Frequently Asked Questions

A:  We are in a unique place where, only five years after opening a second campus, we are already full at both campuses!

As the church leaders and body have come together in prayer, we feel that God is calling us to make room. This isn’t simply to build a bigger building but to continue equipping the Saints (a.k.a. followers of Christ) to minister within their ballfields, cul-de-sacs, apartment buildings, and workplaces. 

Our hope is that over the next 10 years we will have:

• 1 church in the 2 current locations with space constructed for many more people to worship at both campuses.
• 10 gospel-minded churches that we are networking with or helping to plant in reaching the city for Christ.
• 100 different neighborhoods that have Rivertree life groups, ready to be a beacon of light to a lost world.
• 1,000 volunteers trained and serving both the body of Christ and the lost around us.
• 10,000 stories of life change because of the goodness of Jesus Christ.

Our goal is to equip our church family to reach the city, and our facilities are only part of a broader vision to make disciples and join with other churches doing gospel work to reach our community.

We feel that God has called us and equipped us for such a time as this and through His power and His grace, we will join Him in the work of advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout Huntsville and a broken and fallen world.

A: A simple answer for why we believe this is what the Lord is asking us to do is because He is bringing people to our church, He has given us the mission of making disciples along with the directive of loving others, and as a church, we are running out of space to do so effectively. We seek the Lord fervently in asking for His direction and timing, and we also ask Him to redirect our path if we are going in the wrong direction. We believe He will be faithful to direct our steps as we walk with Him. 

Our leadership team is made up of our elders, trustees, and staff, and all have been seeking the Lord as we ‘Pursue What’s Next:’ one of our core values at Rivertree. Our trustees meet monthly and our elders meet twice a month to care for the body and make sure congregational needs are met. Our staff meets weekly to pray and to plan, and we have invited the body to be an integral part of this process by ‘Praying for What’s Next’, attending family meetings (sharing the details of where we believe the Lord is leading), asking questions, and providing input both in person and online. 

We have been praying through this decision for the last 2 years and feel strongly that God is bringing us to the next step.

A: Our reasons for building are missional: connected to obedience and a timely call to reach the city. As the Lord brings people to Huntsville, we long to be one of the many parts and churches He uses to grow His Kingdom. We aren’t interested in building a ‘Rivertree Empire,’ we want to be faithful with those the Lord is bringing.

After only 5 years since the Lord has provided us with a second campus, both campuses are reaching capacity! This is all a work of His and not something we could construct or reproduce on our own. As the Lord brings people and gifts, we want to steward them well. We’re asking the questions, ‘How can we be ready to respond with the Gospel to those the Lord is bringing?’ and ‘What is God calling us to do next in this city?’ More growth is coming to the area but we have less ability to respond to the need with the Gospel if our facilities are full.  We believe that additions to our facilities will be the best way to increase our capacity so that we can extend our mission and ministry throughout our city for generations.

A. Planning over the course of the next 10 years:

Phase 1: 

• Construct Cove sanctuary (~820 seats) & education space
• Turn the Downtown worship center orientation 90° to allow for 65 more seats in each service
• Remove the steeple of the old downtown sanctuary
• Additionally, if enough funds are raised, we will build a 115 space parking lot on the Marsheutz side of the Downtown Campus. 

Phase 2: 

• Demolish the old Sanctuary Downtown
• Construct Downtown Sanctuary and Education Space 
• Finish administrative space for the staff at both campuses 
• Finish the second floor hallway Downtown.

Phase 3:  

• Second story Educational space at Cove 
• Additional parking at Cove
• Possible expansion of the Treehouse at Cove to accommodate more students. 

A:  Phase one projects will increase the downtown capacity by approximately 65 seats and will remove the damaged steeple from the old sanctuary. Depending on the money raised, there is also potential for a 115-space paved parking lot to alleviate parking challenges at the downtown campus as well.

The Cove campus will have an additional worship center and lobby built that will accommodate approximately 820 seats. We will also convert the current worship center into four children’s classrooms and a large meeting room. The current overflow room will be changed into a classroom and storage will be added on the east side of the building to free up three other classrooms that are not currently being used on Sunday mornings. There will also be another classroom and storage area added to the south side of the building leading into the new worship center.

