The Pilgrim

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Message From The Moderator… Diving into our
August has been a busy month, preparing for our capital campaign kick-off this fall. As we go
to print mid-month, much progress has been made to lay the groundwork for our campaign. What
all has happened in just a few short weeks?
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We have welcomed Jesse Winters, Campaign Director from James D. Klote & Associates onsite to
assist with our Readiness Assessment report. This will serve as the roadmap for prioritizing our
capital campaign projects, and has been presented to the congregation on August 24 th . At that
meeting, we summarized the results of our Readiness Assessment and responded to focus group
feedback and introduced the chairmen of our Capital Campaign Steering Committee. This
Committee is charged with leading and overseeing the campaign this fall, and will report on a regular
basis to the Cabinet and the congregation. This meeting is posted on our website.
Many of you – over 125 – participated in our six focus groups, and I thank you for your valuable
feedback. These focus groups have served as an important vehicle to hear your voices, strategically
plan our future, and share your ideas, thoughts, and visions framing our capital campaign - one that
we hope has full congregational support and ownership. Learning about the remarkable history our
congregation shares was a bonus at these meetings. Not only should we be proud of our first 150
years firmly rooted in social justice and community building, but we are pro-actively designing our
next 150 years as a church and high impact congregation!
A communications plan for full transparency is in the works, which will update everyone – in real
time and with many different media – about the progress of our campaign, including income, loan
paybacks, and expenditures. The congregation will know every step of the way what’s happening
with the campaign and our building, along with any change of course, from start to finish.
Strong consensus for a professionally managed, tightly directed capital campaign has been built
across First Congregational leadership and throughout our congregation in 2014. As I think back to
last winter when these conversations about our building began, first with 9 Cabinet members, then
to our very dedicated Working Group of 15, up to our June 1 st meeting with nearly unanimous
congregational support for financing our emergency building needs, and now to our fall capital
campaign kick-off, I am amazed and overwhelmed with the commitment, momentum, teamwork,
and energy that our church has generated around something bigger than all of us.
A capital campaign is a special time for our congregation, as we all consider giving sacrificially for
the future of our church and the far-reaching missions that our building houses. We will be taking
a giant step and a deep dive collectively, growing together as a congregation and a community. As
you prayerfully prepare for our campaign, consider reading Mark chapter 5, when the disciples ask
Jesus how they will feed many hungry men with just five loaves and two fish. After Jesus’ blessing,
those who had eaten the loaves miraculously number 5,000! Think of the impact of a restored
walkway to our church – it is just a short length of concrete but can provide safe access to many for
our church services and community outreach programs.
As present-day disciples, through our faith, and under our roof, we too offer ministry, missions,
community building and programs that transform hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives. This is just
the beginning, and there is no better time to invest in our church. We are ready!
As always, you can ask, email or call me with any questions about the capital campaign
(vhopley@comcast.net, 630/987-9298).
-- Virginia Hopley