church in Hutto!

A Scottish colleague shared this Pilgrim's Credo with me which we would do well to consider:

I am not in control.

I am not in a hurry.

I walk in faith and hope.

I greet everyone with peace.

I bring back only what God gives me.

Grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Tom Albers

Elder

4/20/23 Church Building Update

Dear Hutto Bible Church Family,

This is the first of a series of regular updates on the planning and building process for our new property south of the Hutto ISD Ninth Grade Center. We'll try to give the most accurate information possible here, but bear in mind that many factors (financial, skill availability, design processes, City processes, materials availability - and even the weather) can influence when things actually happen. That said, we're part way through the pre-construction design phase for the building. This phase is where all of the top-level down to detail level drawings are completed so that we can achieve 2 objectives: First, we can understand the full build cost (previously noted factors notwithstanding) and secondly, we can present these plans to the City of Hutto for their review, modification and subsequent approval. So far in this phase, we have a completed floor plan (where the rooms, halls, doors, etc., are in the building) and site plan (where the building, parking lots, playgrounds, etc. sit on the property in relation to streets, drainage ditches, and property boundaries). Those are two huge accomplishments that many past and present - and many of you - have contributed to. We believe God has led us to an optimum design for our ministry plans for this property on the budget He has provided. To that latter end, if you missed out on our giving campaign last fall, and would like to contribute to the future ministry that this building will enable, there are still ways that you can make a difference. Please reach out to the church office if you have questions or need more details.

Please continue to pray for:

God's leading through each of the hearts and minds - and hands and feet - involved in our planning and executing all of the details of this project
We have not been assigned an address yet. Pray for a memorable and God-honoring address (including final street name!)
Wisdom to include the important elements, but not to pursue an elusive "perfect" design - only that it be made perfect by His Hand and His Presence in His Church
Favor with the City on upcoming negotiations for potentially substantial fee credits
Patience with any issues that surface - and that we would know that they are surfacing in His timing (We do ask that they surface early, and as we are able to respond)
Patience to allow all of the design, engineering, permitting, and other processes to proceed and fulfill their intended purposes
Favor from those in the financing organizations that we will pursue for construction and then "permanent" loans

Grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Tom Albers

Elder