“I need help!”

That was the line included in a message Pastor Jesse Kearns sent Building and Capital Services Advisor Rev. Rosario Ibarra in January 2025.

At the time, he had served First Christian Church (FCC) Chico, CA for 17 years as the congregation’s Senior Pastor. It was a stable community of faith in the Northern California-Nevada region with strong, capable lay leaders, but needed assistance in raising money so that it could address security and property issues.

By partnering with us on a capital fundraising campaign (CFC) to make their building more welcoming, Pastor Jesse and his flock are now back to providing opportunities for faith development through worship, Christian education, fellowship, and pastoral care—without having to worry about their facility.

An inclusive and loving community of believers in Jesus Christ

In 1883, not long after the city of Chico was founded in Butte County—and the same year that Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF) was established—First Christian Church was constructed on Hazel Street. Seventy-two years later, a parsonage was built on the fringes of town, where it was surrounded by almond orchards. In 1956, the place of worship followed, relocating from the downtown core. Today, FCC Chico is at the same location, but the trees that once encircled it are gone.

Pastor Jesse Kearns with previous pastors Rev. Tom Shifflet and Rev. Wendell Pew

The faith community’s history has seen a series of long-term pastors. Former pastor Rev. Wendell Pew was called in the late 1970s, during the church’s heyday, and served for 30 years. His ministry excelled in outreach, focusing its efforts on the local hospital. Membership hovered around 300 people, with an average worship attendance of 150 folks.

“It’s said that he married over one third of the people living in the county,” laughs Pastor Jesse.

Rev. Carolyn Casey-Reed of the Upper Midwest region succeeded Rev. Pew, followed by Rev. David Dubeaux, whose tenure lasted five years. Rev. Tom Shifflet came next and he served for almost seven years. As Pastor Jesse’s predecessor, he was a calming and pastoral presence. Like Rev. Pew, he visited sick patients in the hospital.

All means all

But no matter where FCC was located or who led it, those who have worshiped in its sanctuary have primarily been older adults who have been active in their neighborhoods and have taken stands for social justice. Their church was one of the first in the region to have women in leadership positions, starting with elders then ministers in the 1990s. In 1996, FCC rewrote its mission statement to be inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community and from 2016-2017, it hosted Trans Awareness Week training with the local Stonewall Alliance Center.

“It’s not just a church that sits in the pews,” Pastor Jesse proudly states. “It steps up, meets challenges, and understands what issues need to be addressed.”

Congregants have lived out their passion for advocacy in the 21^st century by collaborating with local organizations. Through the Uplift Boutique, they provide sheets and towels, children’s clothing, cleaning kits, kitchen items, and baby quilts for reunified families, participants in the resource family approval program, and kinship homes with active placements.

“A group in town called The Forgotten Initiative wanted to know if we could be a place that would host the boutique, and we agreed, but it was just turned over to us,” explains Pastor Jesse. “They said, ‘we don’t need to oversee you anymore. You all just keep doing what you’re doing because you’re doing way more than we thought you’d do.’”

FCC also supports Safe Space Chico, a low-barrier shelter that provides welcoming places for individuals experiencing homelessness during extreme weather conditions. Together with six other churches in town, FCC houses anywhere from 40-60 folks during the winter and provides cooling stations during the summer. In addition, the congregation takes smaller, sister churches under its wing. One such partnership has seen what was once monthly preaching support for a Corning, CA faith community that had only 10-15 worshipers turn into the town’s only homeless outreach service. Pastor Jesse also meets with the lay minister at a Baptist church in Paradise, CA once a month, providing boundaries trainings and other support.

Every Day. For Everyone. For What’s Next.

Service to others is what keeps FCC vibrant and alive. But when Pastor Jesse was called to lead the congregation in December 2007, worship attendance had already started declining. Adjustments were made to the budget to account for this loss and leadership used our New Beginnings service. From this process, they learned that their facility was their best tool for ministry—and the key to their future.

“There’s a few different ways a church can go,” says Pastor Jesse. “It can die slowly, take its existing resources and fund a ministry that matches its missional philosophy, or it can reach even harder into the neighborhood and see what it can do about meeting needs. And that’s what we did.”

This principle guided the faith community when it partnered with our team in November 2025 on Imagine More, a CFC to make their facility more welcoming. After all, several local groups use their building, from Ballet Chico to 12-step programs to mental health support groups. FCC also wanted to improve security, cut down its water bill, and change over its heating and air conditioning systems. The congregation projected the projects would cost between $150-160K. But when Rev. Ibarra arrived in Chico, she knew that the people of FCC could do more.

“She ran the numbers and told us we could raise between $160K to $300K. We were like, ‘yeah right, that’s cute Rosario.’ But she argued that we were underselling ourselves,” recalls Pastor Jesse. “And so, under Rosario’s encouragement, we set the goal at $250K. We would not have even tried for the goal that she suggested if it weren’t for her pushing us. Rosario was exactly the person that we needed.”

With her challenging them in big ways, and our Direct of Development Katy McFall also helping out, Pastor Jesse and his fellow Disciples went all out on Imagine More. They created four high-quality videos, one for each week of the campaign’s public phase, which started the Sunday after Easter of this year. In the end, the committee received pledge cards totaling $283K and so far, has raised $89K. With that money, it has been able to paint the interior and exterior walls of the church and replace most of the HVAC units on the east side of the building.

“I hate patting myself on the back because I am not the type of person who does that,” reveals Pastor Jesse. “But holy crud we did a good job, you know?”

Ministries often need to raise financial support for projects that are holding faithful work back. Does this describe your community of faith? If so, partner with DCEF and see how your faith community can meet or exceed its fundraising goal and become more unified in its service to God. Contact us.