50

Jenny Buckley
Council President

Getting Ready for the Annual Meeting: Part 4 of 5

Capital Campaign 

 50. That’s how many people have volunteered to be trained and visit all the members of our congregation during our capital campaign. And the capital campaign is going strong. As of May 19, we are just a little over one-third of the way to reaching our goal for the campaign. That is, over 3.3 million dollars have already been pledged--more than any other previous capital campaign in our history. And the impact of those pledges on the future of SOTV will extend beyond our walls to our local community as well as places as far away as Haiti and Tanzania. Wow--together, we ARE doing more!

One of the reasons church leadership chose to work with J.D. Klote, the firm that helped conduct the capital campaign, was their personalized approach. Unlike other organizations, Klote values personal visits to every member of the congregation, not just a select few. Our consultant, Carl Graber, repeatedly emphasized the awesome opportunity these visits provided us to grow and strengthen relationships at Shepherd of the Valley. Our goal for this campaign is not just to raise money, but to unite as a congregation to support the ministry and priorities of our church.

There are three components to the campaign: debt reduction, facility needs, and benevolence. These three areas align directly with the results of the CAT survey, which over 900 of you took in 2013. Every time I make a visit, and start talking about what it would mean for SOTV if we eliminated debt, took care of our building, and were able to give even more money away, I find myself getting excited. Every time. And the reason is simple: I truly believe that God is at the heart of what we are currently doing and what we want to do at SOTV. I believe He has a plan for the future of our congregation and that the capital campaign is part of that. And mostly, I really believe that “Together, we can do more.”

This campaign is about ALL of us: it is about making SOTV a place that feels welcoming to those that have been here for 30+ years, those who joined us last month, and those who will be joining us in the future. It is about growing deeper in our faith and developing meaningful relationships with one another. It is about the Great Commission--sharing the love of Christ with our neighbors and inviting others to share in community with us. And it will take all of us working together for the next 5 years to achieve these goals.

And so, the campaign continues. Those 50 visitors are making dozens of phone calls and meetings each month to help draw us together as one church. And they will keep calling, and keep visiting, until we have reached everyone. This will take a few more months, but it will be worth it--for our children, for our neighbors, and for ourselves.

If you haven’t already, please consider scheduling a visit and prayfully consider in what ways you might participate in the campaign (being informed, visiting, making a pledge, etc).

To hear more about the Capital Campaign, and the state of our church, join us at the Annual Congregational meeting on June 7 at 12:30 p.m. In the meantime, please direct questions and comments to the council at council@sotv.org

Blessings,
Jenny Buckley--Church Council President