FAQ | Island ECC Bold Faith Campaign

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

VISION

Our current lease expires in October 2025 and we fully expect to renew it. However, in the meantime, we want to negotiate long-term solutions to meet our growing spatial needs. To meaningfully negotiate, it is important for us to be in a financially strong position and have funding that allows us to move forward in a redevelopment project.

Island ECC is responding to God’s call and trusting His guidance. We believe this is the right time for the church to move from rent payment to a long-term lease on a Government Institutional Community (GIC) building and in due course, enabling our income to be more fully devoted to ministry.

No, it will not. We are committed to maintaining all current levels of giving to outreach and missions. This means that all BOLD Faith giving needs to be above and beyond your regular support to the church. In fact, we believe that the growth enabled by the BOLD Faith campaign would increase our commitment to outreach, both in Hong Kong and overseas.

About 21% of Island ECC’s income goes to support mission partners in Hong Kong, China and some countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Island ECC’s current premises at 633 King’s Road currently host churches and NGOs that do not have a physical place to meet in Hong Kong. With a larger facility, our church mission teams and missionaries could provide more education, healthcare, refugees and address social justice issues.

In October 2010, Island ECC planted Watermark Community Church in Cyberport with 200 congregants, a strong leadership, and 3-year financial commitment. Despite being a successful endeavour that we would love to venture into again, this alleviated our spatial needs for less than a year.

We firmly believe that church planting is an effective and necessary means to reach a broader group of people in Hong Kong, and hope to continue to plant churches in other locations. However, we believe our most urgent priority right now is to secure a permanent facility, that could serve as a training centre and hub for future plants.

The economies of scale that are obtained with a larger congregation make it both cost-effective while providing broader ministry opportunities than a small church model.

Development (Fundraising)

Island ECC has been financially stable over the last 20 years, paying lower than market rates in Quarry Bay, and meeting the church’s financial obligations annually. Church leadership does not believe that leasing additional commercial floors (subject to availability) will meet the growth of congregants in a financially and logistically sustainable manner.

We also believe that acquisition of a building is good stewardship practice. After searching for a building along HK Island for the past 6+ years, there is not yet a suitable premise (e.g. commercial, industrial, school) available for church.

The GIC redevelopment opportunity is a unique opportunity for Island ECC to partner with two social service non-profit organizations for spreading the gospel in Hong Kong (and overseas through church online), serve the community and expand on the church’s social service programs and activities in certain locations in Hong Kong.

Island ECC will not be going multi-site due to the higher operating costs incurred, particularly staff resources and facility costs. The redevelopment building will be the church’s main location to support all ministry activities and outreach in Hong Kong and abroad.

In 2015, the initial target would be to raise a minimum of $1 Billion dollars for the Bold Faith Campaign with inclusion of the majority contingency costs. After identifying the GIC site at 210 Java Road in North Point in 2018, the estimated total project cost for the 210 Java Road Project is $879 Million.

Following the government bureaus proposal for “Nil Land Premium” in 2022, the total estimated project cost for the 210 Java Road Project has been reduced to $810 Million. In 2023, the target is to raise 60% or $486M of the estimated total project cost of $810M by 2023 for the church to show financial capability for application to the various government departments. The financial capability support could be in the form of giving and pledges in 1–4-year commitments.

The church would like to exercise good stewardship by raising the full amount and having zero debt for the church. To complete the project as needed, the church may review options such as interest-free debentures and/or low-interest from private loans.

We must stress that the fundraising target number is merely an estimate, and we won’t be able to project accurate figures until the contracts of professional consultants, constructions, as well as all government land premiums are realized during the redevelopment process of the project.

Finance

God has provided abundantly through the years and church leadership has been wise in determining budgets. We are therefore in a sound financial position. For those who would like to see our audited financials, you can request a copy from the Finance Department via finance@islandecc.hk.

Social Services

The Kairos time is before us as Island ECC can develop a strategic location for all the congregants to worship and live out their Christian faith in serving the people in the community. The church’s mission is to reach out to people in Hong Kong by living and speaking the gospel of Jesus Christ, impacting and transformed lives through providing social services.

For more than a decade, Island ECC’s social services primarily served the community in Shum Shui Po and some other districts in Kowloon and Hong Kong. The new building is a divine opportunity for Island ECC to serve the city by extending social services with a broader reach throughout the communities in the Eastern District which consists of a large and growing population of elderly, special education needs and families throughout Hong Kong.