October 30, 2011
Dear Hillside Community:
Seven years ago we embarked together on a grand venture. As an act of faith and surrender, we decided to put away thoughts of relocation and committed ourselves to settling for the long term on this beautiful hill in the Parkmead neighborhood where God so carefully placed us many years ago. To that end we refurbished our entire facility and built the new south end of our building, including our wonderfully versatile Multi-Use Room, the spacious storage area, and the additional classrooms. To do this, we initiated the Settle for More Capital Campaign and proceeded to raise $1.9 million against a total construction cost of $5 million, leaving us with a $3.1 million mortgage, of which almost $2.8 million remains to this day. The annual weight of this mortgage is heavy, swallowing 1/6 of our entire annual budget. We have responded admirably thus far to carry this burden, but it is holding us down and we still have 14 more years of payments. Worse yet, the burden could grow even greater if interest rates increase in the future. Thus, even though the current economic climate is extremely challenging, we believe that the time to launch our next capital campaign and pursue mortgage reduction is right now!
We are calling this the Free to Serve Campaign. This language is to remind us that the purpose behind having a building in the first place, and the purpose in pooling our resources together, is that we can extend Christ-honoring service to each other, to our local community, and even to the ends of the earth. While paying for our building is certainly part of the equation, we envision an even better stewardship of our shared resources, and that is to pour what we have directly into active ministry, people to people, need on need, voice to ear, hand on shoulder, life with life. We are eager to reduce facility costs and turn them toward dynamic investment in people and in mission.
And so we come before you with a vision: let’s take the next three years and send our current mortgage mountain the way of Mount Saint Helens! Let’s move this mountain, by each of us playing whatever part we can play, small or large, in paying down the debt and easing the heavy load. We are off to a wonderful start as one of our members has offered a $500,000 matching donation! Our first $500,000 will automatically become $1,000,000! We are praising God for the grace of this encouraging generosity! Our highest value in the days ahead will be to encourage the participation of everyone who calls Hillside home. The smallest contribution will be received joyfully as a sign of partnership and solidarity in pursuing our goal.
Our church family has been so faithful in providing the resources for our annual operating budget. The Free to Serve Campaign is a call to stretch beyond our regular giving for the next three years, while inviting those who have not yet participated into the joy of shared sacrifice.
Please join us in what we expect to be a season of surprising grace. In the eyes of the world, this might be a crazy time to embark on an ambitious capital campaign. But so was seen the call to walk around Jericho seven times and blow the trumpets. Walls fall hardest and fastest when they least expect to be assaulted. Here, on the eve of 2012, let the march begin!
Excited About Our Future Together,
Jeff Reed
Senior Pastor
Capital Campaign Questions and Answers (271.6 KB)
Non-Cash Donations (211.6 KB)
Capital Campaign Pledge Card (1.2 MB)