"Growing for Tomorrow"
Capital Stewardship Campaign

Pastor’s Letter

Dear First Family,                       

God has richly blessed First Presbyterian Church throughout its history and that has never been more apparent than in these last several years.   Through our ministries and the building of our new facilities we have been having a greater kingdom impact and meeting spiritual needs locally, regionally and globally. 

Indeed, God continues to bless us as our membership grows.  Yet with this growth comes a challenge.  Even though we are growing, our giving to the operating budget is barely supporting current ministries.  We still have a substantial debt from our building expansion and there are some ministries that are underfunded or understaffed, and other new ones are needed.   Our leadership believes we must find a way to remove some of the debt load in order to free up resources to be used to maintain and expand ministries that are important to our mission and vision.   We believe one of the best ways to do that is through a second capital stewardship campaign.

“Growing for Tomorrow” is the name chosen for our stewardship campaign.   Through our “Growing for Tomorrow” campaign, we hope to substantially reduce the debt remaining on our newest facilities so that we may be better able to do what God has called us to do in our community and beyond.   We are being asked to give sacrificially, over and above our regular giving, for the next three years.  As we continue to pursue our vision of “becoming a community of faith, hope, and love; committed to knowing Christ and making him known”, we realize that there are important ministries that cannot be started or maintained unless our debt load is significantly reduced or eliminated.    Therefore, “Growing for Tomorrow” is an important step to our future and your involvement impacts its success.

These are exciting days in the life and ministry of our church.  May the Lord lead us all as we commit to seek and act on God’s will as He reveals it to each of us.   And remember, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31:8).  May the Lord receive all the glory from what we do together.

In the Grip of His Grace,

The Time Is Now

The time to reduce our church debt has come.   By reducing  the principle of the loan for our new facilities, we can put additional resources into reaching and teaching more devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.    We believe that God has given us a vision that involves moving forward on various fronts at once.  For example, expanding in our own community, planting like-minded churches in our region, and increasing our missions impact globally.   

The addition that was completed in 2008 has already made some of these things possible. By building our new facilities and going to two services, we’ve made room for more, but serving and equipping more people requires more ministry and ministry funding.    The challenge that we face is that our remaining debt load and its interest takes resources away from our goals.   We need to get our debt to at least a more “manageable level” so that we can fund it within our budget like a family does a typical house payment.   Then we can devote more resources to funding the ministries and missions that we believe God is calling us to pursue. 

Your gift to this campaign will help our church be in a better place to serve its members and the community in a broader way during the coming decade and beyond.  Should God enable us to be completely “debt free” that would be great (and we’ll give Him all the glory), but we must significantly reduce our building debt in order to accomplish this vision.  Only then will we be free to continue growing into the tomorrow that God has for us.  

Upcoming Events

February 7th      

VISION GATHERING

Make plans now to be here for worship on Sunday, February 7th, 2010, for a special
“Vision Gathering” service.  We will share more information with you about the campaign then.  Please realize that your participation is important but that no financial commitments will be taken at that time.

February 14th            

CHILDREN’S ART FESTIVAL

Our Children will be showing off their talents and creativity during the Art Festival.

February 15th    

EARLY COMMITMENT BANQUET

This will be an opportunity to gather and listen to different ways of giving.  You will have an opportunity to commit early.  Call the church office if you would like to be included.

February 28th    

COMMITMENT EVENT

Don’t miss out on the party!  Join us for an awesome celebration and the blessings from the Growing for Tomorrow campaign as we gather for our morning worship service.

March 14th        

CELEBRATION SUNDAY

Join us as we praise and worship God on this special day of celebration!  We will celebrate the Lord and all He has done for us during the Growing for Tomorrow campaign.