Good progress is being made toward achieving our Capital Campaign fundraising goal of $500,000. As of this writing, a total of $354,751 in gifts and pledges have been received. Good progress is also being made on the steeple repair. The company doing the steeple repairs has reported that repair and preparation jobs needed before the shingles and copper can be replaced are between 80-90% complete. Next steps for the campaign include: reaching within our own church community; reaching outward to various neighborhood associations and other organizations for local support; preparing more grant applications; and encouraging people to visit the “give” page of our website. Next steps for capital improvement work include: finishing the steeple; developing plans and cost estimates for updating the Chapel and Assembly Room spaces. Gifts and pledges may be placed in the offering plate, sent to the church office, or given online at www.wpcalbany.org/give Rev. Bill shared these thoughts in a recent blog article, “Building With More Than Simply Bricks and Mortar.” “As glad as I was to know a capital campaign was already in the works before I got here, I was even more glad to see that plans didn’t stop with the steeple. Providing handicapped accessible bathrooms gives our words of welcoming all a practical application. Other proposed improvements will increase WPC’s ability to host mission groups or even as a resource in times of natural disasters. Improvements to the Assembly Hall and Chapel will make them even more usable for fellowship or educational programs by the church or outside groups. I was encouraged to see this because a church that is only turned inward and only seeks to maintain buildings rather than serving people, is a church that is likely on its way to dying. As those planning the capital improvements to be done have demonstrated, a church can work on retaining life both by keeping up a structure and by seeing how it can then be used in ministry in Christ’s name. The vision has been cast for the campaign. Initial donations have been generous. Now we are all asked to see how we might serve WPC’s future both through what people decide they can give and through how people here make use of the improvements in continuing ministry in the name of Christ.” We are so very thankful for the gifts already received and those we pray are to come. The following Litany of Dedication for Capital Campaign gifts was offered during worship on June 10: Creator of all, the earth is yours, the world and all who live in it. You have entrusted us with gifts—time, talent, energy, money—and asked us to use them to build your kingdom. With thanks and praise we respond to your call. We bring these gifts you have given, returning your generosity, paying it forward. We offer ourselves, our lives, our hopes and fears, our dollars and our hours. We commit ourselves to work for your world, to love and serve wherever you call. We dedicate these gifts to the community, the mission, and the hopes of this church, and to the abundant, extravagant, all-embracing reign of God, whose contours we can glimpse even here and now. We dedicate these pledges to the vision of our church’s future, and to the continuation of our witness to the Lord. We ask your blessing on this church as we seek to follow you with heart, mind, and soul. Bless also these gifts, and our investment in your future, that they may multiply in faith, hope, and love. Amen. Suggestions and questions can be directed to the Capital Campaign Committee at: capitalcampaign@wpcalbany.org Thank you from your Capital Campaign Committee
Capital Campaign Update: Reaching Out to Our Church Family and Beyond