A. Estimated Project Costs:

• Phase 1: (~$17.7 Mil) Cove Sanctuary & Education Space, flipping the worship center downtown to allow for more seats, removing the steeple at the Downtown campus, potentially adding 115 parking spaces at the Downtown campus. 
• Phase 2: (~$22 Mil) Downtown Sanctuary and Education Space, administrative space for the staff at both campuses, demolish the old sanctuary Downtown, finish the second floor hallway Downtown.
• Phase 3: (~$7 Mil) Second story educational space at Cove, additional parking at Cove, possibly expanding the Treehouse at Cove to accommodate more students.  

A:  We are inviting everyone who calls Rivertree home to be a part of not only financing the next phase but also volunteering their time so that we are prepared to receive, welcome, and care for those God will bring to us. We are starting a campaign in the fall and will continue to act based on where we are, following the Lord, and remaining openhanded to His leading at every point in the process. 

Paying for Phase 1:

• Cash on Hand: We currently have 3 million dollars cash on hand. 
• Money Raised: We have a goal of raising 7 to 10 million dollars.
• Money Borrowed: We hope to borrow 7 million dollars. Based on our giving and budget, we feel that this would allow us to continue current ministries while putting away paying off the loan over a period of 7 to 8 years.

We also have been blessed during the last few projects with a generous congregation and frugal staff and were able to pay off debt ahead of schedule. We are currently debt free.

A: The cost of the downtown project depends on many factors, such as when we can begin the project, etc. As it currently stands, the cost of the Downtown expansion would be around $22 million. 

A:  Saving almost never keeps up with construction inflation. If we meet our $17.7 million goal through the campaign, we wouldn’t have to necessarily wait for eight years to begin the Downtown project.

A:  We needed room yesterday and people are still coming. We are also at a place financially to lean into the conversation. The Cove Campus is over capacity and the Downtown Campus is nearing capacity.

A:  We have looked at the different projects needed across both campuses and have chosen those that make the most sense for building phase 1.

While the Downtown Campus is often at capacity, Cove is over capacity, especially when it comes to the children’s ministry. We will be flipping the worship center Downtown to make room for additional seats, but we do not have that option at the Cove campus, nor are we able to accommodate the families that the Lord keeps bringing to the Cove campus.

A:  The capital campaign will launch at the beginning of September, leading up to an invitation to participate in phase one at the end of September. The hope is that construction would begin in the spring of 2026 and that Phase 1 would be completed by 2028. Smaller projects such as the demolition of the steeple and the turning of the worship center Downtown will begin earlier. 

Phase 2, consisting of building a worship center and finishing out the second floor at the Downtown Campus, will begin in seven to eight years depending on how quickly we are able to pay off the debt incurred during Phase 1. Other smaller projects will also be planned such as the second story youth edition on the Cove Campus and admin space for both campuses along with a repurposing of the upper campus downtown in additional parking added to the Cove campus.

A: The timeline for starting the Phase 2 Downtown expansion completely depends on when we can pay off the Cove Campus project and raise the seed capital needed to start. Our current estimate is about 8 years from now.

A:  While we are carefully watching the political and financial ramifications of the economy, building during a time of uncertainty is nothing new to Rivertree! We began a campaign to finance the current Cove campus in 2008 and 2009 during the time of our last great recession. Not only were we able to fund the project but we were blessed to pay off the loans ahead of schedule! God continues to bless the ministry of Rivertree as we join Him in his work.

We began the renovation of the Downtown campus just before the time of Covid, which was also the time of great financial and economic uncertainty. Again, God blessed the faithfulness of Rivertree stepping out in faith, and once again we were able to pay off the debt ahead of schedule. As God continues to bring people through our doors we want to be faithful with them and trust the Lord through our circumstances.

A:  As we see it, there are four options: 1.) Do Nothing 2.) Adopt 3.) Plant Somewhere Else 4.) Build 

1. Do Nothing: Doing nothing is not an option as our campuses near and exceed capacity.
2. “Adopt:” When Rivertree “adopted” Southside, it wasn’t something we asked for. The Lord brought it to us, and we believe that’s the way that should happen. We’re not going to hunt for churches to take over. 
3. Planting Another Church: We’ve done and are doing that. We have looked at many options, such as buying commercial property, buying other empty churches, and church-planting. However, we continue to sense that the Lord is asking us to not only welcome our neighbors but also to increase our discipleship, community, and volunteerism within the campuses He has already provided. Planting is further addressed in the next question.
4. Build: This is where we believe the Lord is leading.

