About the Campaign

Rooted and Restored is a campaign to update The Branch’s building so it can continue to grow as a community hub for transformation. Together, we can make our building fully accessible to all and restore key infrastructure.

For decades, this building has been a place where lives are changed — where children learn to pray, where friends become family, where the hungry are fed and the weary find rest. 

But the building that has carried us this far needs us to care for it now.

The flat roof is at the end of its functional life. The carpet in the nursery is older than most of the parents who walk across it. The elevator that should welcome every neighbor through our doors hasn’t worked in too long. These aren’t just maintenance items — they’re an invitation. An invitation to make sure The Branch remains a place where everyone is welcome, where worship continues uninterrupted, and where the next generation finds the same warm, open doors we did.

That’s what Rooted and Restored is about.

What the Campaign Will Accomplish

• Install a new elevator at the 28th St. entrance
• Fully re-pave the parking lot
• Replace the flat roof
• Replace a non-functioning heating and AC rooftop unit
• Replace a heating/AC rooftop unit that’s well past its life expectancy
• Fix the lights on our 28th St. sign
• Replace the 1980’s carpet in the classrooms

 

Our Goal

Raise $250,000 over three years.

Rooted and Restored will be a big undertaking, but it is well within our capacity. A fundraising consultant from our congregation has helped us determine an amount and timeframe that fits our congregation and follows best practices.
The campaign will begin June 2026 and run for three years.

 

How We Get There

Every gift matters. Here’s one possible framework for reaching our goal:

Total Gift	# of Gifts Needed	Total Toward Goal	Yearly	Monthly
$21,000	1	$21,000	$7,000	$583
$18,000	2	$18,000	$6,000	$500
$15,000	3	$45,000	$5,000	$417
$12,000	5	$60,000	$4,000	$333
$9,000	5	$54,000	$3,000	$250
$6,000	5	$42,000	$2,000	$167
$3,000	6	$21,000	$1,000	$83
$1,200	7	$8,400	$400	$33

Give

Thank you for considering how you can help us continue to offer belonging and hope in this part of the city and beyond.

[ Share your Commitment to Give ] →  Click here

Christmas Eve – 5pm

Sunday after Christmas: Potluck brunch and carols

This Advent, we’ll be considering four stories from Jesus’ birth narratives.

Sanctified Art, whose poetry and art we will use throughout the series, outlines the series this way:

Luke’s Gospel begins the story of Jesus with this opening line: “In the time of Herod…” This detail may seem minor to modern readers, however, it reveals layers of information about the fearful world Jesus entered, one filled with rampant oppression, economic disparity, uncertainty, and instability. A world not so unlike our own. And yet, throughout the stories of Christ’s birth, the whispers of angels deliver a surprising message: “Do not fear.” In our own time, we might ask: is it even possible to be fearless in a fearful world? When Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the magi are each called into God’s redemptive story, they do not deny their fears—they move through them. They ask questions, hold fast to courage, trust
in good news, and say, “Here I am, Lord.” When we find ourselves in fearful times, can we acknowledge our fears while also insisting on hope?

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily posts that asks important questions, share beautiful, provoking artwork, and offer encouragement to press on.

Series Themes:

November 30 – In the Time of Herod, We Long for God to Break In

December 7 – When We’re Running Out of Hope, God is at Work

December 14 – Even in Our Fear, We Are Called Forward

December 21 – When You’re Afraid, Give Me Your Hand

December 24 – Good News is Louder Than Fear

Our Christmas Eve gathering is at 5pm

With surprising regularity, humans choose to live in a way that harms others and/or themselves, not to mention the planet. And no one is immune. Every. Single. Person knows what it is to “feed the compulsions of selfishness” (Galatians 5:16, The Message).

Today, we see all too well the poisonous outcomes of such a choice (in our own lives to be sure, and also in the ways those in power exact cruelty and harm as they act out of selfishness).

But there is another way. A way that changes us so profoundly that we begin producing life-giving fruit.

Called ‘the fruits of the Spirit’ in the New Testament, these nine virtues change us so that we can join in the work of changing the world.

We do not need to be ruled by shallow self-interest. There is another way. Join us as take this journey together.

Starting September 7…

• The Love We All Need

• The Joy We All Need

• The Peace We All Need

• The Patience We All Need

• The Kindness We All Need

• The Goodness We All Need

• The Faithfulness We All Need

• The Gentleness We All Need

• The Self-Control We All Need

Sunday, May 25 – 10:00-11:15am

• 9:45am – meet at building (973 28th St. SE) for coffee and donuts
• 10:00am – walk down to Mackay/Jaycee Park
  • We’re partnering with the Alger/Garfield Green Team to clean up wooded areas in the park.
  • Wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, considering bringing a pair of gloves. We’ll have all tools/trash bags/etc.
• 11:15am – walk back to The Branch building

Caring for God’s creation and serving our community our deeply held values at The Branch. We’d love for you to join us!

