The campaign to break new ground began early last year when Vintage 21 organizers started to draft fundraising plans. Incorporated in 2010 as a Protestant religion-based 501(c)3, the nonprofit relies on donor contributions\u00a0 for operations, Williams said.<\/p>\n
The church began collecting towards a new location in June 2010, and after a couple potential options fell through \u2013 both along Capitol Boulevard – organizers discovered the property at 600 New Bern Ave.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was all about timing,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
Wake County real estate records show the land assessed for about $1.3M on Jan. 1, 2008. Vintage 21 Church is under contract for a $1.7 million price tag, according to Williams.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve raised about 400k so far,\u201d he said, with plans to continue raising money for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n
The church is \u201cdefinitely\u201d firm on cutting a check for the property later this fall, he said, adding that, \u201cIf [by the closing date] we need to take out a loan, we will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
The church\u2019s roots<\/strong><\/p>\n Vintage 21 Church was established Nov. 18, 2002, after being founded, or \u201cplanted\u201d by Lead Pastor Tyler Jones.<\/p>\n \u201cChurch planting is also known as church revitalization,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n Through the organization\u2019s Advance the Church initiative, Vintage 21 acts as a consultant to other churches in need of direction, in addition to its regular Sunday services. Executive Pastor Nate Williams has been with Vintage 21 Church since 2005.<\/p><\/div><\/right><\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s finding a new pastor or figuring out how to operate,\u201d Williams said, a church planting is \u201cworking to bring life back into the church.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams joined the church in 2005 as an intern after moving with his wife from Oklahoma, hopeful that he would pick up the necessary training for a church planting of his own. Quickly, though, he and his wife decided to plant their own roots in Raleigh, and Williams joined Pastor Jones on staff at Vintage 21.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t looked back since,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Its headquarters at 12 1\/2 E. Hargett St., is between two downtown staples \u2014 the Raleigh Times and its caffeinated sister operation, the Morning Times.<\/p>\n The church \u201creally wanted to remain a part of downtown Raleigh,\u201d Williams said, while still accommodating their increasing membership.<\/p>\n The Vintage 21 set is a little different from what some people may expect. While Williams asserts that the church’s mission is not unlike any other religious institution, he agrees that some non-traditional means like Twitter, podcasts and satirical “Jesus\u201d videos have enabled the church to reach more people.<\/p>\n Vintage 21, Williams said, \u201cis a result of the people that come.”<\/p>\n “We have people that are creative, savvy and think through issues,” he said, adding that social media \u201cis an avenue that we want to use, but we want to use it well.”<\/p>\n By the numbers, it seems to be working. The church began with 37 members in 2002 is now clocking attendance in at more than 1,400, which Williams said is a modest estimate.<\/p>\n \u201cOur western campus was totally full, so we knew we needed to find a new place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The 7.61 acre lot at the corner of Swain and New Bern Avenue has been under contract with Vintage 21 Church since November 2010, with plans to close the deal on November this year.<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n Plans for the land<\/strong><\/p>\n With the deed still a few months from completion, the exact plans for the land will be up for consideration, but a few ideas have been on the table.<\/p>\n \u201cOur initial concept is to start a co-op,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n The church\u2019s concept for the land is to develop an office facility to accommodate about 15-18 organizations that need space for their own \u201cchange-oriented\u201d visions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be a catalyst for change,\u201d he said. \u201cWe hope to develop facilities to bless others, and possibly give away office space to other organizations\u201d that otherwise couldn\u2019t afford it, he said.<\/p>\n One centerpiece of the future development will be another base for the Vintage 21 Church network of campuses. Of the aesthetic plan for its new shared worship space, Williams said, “It probably won’t be a traditional church.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that it will be more than two years before any ribbon-cutting ceremony.<\/p>\n \u201cWe plan on going out into the community and asking what their needs are,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t assume to know.\u201d<\/p>\n For at least one business owner in the neighborhood, which is located on the northern edge of Raleigh’s South Central district\u00a0 and just south of the Historic Oakwood neighborhood, any addition is welcome.<\/p>\n “I’ve been here 11 years, and there’s never been anything over there,\u201d said Gina Weaver, owner of Kinky Concept Hair Salon, located across the street from the vacant lot. \u201cI think a church would be positive.\u201d<\/p>\n For others, while development to the land would be invited, they see other potential uses for the space.<\/p>\n Nathan Croom has been a resident of the area for five years and said, \u201cAnything would be good there, but if that neighborhood needs anything, it\u2019s a grocery store.\u201d<\/p>\n Croom said the lot was once home to a thriving community garden, and in recent years, a perimeter of fencing kept out a lot of unwanted activity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt used to be pretty sketchy,\u201d Croom said of the steady foot traffic across the property.<\/p>\n According to the last 30 days of crime data released by the city and county, the area immediately surrounding the property had one instance of an auto theft, one count of larceny and one home burglary.<\/p>\n Organizers at Vintage 21 said they understand the neighborhood has its own identity and needs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s in the middle of two extremes,\u201d Williams said. \u201cTo the north, [the area is] richer\u00a0 – and to the south, poorer,\u201d he said. \u201cOur direction can change because of the people in the area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A huge lot bordering one of the main corridors to the state capitol has been a blank slate for years, but a change in owners could change all that. Vintage 21 Church plans to close a $1.7 million deal this fall on 8 acres of land currently owned by the Raleigh Rescue Mission just east of downtown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24036,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[42,15],"tags":[153,154,152],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6348"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24036"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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