The Capital Campaign is a 3-year financial plan to address repairs, replacements, and upgrades integral to maintaining a positive worship environment at Faith Lutheran Church: a community reflecting God's love with a place at the table for everyone.
In order to empower us for a ministry that is informed by this declaration, we need to give attention to equipping our congregation for the tasks before it. Much of our energy has been directed toward worship and music, family life, and small groups. It is our obligation to maintain, protect, and reimagine the use of our facilities for ministry in the coming decades so that these ministries can thrive.
Our church buildings are in need of more than just a little TLC. These needs are crucial. We have started the process of raising the approximately $400,000 over 30 months starting in 2020, and the goal is to systematically address these needs. We are "Preparing the Banquet," setting our table for the next generation. This will be the focus of Faith’s Capital Campaign 2020-2023. Building on the work of previous generations that bought the land and erected our first church in the 1950s, to the last generation of members who funded and built--in the late 1980s--the facilities that we enjoy today, we want to begin work on keeping that legacy, ministry, and our church thriving in the future.
The A/V system was installed in 2020. Originally a response to COVID, namely being unable to worship in person for a time, we installed this system so that our congregation could clearly see and hear worship from home. Before this system was installed, we used multiple cell phones in order to stream services. It went about as well as you'd expect! We are so blessed to have our current A/V system. Since its installation, folks can worship from wherever they are. If they are sick or simply need a day of rest for themselves, they can attend worship from home. Members who have moved away can attend our services. We can record services and music, and livestream concerts.
Our AC units were installed several decades ago. Over the last couple years, units and systems in the sanctuary, classroom wing, and office wing all broke down. Thanks to your generosity toward the Capital Campaign, we were able to make repairs to each unit. We were able to maintain comfortable temperatures for parishioners during worship, for renters, and for our staff. We also prevented damage to our organ and other instruments which may be damaged or put out of tune in poor temperatures.
We had been suffering from egregious water bills for years. Large lawns are not sustainable in California, so we ripped out the front lawn and replaced it with granite and rock. The next step is to put in plants, all of which are drought-resistant, native, Californian plants that will thrive in this environment. Not only will they look beautiful, but we will be able to keep low water bills and practice environmental sustainability.
To put it simply, we've gotten a lot of new, young families with kiddos! There was no way we'd be able to operate from our single Sunday school room, so we expanded to three rooms. These rooms have been painted and refurbished with children's furniture, toys, and decorations. The next step is to swap out the carpet. This expansion also includes the installation of a large, all-gender, ADA compliant restroom. We currently have a draft/blueprint but have not begun to renovate the building. This restroom is important, because we must have X amount of restrooms per child. It is also important because we currently only have gendered restrooms, and no single-stall, family restroom with changing facilities for parents of all genders.
Published October, 2023:
Dear Faith Lutheran community, Thank you, Thank you for all of your support of our campus projects at Rally Day! We can’t say it enough: Your generosity and continual support for our ministries is a blessing that enriches us all.
As you have no doubt noticed, our landscaping project is in its final stages. Because of your help with funding infrastructure and plants for the project, we hope to complete that work by Reformation Sunday. We are a few thousand dollars short of funds to cover all of our current costs on this project. So, if you are able to donate additional funds or to complete your earlier financial pledges that were made in 2020 to our Stewardship Campaign, we welcome that support though the church office, via the FLC web site, or in our Sunday offering plate!
Our nursery and ADA-compliant bathroom project in Room 1 is just about ready to start. Unfortunately, we can’t move on that project until we have the funds to pay for the work. Bill Troudy, our designer and contractor, is a great person to take on this project, and will work around our nursery and outside group needs over the next two months to get this project done. So far, we have firm commitments of $6500 toward this project. We need about another $23,000 to get started and pay for this work. If you are able to help with this undertaking at any financial level we would appreciate your support. We have received one $5000 commitment already and are seeking three more gifts at this level to allow us to start the work! The many children we are now ministering to in Sunday School and the half dozen outside groups that use our facility weekly will benefit immediately from your support.
With the completion of these two projects this fall, we will have accomplished the lion’s share of the needed maintenance and improvement work on the church campus. There’s more to come, but we prayerfully ask that you help us close out 2023 with a bang and welcome our growing congregation to our refreshed and improved facility. As always, please only give to these capital campaign projects if you are also able to maintain your current giving to the general fund. The general fund is how we pay our staff who facilitate the great ministry of Faith Lutheran.
Give either of us a call if you’d like more information or if we can help you in your decision to support this work!
Joel Zimbelman and Tod Kimmelshue, Stewardship Committee Co-Chairs.
When you donate to the Capital Campaign, you are helping plant beautiful, drought-resistant plants that will adorn the front yard. You are also helping us to install our new restroom which is crucial for our church in so many ways. We need this restroom in order to accomodate the growing population of children and families. The restroom will have space for wheelchairs, a changing table, and will not be limited by gender. It will be easily accessible to our renters, including multiple 12-step groups, the BSA troop, and so many others. Though it may sound cheesy, installing this restroom really does show that we have a space here for everyone.