Step 1: Purchase your favorite squares!

Fundraiser starts February 12 @ 6PM
Squares are purchased first come first serve by going to the FB Event Page.

Do you have a favorite number, a child’s birthdate, anniversary? Pick as many numbers as you want! We have squares numbered from 1 to 125, with each square priced at its corresponding number. For example, Square 1 costs $1, Square 2 costs $2, and so on, up to Square 125, which costs $125.

Step 2: Earn tickets for each square you purchase to enter into drawings for prizes!

Each square you purchase provides you with tickets for prize drawings. The larger numbered squares earn you more tickets. For example, Squares 1-5 provide one ticket, Squares 6-10 provide two tickets, and so on, up to Squares 120-125 which provide 25 tickets.

Step 3: Use your tickets to enter as many prizes drawings as you want!

We have a total of about 40 prizes. We will have a live event of prize drawings on Sunday, February 23 immediately after our Sunday morning service. You will be provided with your tickets at the event and will have the opportunity to use those tickets to enter a drawing for prizes. You can put your tickets into one drawing or as many as you want (given that you have enough tickets ).

If you are unable to attend the live event, no worries! You can send us an email (admin@thebranchonline.org) and let us know which prize drawings you want to use your tickets towards. Here are some examples of prizes:

• Night in a golf simulator for up to four people, including drinks and snacks
• Old Goat gift card (value of $50)
• 4 hours of handyman work by Chris DeBlaay (2 of these prizes available)
• The Gilmore Collection gift card (value of $50)
• Piano dinner music (either live or recorded) for your next dinner party
• Amazon gift card (value of $50)
• Home cooked meal for up to 6 people delivered to your door

For the full list of prizes, click here.

October 6 – Alternatives to Christian Nationalism

What happens when a growing number of Americans believe that the United States was and should be a Christian nation? That being a Christian is important if you want to be a real American? We’ll look at the roots and dangers of Christian Nationalism, and share thoughtful alternatives from some of today’s thought leaders.

November 3 – Understanding Our Emotional Selves
Registration opens October 7
This conversation offers a chance for participants to consider how their upbringing and past experiences impact their current emotional understanding and expression. Using a lens of science and cultural norms, Bethany Ackley DeBlaay (MA, LLP, SEP) will explore how to increase self-awareness and connection.

Sunday, March 24, 5:00-6:30pm

Please invite anyone who might be interested.

Please register by clicking here.

After spending over a week in Palestine and Israel as part of a twenty three member, multi-denominational delegation, Chris and Josh Vis will share stories and reflections from their time in Palestine and Israel.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine — which has now been going on over 70 years — has reached an unprecedented moment. We have are living through a pivotal, historic event and while it may feel like there is little we can do, the truth is that as Americans we have more potential influence than anyone else in the world.

Learning about the facts on the ground will not only inform but inspire us to do what we can to move toward justice and peace.

You can either join us in person or on Zoom.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85066828752
Meeting ID: 850 6682 8752

If your are coming in person, parking is available on Madison, south of Burton.

On Ash Wednesday we are marked on our foreheads with a reminder of our mortality. The same palms we raise up and wave on Palm Sunday each year are made to know the sting of death – we burn them. And the following year, in an ever-curious act, we pick up the ashes and we mark ourselves with them.
What does it mean that we don’t just talk about the ashes, or even reverently observe them, but that we physically smear them across our faces? Perhaps, in the marking, we approach solidarity. We remember that the same fate that haunts you, haunts me. The same beauty that birthed you, lives in me. And that this comes as a mark on the body, I think, reminds us that the Lenten journey of self-examination is deeply entwined with the physical world.

from Black Liturgies; Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human

Join us Wednesday, 2/14, at 7pm as we begin the journey of Lent together. Our hour long gathering will be a time of reflection on both the challenges of our world and our lives as well as our hopes for the future.

As we begin a new year, our conversation on Sundays will center around an ancient practice and rhythm of rest called Sabbath — a practice we’re pretty sure most of us are unfamiliar with, but need nonetheless.

That said, this conversation is not first and foremost about developing a 24-hour period free of any work. That may be a very good goal, but given the pace of most of our lives it is likely not a realistic target to immediately aim for.

Instead, we’re asking two questions: what is the Sabbath meant to teach us about things like time, work, and relationships, and what are steps we can take right now to move our rhythms and patterns into alignment with what God teaches us through the Sabbath.

We look forward to the conversation together.