- Leaders were recruited for each of the main areas of the campaign (check the campaign blog at http://capitalcampaign.blogspot.com for a listing of the committee).
- The committee has met to receive instruction and plan their respective parts of the campaign. Provided congregational support is received in early 2008, the campaign will launch shortly thereafter.
- Phil Ryken and Elmer Snethen are meeting with members ofSe ssion and lead donor candidates to solicit early commitments. It is important not only for the Session to speak with one voice in support of the campaign, but also to act as one in committing financially to the campaign.
Please keep the proposed campaign before the throne of grace through prayer (John 15:16). We seek the Lord’s leading, wisdom, and guidance. He must equip us to do his work and he must prepare the congregation for their role in the campaign.
We are greatly encouraged by what is already transpiring within the committee. As an example of God’s work, here is a testimony from Dori Baggs, who is leading the children’s part of the campaign:
I was put in a panic when asked to prayerfully consider chairing the Children’s Committee! Me? . . . I don’t have the skills necessary and this is way too big a task for me! I prayed and sought the Lord’s will with fresh diligence. My personal devotions became rich times of fellowship as I sought (am seeking!) the Lord with urgency and prayed for wisdom and direction. I found that through prayer and Bible reading, confidence in my own skills did not increase, but that my faith in God, who helps us in our weakness, was strengthened. One of the stated goals for undertaking a capital campaign is for spiritual growth to occur among the congregation. I bear witness that this is happening personally already. I praise God that
to date the planning has gone well and I look forward to what God will do through his people in 2008.
Project of the Week: Digital Organ $220,000
The current church organ, an Allen analog/digital instrument, was purchased in 1970, has lasted far beyond its life expectancy and, like the sound system, is on “life support.” Using it is the equivalent of working with an old, unstable computer that was last upgraded over twenty years ago (in 1985). At this point the organ is unreliable, with increasingly frequent breakdowns, popping, cracking, and pistons freezing. This project will purchase and install a 90-rank equivalent Walker digital organ. The new instrument will provide an immediate and noticeable improvement in sound, facilitating excellence in worship at an affordable price. The range of color and sounds available to our organists will be vastly improved. Specifically, the organ will enable fulfillment of Tenth’s objective “to worship God in a worthy manner through excellent music” among the other elements of worship.
As Session has discussed both a digital organ and a pipe organ in the past, some may ask, “Why is a digital organ rather than a pipe organ included in the campaign?” The current campaign includes a digital organ because the Capital Campaign Committee and Session concluded that a pipe organ (at a cost of about $2 million) was outside the scope of this campaign. A pipe organ remains a possible goal for a future campaign or may be realized sooner through gifts of potential underwriters. In that event, the digital organ would be sold or gifted to a church plant.
