Mission Church: Hope for Everyone
“When you’re a church plant, you learn to use the language of for now,” said Pastor Jim Sheldon. “You say, ‘This is what we’re doing—for now.’”
There is a lot of uncertainty in the world of church planting, and Mission Church in Ventura, California has learned to lean into that.
“We don’t lead with a 3- to 5-year vision,” Jim said. “We’re more like about a year out. So in that sense we’re used to ambiguity. That’s been our story since we first planted. God’s never early. He’s never late. He’s just on time. And it’s His time.”
Over the church’s first seven years, God has shown again and again that His timing looks nothing like human timing, and His plans are far greater. But leaning into that uncertainty has allowed Mission Church to see God’s fingerprints all over what others might call a series of unfortunate events.
Not long ago, the church got some bad news: they were unable to keep leasing their building. Now they own one that is even better.
Mission Church has seen God’s fingerprints all over what others might call a series of unfortunate events.
The Countdown Begins
“We were in a 16-screen movie theater, and we were the sole occupant of the building,” Jim said. “The only reason we had that was because we had a relationship with a guy who knew the CEO of Cinemark. Cinemark was leasing the building, and they had four years left on their lease and then moved out. So we subleased it for four years.”
As their sublease came to an end, their relationship with Cinemark was no longer going to keep them in the theater. They needed to start something new with the owner.
“We asked if we could stay or if they’d ever sell,” Jim said. “They said they’d never sell, and we couldn’t stay. So we started looking for a building in late 2015.”
On the Hunt
The pickings were already slim in Ventura, California. But for a growing church of 1,000+ people, they were really slim.
“There’s about a 2% vacancy in commercial real estate in Ventura,” Jim said. “So there’s not a lot of inventory, especially when you need 10,000 square feet or more. And then you throw in what we wanted in terms of location—those buildings just don’t exist.”
Well, only one existed.“There was one building just off the freeway that was 30,000 square feet and had been vacant quite a while. It was only being used for seasonal things like a Halloween store,” Jim explained. “The owner said he’d never sell it, so we entered into a lease negotiation. We hammered out all the details but got hung up on one thing: we had to apply for a conditional use permit.”
Mission Church was not sure if they could get the permit, but they really wanted this building—it was pretty much their only option.
“We asked, ‘If we can’t get the permit, what’s our buyout? What’s the amount that makes you hold and lets us off the hook?’ And he said the amount was 10 years of rent—the whole lease.”
He wanted 10 years worth of payments up front.
“We walked away from that lease agreement on a Monday, and we were so confused because everything seemed like it was heading toward leasing it,” Jim said. “We’d even been talking to CDF about what things would look like in a building we didn’t own. And it just seemed like that door slammed shut.”
“It was the place people went to get hope and help in the midst of tragedy.” —@Jim_Sheldon
A Surprise Alternative
Two days later, the owners of the theater called and said Mission Church could stay put and continue leasing the building for three to five more years.
“That felt like God’s hand again because we were about to sign another agreement when we didn’t want to move,” Jim said. “We wanted to stay in the theater.”
The theater said they could all work out the details as they got closer to the end of Mission’s original lease. So the church began a capital campaign to raise $350,000 to renovate the theater, intent on adding a kids’ space and more seats.
Back to Plan A
Two days after they started their campaign, Mission Church got bad news—again. The theater said don’t panic, but things were up in the air—again. They were not sure if Mission would be able to stay after all.
“Through the summer we were kind of in limbo,” Jim said. “People were giving, but we weren’t really promoting that we would be staying in the theater.”
The future was too uncertain to make solid plans for what they would do with the money.
Later that fall, the owner told them they could continue to lease the building—but only for six to twelve months at a time. They might still be able to stay for five years like they had originally planned, but every year would be a question mark. And if the owner did not renew their lease, they would not have enough time to find a new place.
So another door closed.
The only building on the market that met their needs was the big warehouse they almost leased before—the one just off the freeway, with the guy who wanted 10 years of payments. But they did not know how to start that conversation over.