A Note on the Lord’s Faithfulness:

We were in a similar space seven years ago when we were gearing up to build at Cove, and the Lord had us pivot to partner with Southside Baptist Church. That was an incredible story of Grace and two bodies becoming one. We now feel that it is time to revisit expanding the Cove Campus. We will also continue to look for opportunities to plant churches in the Huntsville Metro area, as well as partner with other local churches who are doing gospel work to expand the kingdom reach of the city. As always, we will remain open-handed as we move forward. Proverbs 16:9 tells us that, “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” We’re counting on God’s faithful leading and seeking to follow Him.

We’ve explored renovating the old Southside sanctuary but it too has some challenges and doesn’t add many more seats than our current space.

A:  We have partnered with numerous church plants internationally in places like Guatemala and Japan, nationally in places like Fort Worth, New Jersey, and Tuscaloosa, and locally in Gurley and North Huntsville. We will continue to support these projects and look for other ways, new ways, new opportunities to bring the gospel to communities lacking a healthy church community.

A: Yes. A third service has been discussed at length and is still potentially an option. However, a third service brings many challenges with it.

We struggle to fully staff our current ministries with volunteers. Adding a third service would make that even more of a challenge. We have employed three services in the past and were able to move some of the church to an earlier Sunday service (around 120 attendees), but it didn’t relieve the capacity challenges we had with kids ministry. Having a younger church with lots of families keeps us dealing with good challenges at 9:00 am and 10:30 am.

It takes time to execute a building project, and we probably will add an additional service at some point. We believe this is a temporary measure that may help for a while, but is not a sustainable solution.

A:  Pray first and foremost. Seek God first. Give what the spirit leads. Volunteer to serve those coming to us and those already here. Spend time in the Word and in community. Be an active part of what God continues to do through our church, and share your faith often.

A:  While we invite everyone who calls Rivertree home to join us in where we feel the Lord is leading us next, we will not require anybody to do anything. We hope that each family will make a pledge and let us know what they plan to give as this plays a critical role in what our loan arrangement will be.

We are making room as a church family, so we encourage everyone to seek the Lord as to what part they will play financially as well as volunteering to continue both their discipleship journey and to equip and serve the Saints.

A: We need volunteers. If we simply build out more space but are not ready to serve and disciple those coming to us, then we have not fulfilled our mission of ‘Helping one another know Jesus by sharing the Gospel and our lives.’ If we are making room, we need to be ready to serve those who are coming. We invite you to talk to the different ministry leads, volunteer, and be trained to serve others. This will also grow us in our own discipleship.

A:  We have a webpage and a future website that we will continue to update with frequently asked questions, building designs, progress of financial support, and stories about lives changed through the working of this Holy Spirit in his people.  We will also be meeting with life groups, having family meetings, putting information in the Sunday guide, and more. Additionally, you are always invited to ask us any questions you may have.

A: If the campaign doesn’t meet our goals, we will pause and go to the Lord to see if there needs to be an adjustment to our timing or our project. Of course we will be asking the Lord for guidance all along the way. The money would stay in a building fund until we felt ready to proceed. According to our bylaws, we never take on debt without approval from the body, so transparency and communication will be key throughout this in future projects.

A:  At the center of our church culture are the core values driving us to build. We believe people matter. If people matter and we want them to experience the goodness of God, we must let go of our tendency to be tempted to keep things the way they are because it’s comfortable or appealing to us. Our church will change, but it will be a change on the same trajectory of change in the past.  What you love about Rivertree today is a result of 25 years of change as those before us pursued what was next.

Rivertree has grown from meeting as a group of believers following Christ to reach Huntsville in a house in 1998 to meeting in schools, office buildings, and more. We built the Cove campus in 2010 and expanded it in 2014 in order to accommodate more children. In 2019, we merged with Southside Baptist Church, had a temporary second campus in an elementary school, and became two official campuses in 2020. God continues to bless and bring more people to Rivertree. And while our culture hasn’t changed, growth and transition always bring new challenges and opportunities. 

Our core values, mission measures, and the heart of Rivertree have never changed. We feel that God has called us to a specific purpose and we will continue ‘Helping one another know Jesus by sharing the Gospel and our lives,’ as we grow and make room; trusting Him with the outcomes.