Elevation Church to build 1,200-seat campus in University City, discloses audit for the first time

Elevation Church plans to open a new, 1,200-seat campus in University Citys Innovation Park the former IBM headquarters by Easter 2015.

Elevations decision to build in the University area was disclosed in a new audit of the churchs 2013 finances the first one Elevation has ever made publicly available.

Other details in the audit revealed that a total of $13,000 was paid to some church board members for speaking at Elevation events.

Elevation, one of the countrys fastest-growing churches, just opened a $10.5 million campus in the Lake Norman area its ninth Charlotte-area site in January.

Construction of the new University site, just off IBM Drive, will begin in the upcoming months, said James Chunks Corbett, the churchs chief financial officer. Currently, the church rents space every weekend for worship at the University City YMCA.

The audit report, prepared by C.DeWitt Foard & Co., a Charlotte CPA firm, is available online and says Elevation has entered into an initial, 10-year lease for the land on which the University campus will be built. The church issued a $1.5million letter of credit in February to secure the lease, the report said, and Elevation expects monthly payments of $37,659 will start in the first quarter of 2015.

The church had previously declined to disclose its audited financial statements.

Instead, it distributed a glossy annual report, showed videos and made announcements at weekend services, while making income statements and balance sheets available.

In 2013, we decided to make the full audit available, he said.

Corbett also revealed that on Friday, Elevation was accepted as a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. The ECFA, based in Virginia, is a respected accreditation organization that asks member churches and Christian nonprofits to adhere to standards on everything from financial transparency to governance. To become a member, Corbett said, the church had to turn over all of its employees compensation data including Furticks.

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Elevation Church to build 1,200-seat campus in University City, discloses audit for the first time