THE LAST WORD: INVESTING IN THE NEXT GENERATION
Martin and I were talking at lunch today and reflecting on what it
must have been like to have been here (at Elim) 30 years ago when
the church was "restarted" after a hiatus of a few years. Most of
you may be aware that Elim was one of the first EV Free churches
planted in the U.S., in Tacoma in the late 19th century. But it
"almost" died out -- in fact, went dormant -- some 30 or so years
ago. After a few years of dormancy, a small group of members got
together and prayerfully decided that it was worth the attempt to
revive the church. So they built our present facility at the corner
of 94th and 128th, at great personal risk and expense. They also got
culturally relevant (they decided to speak English, for example) and
began reaching out to future generations. The rest is history!
Aren't you grateful they did? Martin and I, as we were talking, both
experienced a deep and profound sense of gratitude for their
commitment. It can't have been easy to step out in faith as they
did. But praise God that they did!
So
What Would We Do If We Were in Their Shoes?
Time and again, those who have attended this church since then have
had many opportunities to make a similar investment, designed to
ensure that Elim remains a vibrantly healthy place where new
families and people in our community can come together and
experience the new life in Christ that God wants them to experience.
The one we are talking about today is very small by the standards of
that original commitment.
For
several years the elders have known that there are several "capital
projects" that need attending to. The main one is that our
carpeting, which was a lower grade of carpet installed about 10
years ago after an insurance claim, needs to be repaired and
upgraded. The higher grade of carpet we will purchase will improve
the appearance of the facility while more readily taking the abuse
we dish out each week. The total cost for this project is
approximately $30,000.
There are also several other smaller projects God has laid on our
hearts. One is to replace the north wall of the sanctuary (the one
with a door leading into the fellowship room to the north) with a
more soundproof moveable partition. This will enable us to make
better use of this space for both large meetings (such as sanctuary
overflow and special events such as weddings and funerals) and Awana
(classrooms). We are also looking at some possible structural
improvements to our stage and sound system, and a variety of smaller
projects (such as replacing overhead sanctuary lighting with
brighter and more cost-effective LED lighting).
How To Accomplish This?
In July we called a special meeting of Elim members and friends to
discuss these improvements, totalling about $50,000 in cost, and to
talk about how we would finance them. The people attending this
meeting, representing a good cross-section of the church, spoke with
one voice in favor of making these badly needed improvements.
However, they also expressed understandable concern about the church
borrowing money to finance these capital improvements, in light of
the soft economy / recession and the loss of jobs many people have
experienced.
As a congregation we are called on to trust God to provide what we
need to do what He is calling us to do -- and we believe He is
calling us to be good stewards with this facility, and to explore
cost-effective ways we can more effectively use it to reach the next
generation. We are grateful the church shares this commitment. We
also believe we should be flexible in HOW these good goals are
accomplished; and we share the concern of many about the wisdom,
during difficult financial times, of incurring further indebtedness.
The
good news is that the church's budget situation is perhaps the
strongest it has ever been, thanks to the faithfulness of God
expressed through his people! We are hesitant to ask people to "dig
deeper," and yet at the same time we believe we would be remiss not
to present this special opportunity to the congregation for your
prayerful support.
So
this is what we are going to do. A portion (about $20,000) of the
expense will be covered out of budgeted 2009 and 2010 monies
(including the current surplus). We can do this much without
endangering our weekly cash flow. Then this weekend during both
services (9:00 and 10:45), Pastor Martin will be sharing more about
this opportunity to continue to make Elim attractive to future
generations. We will ask members and friends of Elim to prayerfully
consider a special donation for these projects, either as a one-time
gift, or as monthly gifts spread out over a 9-month timeframe (or
both). We will distribute commitment cards you can use to
prayerfully discuss this opportunity with your family, and we will
ask for these cards to be returned to us within three weeks with
your decision indicated so that we can know how to proceed.
Our
goal is to raise $30,000 in this manner, for improvements totalling
about $50,000. If we can do this, we can make the needed
improvements without incurring any debt whatsoever.
We
have about 75 families who worship here, who have the capacity to be
a part of this project. If 25 of those committed the equivalent of
$75 per month for this project, and 25 committed $40 per month, and
the remaining 25 committed $20 per month, we would exceed this goal.
Your Part Starts With Prayer!
Please be in prayer for this weekend, and especially for whatever
part the Lord might have you to play in this project. If you have
any questions, please chat with any of the staff or elders. Thank
you!
