Preparing for a Capital Campaign
Redeemer Family,
I’m writing to you today about our upcoming capital campaign to raise funds for renovating and outfitting our parish’s future home: 1801 Park Ave.
In my experience, most people have fairly strong feelings about things like capital campaigns and fund-raising, but we don’t all feel the same thing.
Some of us absolutely love the excitement of building for the future and are thrilled that our parish is doing this!
Others of us have had bad experiences with fund-raising in the past and may feel a strong sense of distaste or cynicism about Redeemer running a capital campaign.
Still others feel a mix of conflicting emotions: excitement about renovating 1801 Park Ave., but also annoyance that a capital campaign is necessary to do so - almost as if a campaign is a “necessary evil”.
For starters, I want you to know that I myself have cycled through all of these over the past year. So one of the things that I want to do today is be totally transparent about the campaign so we can have clarity and unity together as a church in this vitally important season.
This past winter and spring, in addition to all the normal day-in-day-out rhythms of parish life, your campaign leadership has been preparing for a capital campaign. As you might imagine, if you want to do anything in a thoughtful, Biblical, God-honoring manner, it takes time to prepare. I would imagine that this has led some of you to feel like nothing is happening because we haven’t been talking about a campaign publicly. I assure you - work is being done! It’s just the quiet, unglamorous work of preparation.
Additionally, your campaign leadership has decided that the best way for Redeemer to pursue a capital campaign is in a slow, relational, less-flashy way than some other organizations might choose. We know that many people in our parish have either never been part of a campaign before or perhaps have had a variety of experiences with fund-raising in the past. For these reasons, we think slow, steady, and relational is a better approach than big, flashy, and fast.
Now, if we are going to lead our parish through a capital campaign that is slow and relational, that means creating small-to-mid-sized gatherings where people can learn more about the process and ask questions. We want every single person that calls Redeemer home to have a chance to participate. This means that some people will participate 1st, some 2nd, some 15th, some 37th, etc. The only way for everyone to participate in a campaign at the exact same time is to start with something big up front. However, starting with a big, up-front thing is also fairly impersonal and non-relational. Do you see the problem?
So! Here’s what you can expect going forward:
Summer - Mid-Fall
Gatherings: Lots of small-to-mid-sized gatherings in people’s homes to talk about the vision for 1801 Park Ave., the financial needs, and what it means to give financially to this project. Lots of opportunities for Q&A.
Small Groups: Launching August 23.
Tours: In-person tours of 1801 Park Ave.
Teaching: A sermon series on a Biblical understanding of financial stewardship and how the Gospel transforms our practice of generosity.
Prayer: Prayer meetings for the faithfulness and health of our parish as we take these steps.
Mid-Fall
Gatherings: Potentially more small-to-mid-sized gatherings if needed.
Small Groups: Discussions around what God is doing in us and in our church through this process.
Tours: More in-person tours of 1801 Park Ave.
Teaching: October 11 - November 15: A sermon series on the vision and mission of our parish as we anticipate moving to 1801 Park Ave.
Late Fall
Public call for everyone to participate in the campaign as they are able and according to the way they are being led by the Holy Spirit.
Early Winter
Celebration! We’ll take time to celebrate what God has done in us and our church during the campaign.
More celebration! We’ll celebrate Redeemer’s tenth anniversary the weekend of December 5-7.
OK, this is as much detail as I know at this point. As our team solidifies more details, dates, and events, we will share them with you! All along the way, please don’t be a stranger - especially if you have questions, concerns, ideas, or curiosities. If there’s something on your mind, go ahead and ask! (The best person to whom you can direct your questions about the Campaign is Mallory Nix who has graciously stepped up to serve as our Campaign Manager.)
Redeemer family, I love you all and I’m genuinely growing in my excitement and gratitude for what God is doing in our church through this process. This has the potential to be a very healthy season for us, so let’s lean into it.
In the Father’s love,
On behalf of:
Campaign Chair: Mike Mcclure
Campaign Manager: Mallory Nix
Redeemer Vestry:
Alex Griffith, Senior Warden
Kate Kemp, Junior Warden
Brewster Rawls
Morgan Fogleman
Jenn Kilmer
Caleb Boyer
Campaign Steering Committee:
Mike Mcclure
Mallory Nix
Chaney Widmer
Morgan Fogleman
Jeff King
Victoria Strout
the Rev. Dan Marotta
