Ministry Opportunities
The blessing of a vibrant, active, and joyful people who regularly worship their Lord in a worship-focus Church Home is needed. Our spiritual bodies yearn for a respectful and appropriate place to worship the Creator and Savior God. Our desire is a Church Home that encourages people coming together to hear the word, receive the sacraments, and strengthen the bonds of Christian fellowship with their fellow believers. God’s people also crave the need for social interaction before and after worship. Our rented worship spaces over the years served us well. Now is the time to move forward in Peace’s history with the construction of a Church Home worthy of God’s calling and honoring his great blessings!
Within the last few years Peace secured land to meet future worship and ministry needs. Peace members have indicated overwhelming support for our proposed 5-acre site plan. Our people have expressed a desire to move forward with construction soon after the spring of 2024, God willing.
Identifying Ministry Challenges
Reaping A Harvest fund appeal seeks to address our financial needs by supplying our ministry with funds for a new building. We will connect with every Peace family asking for a special 3-year gift. All gifts given through Reaping A Harvest effort will be credited to our building fund.
The major goals of this building project are to:
• Erect a 9,200 sq foot Church Home capable of 250 plus seating
• Provide spacious area for visiting and connecting before and after worship services
• Build ministry and office space supporting all our efforts of sharing the Gospel
Our hope is to present gifts totaling $750,000 to $1,000,000 over three years. Special gifts for Reaping A Harvest will be used to develop our land site and are over and above current giving.
Consider the Ministry Challenges
Our vision is to share God’s Word and the comfort it brings with those around us-both members and non-members-as often and in as many ways as possible. To carry out this vision, we view our buildings as tools to assist us for ministry work.
A lack of building space can interfere with or may become a barrier to God’s people doing ministry work. Our current building space limitation has been assessed by our building committee, along with congregational input, and determined that a worship space expansion is desired to better serve current members and be a tool to connect with the community in carrying out our Gospel ministry.
We are proposing a 9,200 sq. ft. Church Home with an estimated cost of $3.3 million.
We hope and pray that our new Church Home space will serve our needs for many years to come. As you view the following pages, we invite you to picture the many souls (both children and adults) learning about Jesus and growing in their faith in these spaces. What a wonderful image of the Word of God impacting souls!
Preliminary Cost & Income Projections
In addition to the above funding sources, a plan is being developed to address future monthly mortgage payments to support a new loan amount. We currently budget $18,000 yearly for rental space and this amount will transfer to a new mortgage. The entire congregation will have input when we discuss the level of debt to be incurred. We are current with the land loan payments.
What Are the Next Steps?
The following steps and timeline are offered as a tentative guide. At every step of the way, the congregation has the decision to stop, place on hold, or move forward with each action or proposal. The timeline may be adjusted per congregational decision.
Fall, 2023
Implement an all-member fund appeal and begin a 3-year gift collection process
Spring, 2024
Refine concept and financial plans, adjust if necessary. Vote on building proposal. Authorize working drawings and set ground breaking date.
Summer / Fall 2024
Start construction.
Questions and Answers
Are we certain we need a new Church Home?
Yes, most definitely! First, our goal as Christians is to give God our best and to do our best with the gifts, talents and ministry he has entrusted to us. Developing our land is another approach in reaching the lost with the love of Christ. Human social contact is important and necessary – especially in the church when sharing the gospel is foremost. Human connections are vital. A permanent worship and gathering area will give our members an opportunity to meet with one another and visitors, making further connections.
Why is this emphasis important to me?
The Reaping A Harvest emphasis is an extraordinary opportunity for you to grow richer in faith and generosity. You will have many opportunities to consider God’s abundant blessings on both personal and congregational levels. You will also have the opportunity to pray about your understanding of God’s grace and goodness when you evaluate your current giving to the Lord. We hope and pray that this giving is an expression of your thanksgiving and love for God and a response to the grace he has showered on you. In preparing to respond, consider asking yourself the following questions: What is truly important? What gives my life meaning.
What do I want to provide for my children and grandchildren, for my neighbors and friends? What will I give to accomplish what is truly important7
How can we expect to generate $750,000 or more in gifts?
We believe we have the potential to generate enough funds to meet our goal. But this cannot happen without the Lord’s blessing, and so all our endeavors call for firmly relying on and having faith in the Lord of the Church. Jesus put it simply: “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:Sb). But he also said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Your participation starts with praying and counting the blessings brought into your life through God’s grace in Jesus. With that mindset as the starting point, every family will receive information on how they can participate in the
Reaping A Harvest emphasis.
When will we begin construction?
As always, we will proceed with caution and the congregation will have final approval. First, we need a prayerful and strong response to our stewardship emphasis. Our current ministry needs to make this project urgent and important for us to proceed quickly, but carefully. Assuming the stewardship emphasis is successful, we hope and pray to break ground soon after the spring of 2024 while also taking the time required to make prudent decisions and to move forward wisely as a congregation.