the OLD boiler

the NEW boiler

new wall in the kitchen

notice the water-proofing gutter dug around the base of the floor

water-proofing in the west stairway

It’s all still a work in progress, so thanks for your patience!

Here’s a look at the work in progress:

God continues to work in very special and wonderful ways here at FCC!  God has seen to it that we will receive funds, against pledges, sufficient to cover the boiler system replacement project.  These funds will be on hand prior to the completion of the job so that we can pay the contractor when he is done and the job is complete and operational.  The new boilers and water heater have been received and are currently stored on the stage.  Accordingly, work will begin August 16, 2010 with the removal of the old boiler and water heater (Note: this means no hot water in the kitchen for a while).  While there are additional components that have been purchased for this project that have not yet been received, we anticipate they will arrive in sufficient time to allow the project to be completed around mid September.

At the same time, we will be starting on the kitchen renovation project in late August. Expenses from this project will be covered by the board contingency fund (as approved by the board on August 8), and will be paid back as more capital campaign funds are received. The extent of this project means that the kitchen and parts of the Fellowship Hall will be unusable for several weeks, but we hope to have the project completed as soon as possible.

The building committee will continue to explore possibilities to finance the other building projects outlined in the capital campaign, and will report back to the board at its September meeting. It is important to note that work continues, in an effort to handle the authorized projects, and assuming funds are available, we will make every effort to ensure these are done as quickly as possible.  In the mean time, we appreciate your patience and prayers as we continue to work towards making these repairs in a timely way.

Most of us have our little routines – we take the same route to work or school each day, go down the same roads, take the same left turn, turn into the driveway exactly the same way every day. Sometimes you can drive all the way home without even thinking about how you got from one place to another.

But then, occasionally, you take a detour for whatever reason – the road was closed or you made a wrong turn – and you find yourself on a different road entirely. You discover things you didn’t know were there, maybe a little park just a few blocks away from your house, or a flowering tree you never noticed before. Sometimes it’s good to get out of our routines and see something new.

That’s what happened when I started looking at the scriptures for this Sunday. We’ve been off the lectionary this month as we’ve been focusing on our Growing Together campaign. I usually preach from the lectionary – that’s the order of scriptures that is laid out in a three-year cycle that covers a variety of New Testament and Hebrew scriptures. I generally like to use those scriptures because I like the idea that Christians all over the world are hearing the same scriptures on any particular Sunday, and I like how it tells the story of the church year. But sometimes, it’s like driving the same road to work and back every day; sometimes you miss things on the side streets, little gems that you didn’t even know were there.

Which is how I felt when I came across this little story about King David in the book of 2 Samuel. It’s tucked in here right at the very end of the last chapter of this book, and it’s a wonderful little story that has a lot to say to us.

A little context always helps: 1 and 2 Samuel tell the story of the beginning of the kingdom of Israel. After they’d left Egypt, wandered in the wilderness, and come into the promised land, they struggled for awhile trying to figure out how to live together. There’s a period when they are led by judges, instead of kings, and depending on who’s writing the stories, that worked out with variable success. But eventually they decide they do want a king, and eventually David is crowned. David’s administration is not without controversy, but he’s remembered as a great king, this was the golden age of Israel’s history.

2 Samuel 24 is an odd little story, but where we pick it up is when the plague settles over Israel. There’s this major medical disaster – people are dying, there’s no end in sight. David has to do something. The prophet Gad comes along and tells David to go and make an offering to the Lord.

So David goes to see Araunah, who owns a threshing floor on a hillside just outside the edge of what were then the city limits of Jersusalem. A threshing floor was a large flat parcel of land, usually a flat surface of rock or pounded earth, where the grain was brought in from the fields to be processed. The threshing floor would have been several football fields in size, so it was no small matter to be the owner of a threshing floor.

When Aruaunah hears what David has in mind, he offers to just give him the land, with the oxen and all the equipment thrown in for good measure. Now, it’s possible that he was intimidated by the presence of the king, or maybe trying to win some royal brownie points. But I kind of like the idea that he saw what David was doing and was inspired by it and wanted to be a part of it.

Generosity is contagious, isn’t it? How many times have you seen somebody doing something generous – with their time or their money – and you thought, “I want to be a part of that.”

