Catch the Vision... Share the Glory

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#006633" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="1a3d6c00ddvuru.jpg"> <div> <B>Looking</B></div> <div> <B>Toward</B></div> <div> <B>the</B></div> <div> <B>Future!</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#0066FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Grace Lutheran Church</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#333399" FACE="Arial" >    </FONT> |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Grace Lutheran Church"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Congregation"><U>Congregation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Music"><U>Music</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Youth"><U>Youth</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Preschool"><U>Preschool</U></A>   |   <B>Catch the Vision... Share the Glory</B>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Ministry and Support Staff"><U>The Ministry and Support Staff</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newsletters to Download"><U>Newsletters to Download</U></A></div> <div> Catch the Vision... Share the Glory</div> <div> <I>Catch the Vision... Share the Glory</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><IMG SRC="1b2bcfb0.png" border=0 width="188" height="251" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT></div> <div> What is it?     It is a three year program of renewal -- focusing on:</div> <bR> <div>       The Vision of Mission -- Sharing the Good News beyond our own congregation. . .</div> <bR> <div>       The Vision of Renovation -- Making up for overdo maintenance of roofs, windows, </div> <div>               and floors in our oldest buildings...</div> <bR> <div>       The Vision of Recruitment -- Identifying youth for church work careers and endowing</div> <div>               a scholarship fund to turn their dreams into full-time church work vocations...</div> <bR> <div>       The Vision of Repayment -- Paying down our mortgage debt so that money which</div> <div>               would go to interest payments would go to programs and people directly</div> <div>               involved in sharing the Gospel...</div> <bR> <div>      By raising $800,000 in time for the Congregation's 50th Anniversary Celebration</div> <div>               in the Spring of 2009!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>What is this really about?  Money?  Mission?<IMG SRC="1abcca10.png" border=0 width="204" height="161" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <bR> <div> This is really about mission – who are we as Grace Lutheran Church and what are we about.  What is our mission?  Behind the Great Commission are the ways great and small in which we try to fulfill Christ’s calling.  This emphasis is about:</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Humn122b009500dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="15" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <B>A common vision and purpose</B> – everyone on the same page and heading the same direction...</div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Humn122b009500dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="15" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Short term needs</B> that will distract or divert us unless we deal with them...</div> <div> 1.   Urgent building needs – new roof on the A-frame and Fellowship Hall, new windows in the Fellowship Hall, new flooring in the Chapel and Fellowship Hall...</div> <div>         2.  Heavy debt – we owe $1.1 Million and could repay it over 20 years at a cost of $3 Million with interest OR we could pay down that debt so that money is freed from interest payments to programs that directly impact our caring for people and sharing the Gospel... (imagine and dream what we could do with money freed from debt service?!?!?!)...</div> <div> 3.   Stronger commitment to missions – to do work that does not directly impact me or my Church but fulfills Christ’s great commission – things like recruiting and supporting youth people to serve as Pastors, teachers, DCEs and having a missions endowment to plant the seeds we have no money for in our general budget giving... things like the Korean Mission or another LCMS congregation in Montgomery County... you do the dreaming...</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Humn122b009500dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="15" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">     <B>Long term growth in mission as managers of God’s resources</B>; we have</div> <div>           accomplished a great deal over the past decade, we have seen great growth in numbers, in outreach, and in the work of God’s Kingdom done in this place but unless we can increase our effectiveness in building up our role as stewards or managers of God’s resources, we will not be able to open new doors or answer new needs in the years to come.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Why a fund raising campaign?  Money?  Mission?</B></I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Humnst777 BT" ><IMG SRC="1ada4b90.png" border=0 width="164" height="185" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Few of us think about maintenance until we have to – a roof leak or funny noise in the car forces us to deal with such things. Our roof is leaking and our budget is making noise.  The short term goal of this is to raise the funds needed to address these problems.  There is no way around that.  But the long term goals go well <I>beyond three years </I>of special giving emphasis.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Why do we have to think long-term?  Aren’t we making it now?</B></I></div> <bR> <div> We have had the privilege of many faithful leaders who have been in the congregation 10, 20, or 30 years.  Part of this campaign is about raising up new leaders (both elected leaders and informal leaders whose esteem flows from their commitment to the Lord).  Who will be the leaders of our congregation in the next 10-20 years?</div> <bR> <div> We have many fine staff people including Pastors and DCEs but we have only recruited two people to full-time Church work in 10 years.  We need to raise up young men and women and support them so there will be Pastors, teachers, and DCEs down the road.</div> <bR> <div> We have become a strong pillar of support for the work of God’s Kingdom both here and throughout the District and Synod but mission is a mind set as well as a cause.  We need to learn to think in terms of what we <U>could</U> do and not just in terms of what we <U>need</U> to do – both as individuals and as a a congregation.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Humnst777 BT" ><I><B><IMG SRC="1afb0200.png" border=0 width="176" height="288" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>What am I being asked to do?  Give Money?</B></I></div> <bR> <div> We are asking you to keep an open mind.  We are asking you to reflect upon the challenges and opportunities before us.  We are asking you to come to a couple events to get the specific information so that you can catch the vision.  We are asking you to pray about our Church’s future and your role as part of the Body of Christ in this place.  We are <I><B>not</B></I> telling you what to do or suggesting that you burden yourself with debt so that the Church has funds.  We are asking you to consider the financial and material blessings God has entrusted to your care.  Are you being as faithful as you could?  Could you make a sacrificial commitment that would be a growing experience for your faith and help us meet the financial goals of this vision for Grace Lutheran Church?  </div> <bR> <div> <B>Will you approach this with an open mind and heart?  Will you prayerfully consider what God is calling you to do?  And this church?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We currently have commitments of more than $490,000 with more than $300,000 already received toward this three year goal of resources raised up to raise up the Mission!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="1b1fa490.png" border=0 width="250" height="73" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> A Long Term Planning Committee has been appointed to take a look at where we are, whwere we want to be in the long term future, and make recommendations to the Church on the steps to take to get us there...</div> <bR> <div> They are working on a mission statement  reflective of who we are and what we believe we are called to do.  Next will come a vision statement of where we believe we are headed.  After listing the core values that shape and define who we are (the things that do not change), this committee will prepare a long term plan to guide us so that we may apply God's resources wisely, act on the opportunities God provides, and be as effective as we can be in fulfilling our call as a community of faith placed here in mission and witness to those around us (in the community, in the state,  in the distrct, in the Synod, and in the world).</div> <bR> <div> Watch for more on the work of this planning committee!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>