Compass Christian’s ‘Unstoppable’ Campaign Aptly Named

By Justin Horey

Just before Thanksgiving, Compass Christian Church opened its newest campus in North Fort Worth, Texas. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a significant but not unusual event for a multisite megachurch like Compass, which is one of the largest congregations in Texas. But Compass built and launched its new site as part of a $50 million generosity campaign conducted entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Compass’s generosity campaign, dubbed “Unstoppable,” was in its final planning stages in February 2020. That month, the church hosted a pre-launch leadership dinner with no idea the initial pandemic lockdown would soon follow. When those stay-at-home orders were issued in March 2020, lead pastor Drew Sherman and the church’s leaders decided to move ahead with the campaign, despite the uncertainty created by the novel coronavirus.

“How could we press pause on a movement called ‘Unstoppable?’” Sherman asked.

SOME ADAPTATIONS
The campaign was different than originally planned in many ways—most initial donor meetings happened by videoconference instead of in-person—but the leaders at Compass never second-guessed the decision to conduct the campaign. The church simply adapted when necessary, believing that God was spurring them on.

When COVID restrictions in Texas were eased, the Sherman family hosted small, socially distanced gatherings in their backyard. When it was time to print campaign T-shirts for the congregation, they featured the word “Unstoppable” on the front, and the phrase “When the world pressed pause, the church pressed play” on the back.

On Commitment Sunday in March 2021, the congregation at Compass committed $44.5 million to the Unstoppable campaign—just shy of the $50 million goal. Those funds were earmarked for three purposes: engagement (or local ministry), reach (missions and outreach), and movement (campus construction and renovations). The North Fort Worth campus was just one part of a much larger plan.

This month marked the halfway point of the two-year Unstoppable campaign. To date, Compass has collected 98 percent of the original commitments—an outstanding result under any circumstances, but especially surprising in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.

Also this month, Compass held a second Commitment Sunday for individuals and families who had missed the original event because they only joined the church in the last year. Those new attendees committed an additional $3 million to the Unstoppable campaign. To Sherman, it was just another sign that continuing the campaign was part of God’s plan for Compass.

“As COVID progressed, we recognized that people were still starving for engagement,” he said.

MORE TO THE STORY
The financial success of the campaign is only part of the story. In the final quarter of 2021 alone, Compass welcomed more than 11,000 people for Christmas services, packed 1 million meals for individuals in Haiti, Sierra Leone, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area at a “Meal Marathon,” and provided an online studio to Central India Christian Mission, which is now reaching millions of individuals weekly with online church services in the Hindi language.

Prior to the completion of the new facility in North Fort Worth, Compass’s satellite campus there was meeting at a high school, and attendance had been averaging around 350. On grand opening Sunday, nearly 1,100 people attended the celebration in-person, with another 500 watching online. In the few months since then, attendance at the new site is averaging 1,000 worshippers each week.

The church is also busy with renovations on its original campus in Colleyville, and they have used funds from the Unstoppable campaign to purchase property for yet another new satellite location. Compass Christian Church truly isn’t stopping. No matter what challenges the church has faced during its unique.

“I feel like our people didn’t blink,” Sherman said.

Justin Horey is a writer, musician, and the founder of Livingstone Marketing. He lives in Southern California.