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Grace Church LH Property Purchase

Published On December 5, 2022

The Session of Highland Park Pres has called a congregational meeting at 12 pm in the sanctuary on Sunday, January 15, to approve the purchase of church property at 10101 Walnut Hill Lane for the use of our church plant – Grace Church Lake Highlands. Grace LH has fully raised the $1.8M purchase price. If you’d like to learn more, you are invited to attend an informational meeting on Tuesday, January 10, at 11 AM in Room B on the 2nd floor of the Hunt Center.

Grace Church Lake Highlands currently worships in a church building at 10101 Walnut Hill Lane. This 2.5-acre property and 15k sq ft building is located in the heart of Lake Highlands, next door to Lake Highlands Junior High. Since Grace LH began worshipping at this location on Christmas Eve 2021, God has grown their average Sunday attendance from 100 to 160, as many neighborhood families have found a church at Grace LH. Now, two years since launching, more than 220 adults and 80 kids call Grace LH their church home.

Due to the kingdom-mindedness of the prior congregation, HP Pres has the option to purchase this property for Grace’s use for the very fair price of $1.8M. The Session believes this is an incredible opportunity for Grace LH to secure a home base for its mission in an ideal location. During weekday hours, Grace LH will also have an excellent tenant in the Bethany Child Development Center, which provides childcare to 130 Lake Highlands families. The rental revenue from this community partner will largely cover the operating costs of the building.

With the authorization of the Session, Grace LH has already raised the $1.8 million necessary for the purchase, and they have additionally secured pledges for most of the estimated cost of strategic renovations. You can learn more about these potential renovation plans on Grace LH’s website.

Per our church governance policies, the purchase of real property must be approved by the HP Pres congregation at a congregational meeting. HP Pres will hold the title to the property until Grace LH becomes an independently chartered church in our denomination – ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. Per a Memorandum of Understanding approved by the Session, HP Pres will then transfer the property title to Grace Church Lake Highlands, free and clear of any other charge or obligation.

Here is a note about this opportunity from Grace LH Lead Pastor, Charlie Dunn.

If you had told me a year ago that our new neighborhood congregation would be in a position to secure a church home in the heart of Lake Highlands, I would not have believed it! Yet as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 3:20, ‘God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.’

Did you know that every year for the past decade, 4,000 U.S. churches have closed, selling their properties – often located on prime community corners – to developers, who turn them into housing or retail? And while new churches like ours also open their doors, with rising real estate prices, finding a central and visible location is rarely affordable or usable.

This wider American landscape illustrates what a tremendous opportunity God has given to our Grace congregation to purchase the church property at 10101 Walnut Hill Lane.

Thanks to the generosity of families from Grace LH and HP Pres, we’ve raised the $1.8M to purchase the property, pending authorization from the HP Pres congregation. We are also close to reaching our goal of raising $1.4M for our planned renovations, and if we can raise funds beyond this goal, we will pursue further improvements to the appearance, organization, and security of the campus.

Words cannot express how much we appreciate the generosity of Highland Park Presbyterian Church and your vision to start new churches to help more people in our city find and follow Jesus. On behalf of our new neighborhood congregation in Lake Highlands, thank you! We look forward to continuing to link arms in our family of churches as we work towards the flourishing of our city together!

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