Hasn’t that been true during this Growing Together campaign? I know I’ve been inspired by the commitments many people have made to making the campaign happen, and by the generosity I’ve already seen; I’m sure you have been too.

So, I’d like to give Araunah the benefit of the doubt here and assume that he was inspired by David’s generosity and wanted to give of himself as well.

But David doesn’t take him up on it. That’s not why David has come – the prophet didn’t tell him to go get somebody else’s stuff and offer that to the Lord. No, David refuses Aruanah’s offer because he knows it has to mean something to give it. He says, “I will not give offerings to the Lord that cost me nothing.”

“I will not give offerings to the Lord that cost me nothing.”

So David buys the threshing floor for 50 shekels – the equivalent of several year’s wages, a huge amount by anyone’s standards. He could make a gift that big – he was the king, probably the richest man in the country.

But it wasn’t the only gift. I imagine that other people were doing what they could in the face of the plague around them – they were feeding orphans, taking food to the sick, collecting money to pay for funeral expenses… They couldn’t have made an offering as big as David did, but that wasn’t what was important. What was important was that they were giving at their own ability, and their gifts didn’t cost them nothing.

I’ve heard our stewardship consultant, Zip Long, talk about this in terms of your phone bill, or your cable bill. It doesn’t cost you nothing to have a phone in your house, or to run cable to your TV, right? And isn’t the church worth that much at least?

So David – maybe inspired by the generosity of the people around him – buys the land, and builds the altar and makes the offerings – and as the story is told, God receives the offering and the plague ends.

And this, friends, is where I shake my bible and say – what? What did David know that we don’t? What magic words did he say with that offering to make the illness go away?

It would be tempting to draw an easy parallel between this story and our lives and suggest that if we could make a big enough offering, then God would put an end to all the disasters in our own lives. But of course, we know the world doesn’t work that way. We know that next week, when we bring our own pledges to the Growing Together campaign – even when we make our offerings that cost us something – it’s not going to be the end of all the bad stuff. There will still be oil spilling into the gulf and there will still be friends who are sick, and people without jobs.

But I think – and I really believe this, which is why my family will be making our own commitment – I really think that the offerings we make next week will help this church touch people’s lives and give them strength to live in this world that is still full of disaster.

Sometimes, the church does big, amazing, visible things. But most of the time, the church is simply the place where people connect with each other, and pray with each other, and share their lives and help each other through. Hasn’t that been true for you?

And I think the projects we are planning to do with the money we raise are going to help us do that.

Our new boiler will help us walk a little lighter on the earth, make our building more comfortable for people who meet here, save us money that we can put to other uses. The renovated kitchen will be a place where we serve one another and show hospitality to our neighbors. The new entryway and gathering space will help us make those connections with each other that are so important to each other.

And that steeple. That steeple points us to the glory of God, reminds us of why we’ve come into this building in the first place.

I love the story of Lib Murray bringing her kids over here to watch the first steeple being built, when this was a brand new building. I want to bring my daughter and to watch the new steeple going up. I want her to tell her grandchildren about that someday. I want that boiler to still be pumping away when she goes to college. I want her to run around at potluck dinners served out of the new kitchen, and I want her to hang out with her friends in the gathering space out there. I want her to tell people she was a part of this church that gave an offering that cost something so that God could be glorified here.

Let me tell you something else about that threshing floor that David bought. Remember I told you it was on a hillside just on the edges of Jerusalem? Well, it wasn’t too long before that threshing floor became the site of the new temple that Solomon built. That threshing floor became the temple where centuries of God’s people came to worship and give thanks to God. That offering of David’s was just the first of millions of offerings given there over the centuries….

Isn’t that incredible, what one gift can do?

The letter to the Romans says, “Make of yourself a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”

Imagine what our gifts can do.

Campaign Overview

Ideas for Giving

Ministry Celebration Brochure

Commitment Card (side 1) Commitment Card (side 2)

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From Neil Stewart:

We have been here for just three years next month, but it really feels as if we have been here much, much longer….in a good way!    Over that time, so many of you have welcomed us, made us part of your lives, and made our daughter feel special.  We are thankful that when we relocated to Greensboro from Cincinnati, we were fortunate enough to find the church’s website and brave enough to come visit that first time.

