Family Meeting - July 27, 2025

Written By The HUB at Centerpoint

Community Updates

New Members: We praise the Lord for new members joining our church family!

Financial Update: Our books are very close to being balanced, which is encouraging. Giving is down slightly compared to the same time last year, so we ask for your prayers about this while trusting that the Lord will provide exactly what we need.

Partner Updates:

Charleston Bilingual Academy - Moving forward well with our partnership. Timeline: Fall 2025 permitting and Phase 1 renovation of storage building, Winter 2026 Phase 2 renovation of Hub building and bathroom addition, Spring 2026 Phase 3 renovation of soccer field and multi-purpose flooring in gathering center, with high school classes beginning in the Hub building Fall 2026.

Sojourner Care Ministry - We're strengthening our partnership with World Relief to build an independent resettlement agency as a World Relief Affiliate Center. Our goal is a comprehensive resettlement program for refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants. Many moving pieces, but we're prayerfully hopeful about this World Relief affiliate connection.

Office Relocations - With the Bilingual Academy renovating the current Hub building, we're relocating existing offices: Send Relief Office moves to the prayer room in the main building, Charleston Baptist Association offices move to the old administrative offices, and nonprofit offices move to the third floor above Lutheran Services. We're also renovating space between buildings for co-working and gathering areas.

Medical Clinic - We're hoping to launch Summer 2026 to serve our North Charleston community, but need funding. Hospital partnerships are available, but they only partner with nonprofits, not churches.

The Situation

This leads to our challenge: many critical funding sources—including partnerships with major hospital systems like MUSC—are only available to nonprofit-owned properties, not church-owned properties. This limitation is preventing us from accessing transformational funding that could significantly expand our ministry impact.

The Opportunity

Property ownership shift from church to nonprofit unlocks entirely new categories of grants and partnerships previously restricted from churches. Many organizations will fund nonprofit-owned properties but cannot fund church-owned properties. This reorganization opens doors to funding opportunities we didn't know existed under church ownership.

The Proposal

What: Deed the Hanahan portion of the property (where the clinic will be located) to The Hub for $1, while the church keeps the North Charleston property.

Why: This strategic change enables:

  • Hospital partnerships (MUSC, Roper) and federal/foundation grants potentially unavailable to churches

  • Enhanced grant eligibility for all current partnerships (Sojourner Care, Charleston Bilingual Academy, future housing)

  • Better legal protection for the church through organizational separation

  • Strategic interdependence while maximizing funding opportunities

Impact: Nothing changes day-to-day—same facilities, same leadership, same partnerships.

Campus Owners Association Structure

This isn't about giving away church property—it's about creating a strategic partnership with built-in protections:

  • Formal covenant between Centerpoint and Hub with shared governance

  • Church protection: Guaranteed 40%+ Hub board representation, first right of refusal, $1 buyback if Hub dissolves

  • Operations: Hub continues managing the entire campus for both organizations with coordinated ministry planning

  • Accountability: Legal covenant ensures mission alignment and prevents outside property sales without church approval

Biblical Foundation & Next Steps

"The earth is the Lord's" - This is about strategic stewardship for maximum kingdom impact. We're positioning God's property to serve His people most effectively.

Timeline:

  • July 27: Family Meeting for affirmation

  • August: Gather findings from legal counsel and study team review

  • September (Tentative): Present formal documents to members and hold formal family meeting for voting

Call

Pray, ask questions, study documents when available.

Community Thoughts Raised

  • Implementing a new donation processing system to address current donation fees

  • Meeting with Lutheran Services about their funding transition and how we can help

  • Establishing clear liaison roles for CBA high school renovations and connecting all existing ministry leaders

  • Clarifying how cross-property projects work practically, financially, and from a liability standpoint

  • Understanding how insurance will work with rentals across different properties

  • Providing more detailed information about World Relief partnership process

  • Addressing gathering center weekly transitions and security concerns

  • Exploring loan ramifications by transferring loans from Centerpoint to Hub

  • Considering shower/locker room facilities to better accommodate mission teams and the high school

  • Fixing door locks and protecting equipment in the gathering center

Ask Questions or Summit Comments

As we work through this process, we want to hear from you! Please feel free to submit any questions or comments that you may have in regard anything discussed in this family meeting.

The HUB at Centerpoint