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Impact Church
A 2013 OUTREACH 100 CHURCH
#9 FASTEST-GROWING
In summer 2010 Travis Hearn was enjoying life as a motivational speaker for athletes when he was asked to pastor a church. But this wasn’t just any church—it was a congregation whose soon-to-be foreclosed building was in the middle of an industrial park with a limited signage ordinance and 45 parking spaces.
“It really was a mess,” says Hearn, senior pastor of Impact Church.
So he and wife Natalie jumped in to help. A fundraising campaign called “We Believe” had netted only $60,000 of the $100,000 goal when a hailstorm caused significant damage to the building. Insurance paid enough for repairs plus other major improvements, sparking new energy in the church.
“We like to joke that God took it from ‘We Believe’ to ‘Hail Yeah,’” Hearn says.
Still, the church was way behind on its $23,000 monthly mortgage payments. In a last-ditch effort, Hearn flew to the lender’s headquarters (on a buddy pass, he points out—“that’s how broke we were”) and pleaded their case.
The bank said, “We don’t do this” but then called Hearn the next day and offered to restructure the loan and forgive part of the debt. Today, the church’s finances are so healthy that it’s expanding to a closed auto dealership across the street.
“God is doing something really special here,” Hearn says.
IMPACT CHURCH Scottsdale, Ariz.
Senior Pastor: Travis Hearn
Twitter: @TravisHearn
Website: ImpactChurch.com
Founded: 2001
Affiliation: Nondenominational
Locations: 1
Attendance: 1,488
Growth in 2012: +905 (155%)
