Silver Creek
Silver Creek Church Was Growing Very Quickly. It Needed a Bigger Facility …and a Clear Path Forward
Silver Creek Church (SCC) had experienced strong growth for four straight years. Its current facility was bursting at the seams, and it needed a solution quickly. Ministry Solutions Group (MSG) helped the SCC team take the right steps to understand their situation and assess their resources. Now, we are helping them put a strong expansion plan in motion so they can move from their current reality to their preferred future.
The Client
Meet Silver Creek Church
In 2022, Silver Creek Church in Aurora, Ohio, officially became an independent church. Its vision of leading families to discover life in Jesus was infectious, and while Senior Pastor Todd Iannetta and his staff didn’t realize it at first, they were about to enter a phase of rapid growth.
The church started to grow by 15% every year for four years straight. By 2026, it had more than doubled in size, from an average attendance of 400 per week to one of 850. This was incredible, and everyone was excited. But it also created logistical problems.
The Problem
Needing Space in Every Area
By 2025, the Silver Creek Church staff was facing overflow and congestion issues in every area of their church operations. Their worship facility struggled to manage the doubled attendance numbers. Kids Ministry was overwhelmed. Turning over the parking lot between services was a growing issue.
Pastor Todd and his team knew they had to act quickly. Their initial idea was to hire an architect. They could have them draw up plans, but only then could they see what it would cost.
It felt out of order to plan so much so early in the process, but they weren’t sure what the best option was. This was their first building project as a newly independent church, and they needed an experienced outside voice that could bring them sound counsel.
Pastor Todd had heard about Ministry Solutions Group from a pastor in his cohort. He used this local connection to get in touch with Nathan and Ministry Solutions.
Once our team at Ministry Solutions Group was aware of this exciting chance to help a growing church accommodate its people, Principal and Founder Nathan Artt sprang into action. He formed a team that included MSG consultant (and executive pastor of Crossroads Church) Darin Yates, architectural consultant David Evans, and MSG’s Director of Project Management, Terry Campbell. Together, they started working on a solution that would serve Pastor Todd’s growing ministry and its mission.
The Solution
The Ministry Solution
When Ministry Solutions Group arrived in Aurora, our team quickly realized that the most important need for Silver Creek Church wasn’t to hire an architect. Not yet. It was to understand what its options were in the first place. Making decisions without considering stewardship is never the right choice, and the SCC team was ready to back up and start from the beginning.
We looked at SCC’s books first. It was great that the church was growing, but we needed to fully understand its financial situation. This allowed them to build a budget for their growth plans that reflected what they could realistically afford.
From there, we drew up initial plans that fit the vision for the Silver Creek building.
Conclusion
From Clarity to Momentum
Our team at Ministry Solutions Group brought a unique and informed perspective to critical phases of Silver Creek Church’s planning process. Nathan and the MSG team members shared a wealth of personal and institutional experience drawn from MSG’s history of walking churches through the journey of a new building project.
Gaining access to this knowledge, wisdom, and competence was helpful. It saved SCC from the unnecessary expense of hiring an architect too early in the process. It also helped them gain clarity around finances and ensured that the new project would support the church’s mission, and not the other way around.
Now the Silver Creek Church project is officially in motion. The proposed project will expand the existing 29,950 sq ft building through two additions:
A 16,000 sq ft worship center along the east side of the building
An 8,050 sq ft kids ministry addition along the south side of the building
In addition, certain areas of the existing space will be renovated to accommodate an expanded lobby.
Ministry Solutions Group continues to provide support at every step. Our team has shifted from an advisory to a project management role, including assigning MSG Project Manager, Chad Funk, to the project. We have preserved Silver Creek leadership’s vision throughout ongoing construction in multiple ways:
When the city’s zoning requirements looked like they would impact the new kids ministry wing, we worked with the architectural firm and church leadership to create a revised plan that passed the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Our team led a competitive bidding process for Silver Creek’s new audio, video, and lighting systems that reduced the cost by a third (bringing it within the project budget). We worked with the church’s production team and the AVL vendor to refine scope, choose smarter equipment, and maintain high quality.
When design development pricing came in higher than expected, we worked with the GM and architectural firm to identify just over $2 million in value engineering options. This gave Silver Creek's leadership clear, practical choices for keeping the project aligned with affordability while protecting the ministry spaces that matter most.
This has brought another distinct degree of partnership and guidance that the Silver Creek Church team is grateful for as it continues to navigate this important step for its church community. Both Ministry Solutions Group and Silver Creek Church look forward to continuing to build the church’s vision for its people and the local Aurora community in the years to come.
Ministry Solutions Group came to us at the perfect time. We knew we had to expand, but we had no idea what we could afford to do. Through Ministry Solutions, we were able to gain clarity on exactly what we could do for what we could afford and still maintain our church’s vision. This brought a lot of peace to our team as we approached the project.
Pastor Todd Iannetta
Lead Pastor
