May 25, 2004

Not a match made in heaven

Evergreen Valley Church passes on merger

The Silver Creek Church Community launched its inaugural services as Twin Oaks Church Community (TOCC) on Sunday, April 18—without members of Evergreen Valley Church. More than 600 people attended these first services.
“Our original plans were to merge with Evergreen Valley Church, and I am saddened that they have decided not to join us in creating Twin Oaks Church Community,” said Gary Rodriguez, pastor of the new TOCC.

“However, since starting TOCC, we have been joined by many new people from the area who share our vision for TOCC, and we’re thrilled to have them supporting us,” continued Rodriguez. “As for our relationship with Evergreen Valley Church, there are some things that will never change: our friendship with each other, our love and commitment to support the people at Evergreen Valley Church, and the fact that we are co-laborers in the same community.”

Bill Jenkins, the pastor of Evergreen Valley Church, felt that there was room in the Evergreen community for two dynamic Evangelical churches. “We’ve got distinctive [characteristics] that attract different people, and once we started exploring the reality of a merger, we realized that we could be more effective working together on individual ministry issues.”

Moving ahead with building plans
Jenkins said that his church would move forward with the building plan for its facility at 2750 Yerba Buena Road. This includes building a 750-seat family life center to be used for church on Sunday, but as a gymnasium during the rest of the week.

“We’re building it for the community, not for us,” said Jenkins. “This isn’t about us, it’s about God and it’s about a community, and to have an indoor soccer facility here is going to be phenomenal.” Currently, the only nearby indoor soccer facility is in Santa Clara, which he says “costs an arm and a leg to play,” making it tough for many of the kids living on the East Side.

“We’ll open it up for indoor soccer, basketball, volleyball, whatever we can use it for. It’s going to be a 24 x 7 facility used coincidentally on Sunday mornings for church,” added Jenkins, who hopes to involve TOCC in a joint sports league.

The church also plans to remodel the existing church into a youth chapel and construct a new two-story pre-school in a separate building.

The entire project is estimated to cost $6 million. The church has funds for the planning process, including architect’s fees and environmental reports, but the money to build will require a capital fundraising campaign next spring.

If the city approves the plans, the new facility should open in 2006, according to Jenkins. If you’re interested in supporting an indoor soccer facility and gymnasium in Evergreen, contact the Evergreen Valley Church at (408) 274-7422.