Success by Failure
Mark Briggs and daughter at Mission Church's grand opening.
“We said, ‘Let’s put together an offer to purchase it, and when he shoots that down we’ll start the conversation about leasing again.’”
After some back and forth Mission Church wound up putting together another offer to buy the warehouse. Shockingly, the owner said yes—but only if they could close in 60 days.
“He called our bluff,” Jim said. “We didn’t have a plan or anything. We never thought he’d consider us buying it.”
So they called CDF Capital.
“I told Mark Briggs what just happened and said that we didn’t know what to do,” Jim said. “The seller was pretty skittish, and if we couldn’t show him we were serious quickly, he was probably going to go cold.”
Mark Briggs is very familiar with what is at stake in these conversations, and he knew Mission’s success or failure could depend on how this seller responded in these next few moments.
“It was late in the afternoon, and Mark was on his way to his daughter’s soccer practice, but he hopped on the phone—we had a conference call with the seller while Mark was out at the soccer field,” Jim said. “You could hear the whistle in the background, and he was in our corner bringing confidence to the situation and showing that we were worth having a conversation with.”
It was exactly what Mission Church—and the seller—needed.
“Long story short, we wound up closing in 120 days, and we purchased the building that we almost leased,” Jim said. “If we hadn’t gone through that whole process and thought we could stay, we never would have done that capital campaign and had the funds for a down payment.”
That same series of events could have gone differently so many times.
A Place of Their Own
A lot of established churches would struggle to pivot so many times so rapidly. But Mission Church had learned to remain adaptable.
“We were only five years old as a church going through that,” Jim said. “So there’s a lot of flexibility. It doesn’t feel like we’re being irresponsible. It feels like we’re trying to be faithful. And there’s a lot of uncertainty in that.”
Being comfortable with faithful uncertainty was part of Mission Church’s identity. Next they got to decide what bringing their identity to a new space was going to look like.
“The building was just an empty warehouse. In some ways it was a blank slate,” Jim said. “One of the things we kind of stumbled into with meeting at a theater, which is designed for tons of people to be there with the concession stands, was that we were a small church with a huge lobby that was warm and inviting.”
Like faithfully living in ambiguity, they felt that this warm, inviting space was part of who they were as a church.
“We learned that it was an ethos of ours—part of what made it feel like home,” Jim said. “We wanted to capture that same type of entry experience when people walked into our new building.”
Similar to their journey to purchase the building, renovating the 30,000-square-foot warehouse came with its own series of challenges and setbacks.
“It was a normal construction project: over budget, behind schedule. With the added bonus of having to be out of the theater by the end of the month,” Jim said. “It all came together like three days before Sunday.”
Despite the hiccups—and in some ways because of them—the final product looked and felt . . . a lot like them.
“It’s not very complicated,” Jim noted. “It’s not elaborate or ornate. It’s excellent—but it’s not polished. And that probably describes our ministry.”
Pastor Jim Sheldon at Mission Church's grand opening event.
Providing Hope in Tragedy
Mission Church is no stranger to ministering to their community in times of tragedy—as they experienced during last December's wildfires. And just as their new building was complete, they faced another need and another opportunity to minister.
A week before Mission Church’s grand opening, 12 people died in a boating accident in their area, including two girls from Ventura—one of whom was connected to a family at Mission. The church hosted a memorial service in their new facility—their first major gathering—and 800 hurting, confused people attended to mourn the loss of two local girls.
Christians and non-Christians alike gathered to grieve and process and be filled with hope, in spite of their pain.
“We got to watch this building being used exactly how we wanted it to be used, a week before our grand opening,” Jim said. “It was the place people went to get hope and help in the midst of tragedy.”
Helping Churches Grow
Mission Church in Ventura, California is building a story of transformation, and we are honored to be their partner in ministry. CDF Capital is committed to helping churches get the resources they need to transform lives and communities. Click below to see how your investments help churches grow.
