Core values of FPC, San Marcos. Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ; an ever-increasing commitment to mission and stewardship as a way of life; warm, welcoming hospitality and fellowship; a heart for all people but especially younger families (couples, couples with children, etc.); respect for Reformed and Presbyterian traditions but openness to new ways of communicating the Gospel and worshiping God; respect for a diversity of opinion within a framework of fidelity to Scriptural and Reformed doctrinal authority.

Demographics. We believe our core demographic target remains younger families, but with an openness to all who seek to know Jesus Christ. We further believe that, across all demographic segments, we should have a special heart for the un-churched and mis-churched. College ministry can continue to be in our sights but only if we see it for what it is-mission-and are willing to put the necessary resources into it.

Facilities and the decision to remain/relocate. We do not see First, San Marcos becoming a mega-church. We believe an appropriate first target for growth is 450 members. At that point, assuming appropriate levels of involvement in ministry by the congregation, further growth (even with a DCE on staff) will require an Associate Pastor and a fairly significant restructuring of church management. The next appropriate growth target would be 600 members. Without moving to another location or starting a second congregation, we believe 600 members is the maximum size our current location would allow us to effectively handle.

In considering all the arguments both for and against selling our current property and relocating, we believe there are more positives to staying where we are than to moving. The foremost concern is cost. Several factors are in play here.

a) If we move, our options are east toward Martindale or north toward Kyle/Buda. We cannot move south toward New Braunfels because Community Fellowship PC has been planted to address growth there, and west takes us into areas already served by Canyon Lake and Wimberley PC. The real growth is north, especially in terms of our target demographic of young families and the absence of any Presbyterian congregation between Austin and Manchaca. Visibility would require a new location along or adjacent to the I-35 corridor; land there, however, would be prohibitively expensive.

b) We believe it unlikely we could make enough money selling our current property to enable us to purchase a new piece of land and then erect a building upon it, even allowing for the increased value of our property in light of the development going on around us. The rule of thumb the Presbytery uses in land acquisition for a new church is seven acres minimum; ten is ideal. We have considerably less than that in our current location, but if we'd sell our existing property in order to gain room to grow, it only makes sense that we'd purchase a larger piece of land.

c) We believe a capital campaign to help finance a move would, given our current congregation and budget, prove insufficient. Professional fundraisers assume that, on average, a church can expect a capital campaign to raise an amount equivalent to 2 ½ times the current operating budget. That means we could expect to raise somewhere in the neighborhood of $650,000. Given land and per-foot construction costs, that wouldn't allow us even to replace the facilities we currently have.

d) It has been suggested that we could use the land given to the church by the Bonner estate on Lime Kiln Road. We must remember that like all the assets of the Bonner estate, the land on Lime Kiln Road is co-owned by FPC, Houston. To use the Bonner land for our own purposes, we would have to pay FPC, Houston one-half of whatever the fair market value of the land is determined to be, which would be a considerable sum. Even if we did purchase the land, however, its isolated location is not suited for a church wanting to grow.

Resulting ministry strategy.

1) We remain at our current location and begin work toward initiating a plan of renovation and new construction along the lines suggested by our initial Master Plan.

2) We maintain younger families as our core target demographic with an intentional effort to evangelize the Kyle/Buda area while simultaneously reaching out to and maintaining our identity as a church in San Marcos.

3) We establish a mission identity as a church with a heart for those in need. We also become more involved in international mission (e.g. becoming a sister congregation to a third world church) and in "hands on" mission work.

4) As part of a church-wide emphasis on creating a culture of stewardship, we develop a prioritized list of renovations to the existing facility and new construction, followed by a capital campaign with a target of $500,000-$750,000, run by an outside consultant.

5) We commit, once we've reached a membership of 600, to planting a new congregation in a location to be determined in consultation with Mission Presbytery, with a portion of the congregation moving to function as the nucleus of the new congregation.