FAQs

During this two-year period, every contribution to God through Northview is a contribution to our F1RST initiative. Every aspect of the ministry vision God is calling us toward for the next two years will be funded through the F1RST. There will not be separate funds. Every gift made will go into the same fund and will be our F1RST giving. Therefore, every weekend becomes a time to celebrate and contribute toward what God is doing in us and through us to help connect people with God and connect people with people.

First and foremost, we are asking that you pray and seek God’s leading on what He’s asking of you. Prepare your heart to hear Him, and then listen to what He says. Engage in a Life Group during this season if you haven’t already been in one. Engage in personal reflection with God in this F1RST book. Talk with your spouse, your family or others about what this commitment will mean for this next exciting season in your life.

We are asking you make a sacrificial commitment to Gospel-centered generosity, whatever it is that God leads you to do. Follow His leading. Finally, we ask you prepare to be amazed. We serve an awesome God, and He is going to move in huge ways. We anticipate an unprecedented impact from our collective F1RST commitments something only God can do. Please mark your calendar for Commitment Weekend, March 19/20, 2022, and prepare to experience a life-changing worship service that will forever be remembered as a defining moment for our church and for your own faith.

Be creative as you explore ways you and your family can give toward F1RST. You might have some stocks, property or other items of that nature. Or you may have some stored resources God has blessed you with in the past that He just might be calling you to release during this time. Please let us know if you need assistance with facilitating gifts of property or stock, and we would be happy to help you with that. Contact Beth Anderson at beth.anderson@northviewchurch.us 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 will begin with our First Big Give on the weekend of April 9/10, 2022, and it will culminate in April 2024.

F1RST is about your total, radical, sacrificial generosity to God’s mission at Northview. We believe God calls us to action in times of hardship just as much as He does in times of abundance, and that looks different for every person. But F1RST is about a heart-change, one that is only accomplished by surrendering our lives completely over to God in this area of giving. So that may mean you are being challenged to sell things, pick up odd jobs or even to trust God in faith by making a commitment that you don’t quite know how to fulfill right now, but that you believe God will provide for as you seek for ways to sacrifice and work toward that commitment. We would like for 100 percent of us to be a part of F1RST so that we can all be supporting, loving, encouraging and praying for one another through this spiritually stretching season at Northview.

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 help you in this journey and/or to recommend a budgeting class that might minister to you. Being in debt does not, however, make someone “excused” from giving. Giving isn’t about what God wants from you; rather, it’s about what God wants for you. It should be our joy and privilege to give at all times. Please contact us if you need assistance with this or if you would like to speak with a budgeting counselor, and we would be honored to help.

F1RST was created specifically with you in mind. F1RST is a “one-fund” generosity initiative, meaning it is different from the 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. F1RST is a call to sacrificial, Gospel-centered generosity for absolutely everyone at Northview. If you have never given before, this is your chance to get in the game with a committed sacrifice. We really hope you will.

F1RST is about the vision for our church and our personal discipleship in giving as followers of Jesus. We believe the local church is one of the most compelling missions to give toward, and we would really love for you to make Northview your home and join us in F1RST. 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 need you on the team!

Great question. People take different spiritual steps at different times. Some people begin praying before they begin attending church. Others begin going to a Life Group before they begin talking to God in prayer. Giving is another spiritual step, and it comes at different times for different people. 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. Matthew 6:19 says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.” Whether or not you have taken the spiritual step of baptism, we would encourage you to still join us in this F1RST 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 and to surrender your life to the Lordship of Christ.

Our debt BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is to be debt-free by 2025. If God enables us to realize this goal, it will serve as a financial tipping-point, accelerating our ability to expand our gospel reach to communities in desperate need of a church like Northview. To date, our leadership has viewed serviceable debt as a tool to help grow our influence and impact. It has allowed us to aggressively keep the mission moving forward. With Uncharted, we had a goal of eliminating $15M of debt and realized a reduction of $18M. Can you say yay God?! With F1RST, our goal for reducing debt is $16M.