By Linda Sladkey

GALT, CA (December 9, 2015) – Bayside Church of Galt combined old-fashioned fundraising techniques normally used to raise money for things like mission trips with the latest pathways for seeking donations to help purchase its first facility.

“We hosted bake sales, a hair-cut-a-thon, utilized a crowdfunder via Facebook, and sold our trailer,” said Campus Pastor Phillip Escamilla. “We also hosted a Financial Peace University class at the beginning of 2015 and saw our monthly giving increase throughout the year as a result.”

The church began with five families meeting to create a casual, contemporary church in 2008 and has since grown to more than 200 attendees. It became an official ECC church plant in 2010.

They first met in a high school, which meant a lot of hauling, setting up and tearing down equipment each Sunday, but then grew enough to rent a pre-existing 7,500-square-foot building that sits on 17,400 square feet of land. The lease included an option to buy, and the church purchased the building this past October.

The building includes an auditorium, a foyer—which doubles as a cafe and a youth space—three kids’ classrooms, an open kids’ area, a nursery, and office space. It also includes an upstairs apartment.

In addition to raising its own funds for the $620,000 purchase, the church was assisted with a loan from National Covenant Properties, which also had helped the congregation negotiate its original lease.