Stanwood, WA
Church Investors Fund recently had the privilege of partnering with Roots Church to help them buy and renovate their first church building! Here is Pastor Derek Fekkes’ story and journey:
“In 2013, I moved back to Stanwood, WA, where I had grown up, with my wife and 8-month old son, having a faint vision and sense of call to plant a church. I had read nothing about church planting. Only within the last 6 months had I warmed up to the idea. And so, we had little to no expectations of what this journey would look like. At some point along the way, we heard that most church plants don’t make it past the two-year mark, and that, needless to say, wasn’t encouraging to our hearts.
A significant factor in warming us up to this idea was the presence of a small network of churches in the area with a passion and established process for church planting. We plugged into one of these churches in a neighboring town, yearning for the oversight and wisdom of others in pursuing this call.
But those first 3-4 years of preparing to plant were very hard and discouraging. We didn’t see much happening. We didn’t grow much. It was hard to cast the vision, meeting as a small group in a home during the week. At many points, I was close to giving up. But by God’s grace, all the times I was discouraged and ready to give up, my wife was not, and God would use her to encourage me. And so we never felt peace about letting go, even though outwardly, there wasn’t much to show.
In 2017, we decided to just go for it, and officially “launch” as a church, even though we only had around 10-12 adults in our core group. It was during this time that we got connected with the NAB, and that was a huge help and encouragement for us. God used their commitment to us—financially and otherwise—to sustain us through the first few years after launching. What I especially appreciated was that they gave us time to grow organically, focusing on the most important things—preaching of the word, discipling one another—and took the pressure off of having to get to a certain size or place of financial viability within a certain time frame. This was so helpful and healthy for us!
We have never experienced massive growth, but God has slowly brought more and more people to the church. For the first 2 ½ years after launching, we met Sunday evenings in another church’s building. Then in 2019, we were able to begin renting some space of our own, a 6000 sq. ft. old building that had most recently been a pawnshop, in a very visible location in the heart of our small town (which caters to a widely spread-out community of around 35k).
With the help of the NABNW and some sister churches in both the NAB and the local network we are a part of, we were able to renovate the space and make it more suitable for a church, holding our first service there in September 2019.
Then, this past year (2024), our landlords informed us that they were going to be selling the space and wanted to offer it to us first. This was a big decision and undertaking for us, a church now of around 130. But just as God has always provided for us—which we recognize is a grace, and not something we deserve or have done on our own—he provided for us again. Through the commitment and generosity of a sister church of ours, the NABNW, and our own body, we were able to raise 140k for the down payment of a loan we obtained from Church Investors Fund, plus another 40k for some immediate renovations of the space, including increasing the size of the sanctuary and adding a third bathroom.
The purchase was completed in October last year, and the renovations wrapped up in February. On Saturday, May 3, we held an event to remember God’s abundant grace to us, give thanks for this building, and pray for God to continue to work in and through us. We are thankful to have made it past the 2-year mark (we are just past year 8 now), and hope to continue to be used to proclaim the gospel and disciple believers as a local church.”
– Pastor Derek Fekkes
