Putting their building where their commitment is

When Solid Ground BIC in Alta Loma, Calif, set out in 1990 to build a 500-seat sanctuary, the construction project was as much about the church’s commitment to the local community as it was about providing much-needed worship space for the congregation. As Pastor Ron Graff explains, “Our building is large and right on the main street, with the freeway behind us. From the beginning, we’ve made our facility available to community groups for their events.”

Located as it is in the middle of a fast-growing community of young families, the Alta Loma congregation is committed to being a being a child- and youth-friendly church. This includes providing a home for the Alta Loma Christian School, with its current enrollment of close to 250 students in grades pre-K through 8. The commitment to fortifying families shows itself in a well-run Awana program, the Ledge, a ministry program for junior and senior high youth, Bible studies and retreats for men and women, and a couples study group.

Solid Ground, which celebrated its 30-year anniversary on Sunday, September 10, is a product of the Pacific Conference’s vision in the mid-1970s to launch 10 church plants in 10 years. The start-up congregation quickly sent down roots and soon after coming together, invested in land and put up a building. When growth in attendance and in ministry vision began pushing the limits of existing space in the late 1980s, congregational leaders turned to the BIC Foundation’s loan fund for help in financing the hoped for expansion.

Now, some 16 years later, Solid Ground is planning another round of expansion, this time working in three phases toward the eventual goal of 36,500 square feet of multipurpose space. And again, the BIC Foundation is a partner in the church’s plans with financing for phase one that includes a 4,300-square-foot building that will include three classrooms and two bathrooms for the Alta Loma Christian School. Also included in phase one are renovations to a reception hall located on land that the church has recently purchased as a home for Solid Ground’s youth programs and as a spiritual retreat center. In addition, the hall will extend the church’s outreach to the surrounding community. “With a large meeting hall, we will have Christian weddings and community events—it’s really going to be a great place,” Ron states.

As the Solid Ground congregation looks ahead to the next 30 years of service to the Alta Loma community, it is clearly putting its building where its commitment is.

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