When Stewardship Comes Full Circle
Stateline Church of ChristThe Challenge
Stateline Church of Christ, a rural church near Fayetteville, TN, was at a crossroads when they reached out to Heritage21 in October 2024. With just a few active members remaining, they realized they were making limited kingdom impact and were struggling to see a way forward. With a facility and property that were larger than their needs, the handful of members wanted to exercise good stewardship. They desired to honor their church’s legacy while ensuring their resources would contribute to the ongoing mission of God.
The Partnership
While the church was contemplating next steps, the part-time minister, through a trusted recommendation, was encouraged to reach out through the Heritage21 website. After sharing helpful information with some members, they were immediately impressed by what they learned. “We contacted them and instantly found Heritage21 to be knowledgeable, kind, and helpful. Just what we needed!” member Debbie Cates recalled. That initial contact proved to set the congregation on a path to pursue their transition with purpose.
The Solution
Heritage21 followed a thoughtful, contextualized approach to help the Stateline Church navigate their next steps. After the initial contact in October 2024, Doug Peters and Mike O’Neal led early conversations to assess the situation and determine specific needs of the church. In early December, Doug visited the congregation to preach, teach, and facilitate a meeting with members to answer their questions. Following that visit the Stateline congregation committed to partnering with Heritage21. They established a clear timeline, deciding to continue worshiping together through the end of the year.
Legal and Real Estate Considerations
Mike O’Neal, H21 legal counsel, prepared necessary legal documents, while Blair Bryan, H21 Board Chair and church real estate specialist, leveraged regional connections to engage a trusted, local commercial realtor. The H21 team also helped resolve complex deed restrictions and other title issues for the unincorporated church while providing counsel that was sensitive to the emotional needs of the members. Together, the leaders at Stateline and the Heritage21 team were able to complete the full process in a few short months.
A Creative Outcome
In February 2025, they achieved a remarkable outcome when through a creative set of agreements the property was sold to heirs of one of the original donors of the property given for the Stateline Church of Christ building—a development that delighted the congregation and the donor family. The sale and an accompanying donation from the purchasing family yielded greater proceeds than the property could have realistically brought. The result provided more kingdom impact than they could have imagined. The church strategically allocated the net proceeds to various ministries, including Heritage21’s Designated Funds for Domestic and Global Ministry, Health Talents International, and Tennessee Children’s Home.
The Kingdom Impact
The impact of Stateline Church of Christ’s decision to sell their building and allocate their assets extends far beyond their local community. Their vision will expand the kingdom by providing for future disciple-making, evangelism, and church planting efforts both domestically and around the world. Through prayerful stewardship and strategic planning, the resources that had once been dedicated to maintaining a church building where a few people gathered were repurposed into kingdom-advancing initiatives.
The Lessons
The Stateline story offers valuable truths for congregations who find themselves in similar situations.
- Seeking qualified answers to stewardship questions early in the process is crucial. Stateline initially struggled to find the proper people to help them assess their situation. With experienced guidance from Heritage21, they were able to evaluate their options and make wise and faithful decisions.
- Maintaining open communication with members helps build trust. The church members were a part of the assessment and evaluation process, asking important questions from the beginning.
- Prayerful fund allocation allows a church’s influence to continue to affect future generations for the kingdom. Stateline’s resources were distributed across multiple exciting initiatives, helping ease what was undoubtedly a challenging process for the members.
The Stewardship Cycle
The Stateline story beautifully illustrates how generosity comes full circle. A family’s stewardship decision to donate property for the Stateline Church to gather resulted in decades of faithful ministry. When that congregation reached the end of their life cycle, they also blessed future generations by resourcing direct disciple-making initiatives—all for God’s ultimate glory!
If your congregation is facing similar challenges or you know of a church struggling with difficult decisions about its future, Heritage21 is ready to help navigate these waters with wisdom, compassion, and kingdom-focused stewardship. Contact Heritage21 to explore how your congregation can multiply kingdom impact for generations to come.
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11