Many of you know that Tracy and I did not grow up in the Disciples church but that we remember our experiences as children – I spent several years in a suburban Cincinnati church, attending Chi Rho as a teen, and Tracy attended her grandmother’s church in Cincinnati as well on special occasions.  Even though these were not long-lived experiences, they were impactful.   When we were dating and learning about each other, eventually we got around to religion:

“What religion are you?”  I asked.

“You’ve never heard of it,” she said.

“Try me,” I said.

“Disciples of Christ.”  My jaw dropped.  And after I picked it back up off the floor, we launched into discussions of our childhood memories of church.

We got engaged not long after, and as our wedding date approached, we contacted a Disciples minister in a church not far from our home and spent some time with him in counsel.  He married us in Tracy’s grandmother’s church, on October 8^th, 1994.

And that, sparing a few visits to a new Disciples church that opened close to our home some years later, was the end of our adult church life until we came here.

When we relocated to Greensboro, my cousin who lives here said “if you want to begin to meet people in the community, you’re going to need to go to church.  That’s what they do in the South.”  OK.  So we searched on the internet for Greensboro…churches..Disciples….and the rest, as they say, is history.

We’ve found a wonderful church home here and have walked that journey with you if even for a relatively short time.  I’ve participated in Church Growth, been Vice-Chair of the board for two years, been to my first Regional Assembly, and been a strong advocate for Church Transformation.  Tracy revitalized the church website, has taught Children’s Church for 3 years, was baptized here, has helped with all things computer, and has even thrown in a peanut butter cake or two for TWF.  Our daughter does not remember life without church, God, Jesus, and the Bible – these concepts are part of her being – and for that we give thanks.  We don’t know how long we’ll be allowed to stay in Greensboro, but we do know that we are part of a loving church family while we’re here.

The Growing Together campaign gives Tracy and I the chance to be part of something visible and tangible, to heal and expand the building where the love we’ve felt and the memories we’ve made have come from.   Just as those who built this building made their sacrifices 60 years ago, so will Tracy and I sacrifice of ourselves financially for this campaign – as much as we can.  And just maybe, 60 years from now, there will be another family new to town who will find themselves looking for a church home…and we hope that this building will still be open and full of welcoming, supportive individuals ready to share the good news again and again.

From Lib Murray:

I first became acquainted with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) when I met Jim Murray, the man I was to marry later on. He was an active church member at that time, so of course, I became active also. All this was in Elm St. Christian Church. While there, plans were being made to buy property to build a new and much needed larger church. This was a very big undertaking for a small congregation.

Early in the 50′s, construction began on this church. It was an exciting adventure for all and with the Lord’s help, a successful one. At the time of construction, we lived about 3 blocks from the new building. It was exciting to walk with the family almost every afternoon or evening to see the progress from day to day. The nearer completion, the more excited we were. I’m sure many other members felt the same as we did. The move into First Christian and getting settled was wonderful! Aren’t you glad we, who were from Elm Street, bought this property and with God’s help built this lovely church?

One project during those early days and before college students had automobiles, was our ministry with the college girls at UNCG. Jim Murray and others drove to the college every Sunday for those who wished to attend church. One Sunday Jim invited two girls to come to “Sunday Lunch” with us. One of those girls was Linda, and Jimmy was home from college.

Following that Sunday, Linda and Jimmy had “Sunday Lunch” at our home every Sunday and you know the rest of this story.

In the early 70′s, Jim became very ill. This was before Hospice came into existence. I can truly say that members of First Christian were Hospice for us at this time – visiting, bringing food, sitting with him so I could run errands; even some did yard work. When he was in the hospital for almost 6 months, many loving acts of kindness were received from loving and caring friends of our church. So, we had “Church Hospice” as we ll as Home Hospice from First Christian.

As we begin our stewardship journey together with the Capital Stewardship Program, I see a vision for the future of our church and the opportunity to be good stewards of this facility for future generations and for even greater ministry in the future.

From Jeff Minton:

This church has such a rich history, and an equally thriving present but what about the future of this congregation.  Have you ever stopped to wonder what this church will be like twenty, fifty, or a hundred years from now?  What will the building look like?  What will worship be like?  Will it be the biggest congregation in Greensboro?  Will it be the most active congregation in this area?  The thing about the future is that we do not yet know.  The cool thing is that we can dream and hope and develop an idea of what that looks like.  We can then develop a plan, and with God’s help, the dreams could become realities.

