Dear Church,

A little over a year ago we moved into the Banquet Hall. This facility has been a great blessing to this church and the larger community and has greatly increased our ability to host multiple events at the same time. I thank God for the superb leadership we received from our committees and for the extraordinary generosity from the great majority of our members. YOU made it all possible as you allowed God's leading in your life.

Now it is time to finish that grand building. The first floor is just waiting for completion, and our youth and children are eager to inhabit their new space there. The plans are finished and approved by you. All that remains is the securing of funds. Please remember that through our Third Century Plan we raised more than $8 million for the Banquet Hall ($7.7 million for the main project plus $585,000 for related projects). So what do we need now to finish this building and establish premier space for our youth and children?

We need this brand new campaign called Our Faith, Our Future.

First, it will provide $1.5 million to construct the first floor lobbies, gathering spaces, and classes. Our preschool will occupy one half of the space and the youth will occupy the other.

Then, it will give us $500,000 to renovate the older children's space on the current second floor of the educational building. This amount will also renovate the current nursery and open it up as much-needed new space for the music ministry.

Finally, it will provide $2 million to help eliminate our current debt and move us into a much more manageable position for our church's financial future. (Right now our debt is some $6.7 million, and this is okay while interest rates are at historic lows. But low interest rates cannot remain for long.)

I want you to know something even more important than all the above, however. Our Faith, Our Future is only secondarily about space and buildings and debt. More than anything, it is about the giving of ourselves to God, about a whole culture of giving that is necessary for our spiritual health. Only through offering significant gifts to God, only through giving cheerfully from our hearts and in gratitude for our abundance - and not simply for a campaign but as a way of life, our life in Christ - can we live abundantly and fully and bless God's work even as we ask God to bless it. Indeed, God is blessing our faith and our future.

Gratefully,

Bill Coates