He went to the meeting the next day and told the other church leaders what God had told him, that they were not supposed to purchase a new building. Instead, the church should renovate the current building and pay off the mortgage.
Rosenthal said that soon afterward, God gave him a vision for how to use the land. “The Lord showed me a vision of that land being used for affordable housing,” he said. “And we followed exactly what God told us to do.”
Rosenthal and his church entered an extended process of moving forward with their new assignment, which involved getting the land rezoned and the city council’s approval for what the church wanted to do. Initially, three city council members were “vehemently” opposed to adding more affordable housing in East McKinney.
“God allowed some detours to take place,” said Rosenthal, but said that the “bottom line is it all worked in God’s perfect timing.”
Those city council members eventually termed out, and the new city council members “were able to see the vision that God had given us,” he said, so that eventually the city council voted unanimously to approve the church’s project.
Rosenthal said the church intentionally partnered with a developer that “specialized in affordable housing.”
“God allowed us to have a trifecta,” he said. “We paid off the debt on our current church, the mortgage debt. We were able to do a very immaculate renovation to the worship center. And then thirdly, we sold the land to the right person.”
Now, the new affordable housing complex, which has 300 units, is 98% complete. And even though the church sold the land to the developer, which now owns the property, McKinney First Baptist is still involved in the project.
“You know, we partnered with them with this concept in mind,” said Rosenthal. As a result, the church will be holding an event where, following Sunday service, people will be able to complete the first part of the housing application process.
Applicants will have that opportunity “after the worship and the Word service is over,” said the pastor. “So when the benediction takes place, [the developer is] going to have a table set up in the church, and people will be able to…apply right there, right after church.”
“That is going to be the day that I’m going to shout like I’ve never shouted before, because that…to me, that is the full fruition of of everything,” said Rosenthal, adding that God has already followed through and that “everything he said, we’ve done.”
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When asked how he would encourage other pastors and churches to help with the housing crisis, Rosenthal said, “I think every church who owns land, they need to make certain that they have a conversation with the Lord to say, ‘Lord, what is the use that you want us to do with this land?’”
“Because they may be just like us,” he said. “The church is growing, thriving, and it just makes sense to go and build another building.”
Rosenthal pointed out that in the Book of Acts, Jesus’ followers “turned the world upside down” without any “marketing plan, any building fund, any big buildings. They just preached the gospel.”
Pastors, especially African American pastors, are quick to point out the need for affordable housing, said Rosenthal. If churches have access to “land that could make that a reality,” instead of building a larger church building, “we might need to think about utilizing that land for an even greater community kingdom advancement project.”
“So for me,” he said, “I would say that my advice to every pastor is be sure that it is God calling you to build a new building versus you wanting another new building, because affordable housing is needed.”