I am speaking on behalf of those concerned about the future of the church.  Many of us in this congregation have a vested interest in the future of this church because we have children or grandchildren that attend here.  I want First Christian Church of Greensboro to be even more vibrant and alive than it is today.

I went through much of my childhood in churches that had small numbers of kids in my Sunday school classes.  They had too few children to do youth activities at night.  It wasn’t until I moved to an Episcopal Church my senior year of high school that I got to experience a church that was full of young people.  Their youth program probably had over 15 children on an average Sunday night and several of them brought friends.  It didn’t stop there.  We would travel as a group to all of the different youth events that were offered by the church.  I really feel like it was because of that youth group and those experiences that I truly began to understand God and his purpose in my life.

There is a church directly across the street from the school in which I teach that has an extremely thriving youth program.  It is a very small church in a very rural community.  The sanctuary would probably fit twice inside ours easily.  I have contemplated on a number of occasions leaving this congregation and going there so my children could be in fellowship with more children.  What keeps me here is my love of this congregation and this church.  In the future, I would love for us to have to expand our Sunday school wing because we have so many children.  I would love for us to send more children to camp and other events than anyone in our region.  I envision us getting out in the community more than we did for the summer of service project conducted last year.  If we are going to grow, we are going to have to go out and market ourselves and make ourselves more visible.  David Prescott is quoted as saying, “We are called to live our faith in the day to day world. Jesus was a transformer of people and institutions. We need to be the same. We are not merely a social club with many beneficial activities. The Church’s eyes must be open to injustice and poverty, to hunger and deprivation around the world. We must do more than simply acknowledge the growing gap between the rich and the poor at home and abroad.”   In order for this to happen, everyone needs to be committed to helping.  In churches today (ours is not immune), the same people serve in many different roles in the church year after year.  If everyone would use their gifts (monetary and otherwise) and talents from God, the sky is the limit for us in the future.

Think about what you have heard today.  You are part of a wonderful congregation.  It was and still is an energetic place to worship.  We don’t need to stop here, though.  We need to continue to reach out in the community in new ways through God’s guidance and grace.  We need to inspire people to come and join us and be part of our church family. I feel like God has an amazing plan for us here at First Christian.  How can you get involved and be apart of it?  Just ask God.  He’ll show you what to do!

Click here to read the full recommendation.

We are deep into Lent, a season that challenges us to think about who we are and how we are called to grow with God. It is fitting, then, that our congregation is also going through a season of reflection and renewal – and facing challenging questions about who we are and how we will grow.

I write to give you an update on the building projects we have been exploring for the past several months and to invite you to a congregational meeting on Sunday, March 21 at 10:00. At that meeting, pending the outcome of the board meeting on March 14, we will be making an important decision about a capital campaign this spring.

For several years, we have been praying and dreaming about the future of our church: how to welcome new members, how to address current and future facilities needs, and how to manage and do ministry in an aging building. Last week, our stewardship consultant presented the results of a congregational study that showed broad support for a capital campaign and the potential to raise funds for most of the proposed projects.

Several of you have asked for more information about these projects. First, however, let me remind you how we got to this point. In 2008, the property committee, then chaired by Cliff Greaves, began identifying facilities projects that needed to be addressed but were beyond the scope of the annual property budget.

In 2009, the board appointed a Capital Campaign Feasibility committee, chaired by Terry Simon, to gather more information about some of those projects. Recognizing that it would be impossible to address every need, the committee began exploring the most pressing deferred-maintenance projects, such as repairing/replacing the steeple, upgrading the boiler system, addressing water remediation issues, and repairing some windows and doors in the sanctuary. Keeping our mission and vision in front of them, the committee also explored possibilities that that would enhance our ministries and help us grow, including upgrading the kitchen, adding a portico to our front doors, and redesigning our entryway to include a larger gathering space.

The committee did research, talked with contractors, and developed estimated costs for each project. Their work concluded with a proposal to hire a stewardship consultant to help us better define our vision and to test the feasibility of a fundraising campaign. The board accepted this proposal in December 2009.

In January 2010, we began working with our stewardship consultant, Zip Long, who led us in a visioning workshop and conducted a congregation-wide survey, through which congregation members were asked for input on the proposed projects. On March 4, Mr. Long presented the report of the feasibility study, which indicated the potential to raise $425,000 – $500,000 in a three-year campaign. The full report and a brief synopsis are available at www.fccgreensboro.org (click on Building Possibilities), as well as in hard copy in the church office.

