Give to the Pledge Campaign

Deep and Abiding Roots

In 2009, Christ Church embarked on her first pledge campaign, "Deep and Abiding Roots," in purchasing a church property in downtown Berkeley. The pledge campaign concludes in May, 2015, as our final payment on the loan is due. We welcome participation from friends of Christ Church both near and far.

The climate in California is such that it seems everyone, at some point, gives gardening a try. Cultivating a garden is a rich metaphor of the Christian life. It is no wonder that Jesus used gardening as his primary teaching illustration. When you extract plants from your garden, you quickly realize, with respect to their roots, that there are three types: 

1. Those with weak and shallow roots
2. Those with deep, yet old and brittle roots
3. Those with deep and abiding roots

When you pull up the first type, the plant comes up easily, roots and all. The second usually involves the snapping off of the plant from the roots, and the third, well, you better have a sharp shovel and some big biceps.

Churches in the Bay Area share intriguing similarities to these three types of plant. The first type is as nomadic and transient as is much of the culture--the roots are weak and shallow and rarely take hold. After 3 or 4 years of flitting about from location to location and idea to idea, these churches usually blow away. This has happened nearly a dozen times in the last five years.

The second type of church has “been around forever.” The building is leveraged, rented, partitioned--all in the effort to salvage the deep roots of the church. Yet, the roots are old and brittle, and simply cannot sustain life. Eventually, the church ceases to exist and only the building remains.

The third type of church is the vibrant one, whose abiding roots are growing deeper by the day. In our garden (the Bay Area), culture is being grown, cultivated, and exported all over the world, and when only 2% of our population regularly attends any type of religious service, it is this type of church that is essential to the flourishing of our community and the shaping of our culture.

By God’s grace, we are becoming this abiding church! With over 125 members and an attendance nearing 300, we are planning to be around for a long while. In order for our roots to grow as deep as they can, we felt called by God to purchase the beautiful and historic Grace North Church building located in the heartbeat of downtown Berkeley’s famed “Gourmet Ghetto,” a mere 0.3 miles from the campus of Cal. It was listed for sale as a “condo or community center,” and having watched 8 church buildings get sold and converted into condos over the past five years, it was our desire to save this beautiful building from that fate; to bring if new life through a Gospel community gathering under its redwood beams. Our ownership can be leveraged in myriad ways that will help us become a deep and abiding church in the heart of Berkeley! We hope that you would consider giving to this campaign.

Download PDF to have or share with a friend.

How do I pledge?

• A One-Time Gift: Some people would prefer to give one time.
• An Annual Gift: Some people might consider giving one gift per year for three years.
• A Monthly Gift: Some people are discouraged by how little they can give at any one time, but might be surprised to see how much they can give over 36 months. For example, sacrificing 6 lattes per month ($25) results in an $900 dollar gift!

How do I give?

Those giving online to our Pledge Campaign may do so simply by clicking “add special instructions” and typing in “Pledge Campaign”.  If you are writing a check, be sure to write “Pledge Campaign” in the memo line of the check.

If you have questions please email Catherine Keep catherine@christchurcheastbay.org

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