Frequently Asked Questions get answers here

First and foremost, we are asking you to pray and seek God’s leading on what He is asking of you. Prepare your heart to hear Him, and then listen to what He says. Engage in a Community Group during this season, if you haven’t already. Spend time in personal reflection with God in the Deep & Wide Workbook. Have great conversations with your spouse, your family or others who are on this same journey as you. Through prayer, we are asking that you make a sacrificial commitment to gospel-centered generosity— whatever it is that God leads you to do. Follow His leading. Finally, we ask that you prepare to be amazed. It is an awesome God we serve. He is moving in huge ways, and we anticipate an unprecedented impact from our collective Deep & Wide commitments—something only God can do.

During this two-year period, every contribution to God through Deep & Wide is a contribution to our generosity initiative. This means that everything from our general ministry budget (which is anything BUT general!) to our special community events, our mission work locally and globally, and our campus and digital expansion projects will all be fueled through the Deep & Wide initiative. So every single dollar given within the next two years will fuel this life-changing mission!

Be creative as you explore ways you and your family can give towards the Deep & Wide Initiative. You might have some stocks, cryptocurrency, property, or even some stored resources that God has blessed you with and just might be calling you to give. While stocks may be transferred to the church, other types of property or assets may be liquidated by you as the owner and the proceeds donated to the Deep and Wide generosity initiative. Please let us know if you need assistance with facilitating gifts of stock or cryptocurrency, and we would be happy to help you with that. You can contact Liana Fairbanks at liana.fairbanks@cityrise.org to make a gift of this type.

We are asking that everyone make a two-year commitment, which is 24 months. The fulfillment period for your commitment began with our First Big Give on the weekend of June 5, 2022, and will culminate in June of 2024.

Deep & Wide is a one-fund initiative meaning all of our giving is united, just like our mission for Jesus. However, we have campus-specific projects that will be designated as priorities for each location. We all get the benefit of combined giving with the ability to fund projects at each location that might not otherwise be possible.

If you are someone currently seeking to make payments to pay off debt right now, we commend you for making progress on that. And you should continue to do so. We would be happy to encourage you in this journey and/or to get you enrolled in a local personal financial ministry course to help you advance in your efforts. Please contact us if you need assistance with this. We would be honored to help.

Deep & Wide was crafted specifically with current givers and potential givers in mind. Deep & Wide is a “one fund” generosity initiative, meaning that it is different from a traditional capital campaign where you are called to give an extra gift above and beyond your normal giving, thus creating two steps for people who aren’t yet giving. Deep & Wide is a call to sacrificial, gospel-centered generosity for absolutely everyone. If you have never given before, this is your chance to get in the game with a committed sacrifice. Remember that our primary goal is 100% engagement so we believe God is calling all of us to step in.

Deep & Wide 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 towards, and we would really love for you to make us your home and join us in Deep & Wide. If you are ready for it, this is a perfect time for you to put a stake in the ground and make this your church. We want you to join in on this adventure of living out the mission God has for us.

Great question. People take different spiritual steps at different times. Some people begin praying before they begin attending church. Others begin going to a Community Group before they begin talking to God in prayer. Giving is another spiritual step, and it comes at different times for different people. All we ask is that you ask God what His next right step is for you…and that you do that.

One thing is for sure, however. Just like other spiritual disciplines, giving draws us closer to God. And God is calling all of us to give. The Bible says: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19). Whether you have taken the spiritual step of baptism or not, we would encourage you to still join us in the Deep & Wide Initiative. We firmly believe it will draw you closer to God and hopefully to a place where you are ready to make the decision to become baptized.

We have several options for giving. One is our giving envelopes that are provided each weekend in all of our services. You can also give online anytime at www.cityrise.org/give or through your financial institution’s bill pay feature. As noted above, you may also transfer gifts of stock or cryptocurrency by contacting Liana Fairbanks in our business office.

Great. For your first stop, check out our Deep & Wide website www.cityrise.org/deepandwide. That will give you more info about this giving initiative and also point you to the right person as well. Click here to ask any other question you might have.