SHERRIE TURNER , CCA , SPHR , SHRM-SCP / DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS / CALVARY CHAPEL NEWPORT NEWS / NEWPORT NEWS , VA
How bond financing built the dream
By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
Driven by Senior Pastor Tony Clark ’ s heart for the youngest members of the church , Virginia ’ s Calvary Chapel Newport News had big goals for its new children ’ s wing . Really big .
Fortunately , he had just the right person on staff to take the helm . With decades of high-level corporate management experience under her belt , Director of Business Operations Sherrie Turner , CCA , SPHR , SHRM-SCP , took a well-informed approach to due diligence when vetting the church ’ s funding options . In doing so , she uncovered a less conventional , often misunderstood path to making this state-of-the-art project a reality — bond financing .
It was the right approach for a myriad of reasons , but above all : peace of mind and room to maneuver .
When Sherrie Turner joined the staff at Calvary Chapel Newport News ( CCNN ) in 2004 , she brought a wealth of HR , training and development and project management experience having worked for Fortune 500 companies for decades . She moved to the area for family reasons ( her parents retired there ) and to do some work to qualify for medical school . Turner began attending CCNN and became friends with Senior Pastor Tony Clark . Though she was accepted to a medical program upon finishing her coursework , an opportunity presented itself and Sherrie shifted gears once more , moving to the Washington DC area to do consulting for a
Fortune 50 company as well as — among other clients — one of the top 25 corporate universities in the country at that time . Throughout , she stayed in contact with Pastor Clark . “ He would just call and check on me and say , ‘ How are you doing ? How ’ s your walk going ?’” Turner recalls . “ And he kept saying , ‘ You ’ re doing these great things , but have you thought about using the skills God has given you in ministry ?’” Meanwhile , God kept nudging Turner , too : “ He just kept saying , do you trust Me ?” When family health reasons presented a fork in the road — to pursue the C-suite or move back to Newport News — Turner opted to move back to Newport News . She took a job at the church while still doing some consulting work with her previous employer . Eventually , she transitioned into full-time ministry work .
A big vision for children In 2018 , Pastor Clark set his sights on a world-class children ’ s wing . It was a lofty goal , but as Turner points out , Clark has always had a heart for the children of the church . “ He wants them to be able to learn on their own level , in ways that are relevant to their age , related experiences , and in an environment that ’ s fun and appealing ,” she says . “ Pastor Tony has often said that our competition for the minds of children isn ’ t with other churches , but with spaces like [ Walt ] Disney World .” In invoking environments like that , it was clear from the beginning that this would be no ordinary , run-of-the-mill children ’ s space — and it isn ’ t . As children advance down the hall of Kidz Bible Adventure , they are immersed in an environment where the stories of the Bible ( the
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