A short-term Capital Campaign Planning Committee (chaired by Sam Tucker and approved at the Feb. 14 board meeting), has been tasked with exploring the consultant’s report and formulating a recommendation to take to the church board on Sunday, March 14. Their recommendation will consist of a financial goal for the proposed capital campaign; a prioritized list of projects to be completed as we meet our goal; and the appointment of a Building Committee to oversee the projects once the funds have been raised.

If the recommendation is approved by the board, it will then come before the congregation at the meeting on March 21. If the congregation decides to move forward, the campaign will begin shortly after Easter and conclude by Memorial Day.

Now, let me try to briefly answer some of the most common questions, primarily about the kitchen renovation and the portico/entryway/gathering space. Some have wondered why the kitchen renovations and water remediation projects have been combined into one project. In order to solve the water problems in the kitchen, we’ll need to remove and then reinstall all the plumbing and electrical wires from the walls of the kitchen as well as remove all the appliances and the center islands. Since the kitchen is in need of renovation in general, it seems most cost-effective in the long run to make other upgrades while the kitchen is already torn up.

You have also wondered about the addition of the portico and the renovation of the entryway and gathering space. This could be separated into two different projects, the “inside” gathering space and the “outside” portico. However, the original intent of the project was to improve the overall experience of coming into the church.

It’s hard to visualize a space that doesn’t exist yet. You may be able to picture the portico – a large covered area just outside our front doors. The entryway and gathering space might be a little harder to see. The entryway (the area near the elevator) would get new paint, carpet, and furniture – including a welcome station for visitors – and possibly a new window to brighten the room. The gathering space would be created by moving the administrative office down the hall and opening up the wall between the hallway and the current office. New decorations and comfortable seating would create an informal multi-purpose space for people to gather. Let me share a vision of how this project might impact our congregation:

On a rainy Sunday morning, a car pulls up under our new portico. An elderly member of the congregation emerges. She walks with a cane to the front door, where a greeter welcomes her, helps her find her nametag, and walks with her to her seat. Next through the door is a couple who have never been here before. They stop at the Welcome Center and pick up a brochure about the mission opportunities in the congregation. Another greeter introduces himself, points the way to the restrooms, and since there is still some time before the service starts, invites them to have a cup of coffee in the newly redesigned gathering space.

As they fill their mugs, they meet a woman who points out her two young children, who have just come from Sunday school and are now selecting worship activities in the children’s corner. She tells the visitors how much she enjoys the adult conversation at church, where she knows her children are well cared for. On a couch nearby, a man whose wife has been ill sits with a friend, glad for some company and a listening ear. Bulletin boards on the walls hold pictures of the congregation and sign-up sheets for upcoming activities.

In the sanctuary, the prelude begins, and everyone makes their way in to worship. The visitors make a note to stop in the gathering space after church to sign up for the mission project scheduled for next weekend.

These are exciting times for First Christian Church as we grow into the vision God has set for us. These are challenging times, too, as we are all called to stretch, grow, and dream. If you’d like to talk more about all of this before the board meeting or the congregation meeting, feel free to contact me, or one of the members of the Capital Campaign Planning Committee: Sam Tucker, Cliff Greaves, Charles Jones, David Barnette, and Dawn Steadman.

Thank you for the questions you are asking and for prayers you are offering.
With gratitude for our ministry together,

Lee Hull Moses

Full Report from the Stewardship Consultant

Report Synopsis

What’s the next step in this process?
A short-term Capital Campaign Planning Committee, which was appointed at the February board meeting, is meeting now to process the report and formulate a recommendation. This committee is tasked with answering four questions:
1. Should we proceed with Cargill Associates (the stewardship consulting firm) to conduct a capital campaign this spring?
2. If so, how much money do we hope to raise in the campaign?
3. Which of the proposed projects should we undertake if we meet that goal?
4. Who should serve on a Building Committee to carry out the projects once the funds have been raised?

The recommendation of the planning committee will come before the church board at its meeting on March 14 at 7:30 p.m. If approved, the recommendation will be presented to the congregation at a congregational meeting on Sunday, March 21 at 10:00 a.m.