Dear Beloved Community,
I hope you’ve had a chance to read the email reminder about Sunday’s Called Church Conference. In it, you read of the motions to be voted on this Sunday, their history, and further details about where we are with our fundraising efforts to finish the work we started back in 2017. I won’t quote it all here – “go read your newsletter,” as Fran Stewart would say!, or read more below – but in an effort to be sure you see the detailed financial information, here is a brief description that accompanies the motion:
Since May 21, an additional $221,638 has been pledged to the project, representing 39 individuals or families who increased their initial pledge and four individuals or families who have offered new pledges. To date, our church has pledged generously and faithfully $2,387,093 to our Life Together building project efforts. Every dollar given strengthens our church’s capacity for long-term presence and witness among our downtown neighbors. Thanks be to God and to you for your faithful stewardship of our beloved community!
After committing $250,000 of church funds to the project, the Finance Committee is working tirelessly to address the remaining gap of $703,362 needed. Unless this gap is met fully by donations, the project cannot take place without the capacity to either utilize money from the Anniversary Endowment Fund or potentially borrow money up to $1M through either a line of credit or other financing options. Therefore, motions 1 & 2 are intertwined and will be voted on together. Upon the establishment of the Anniversary Endowment Fund in 2022, the church self-imposed a floor of $1.25M. With this restriction removed, the church offers greater financial flexibility for our work. Because over 75% of dollars pledged have already been given, we will be able to meet our construction payment obligations through the end of 2025. Should this motion pass, the Finance Committee will have the church’s approval to carefully research and recommend the best option for the church’s long-term financial health.
The symmetry is not lost on me that it was Pentecost Sunday in 2017 when our congregation gathered in Kelly Auditorium to hear a proposal that would radically alter the landscape of our church’s physical footprint: tearing down two-thirds of our buildings, restoring and outfitting the one that remained, and closing our Children’s Center. Yet despite all that changed, what remained – what was renewed once again – was our unyielding commitment to be “a community in the heart of the city.” That meant being here. Understanding that sacred space matters, not just for a church but for a city. Covenanting to keep our presence and witness on Fifth Street alive and well, for generations to come.
Eight years later, we gather again on Pentecost Sunday to decide to finish with a flourish: building beyond the walls and completing what we left undone all those years ago, by once again, extending the gift of communal, beautiful, sacred space to our downtown neighbors. The back half of our lot that has sat, (“temporary” in the eyes of the city permitting office!), filled with potholes and rocky ground and mud, will soon be transformed. A pavilion for lively outdoor gatherings and meals. A playground for our youngest to play and delight. A columbarium to remember our saints who live on with us. A courtyard and garden for reflection and rest, right in the heart of it all. A covered walkway and driveway to enhance accessibility and hospitality. A parking lot that is both functional and intentional. These spaces will complete our church house and grounds in a way that 2017 First Baptist couldn’t have even imagined, but 2027 First Baptist won’t remember how we lived without them.
Because that’s the kind of work that happens when the Spirit gets involved. Churches are born, and born again. What dies finds new life. What ends winds toward new beginnings. Resurrection and reconciliation and renovation and restoration, all in fullest measure. Any accomplishment far more than all we could ask or imagine, because of no less than the power of God.
I believe now more than ever that First Baptist on Fifth is uniquely called and powerfully equipped to be the church God calls us to be: “a community in the heart of the city called by Jesus to practice bold love of God and neighbor and boundless compassion for all people.” Our church house and grounds are but one piece of that, of course. Our people – you! – are the vessels. And the One who is breath, and fire, and living water, and Love made flesh – is the good news we carry, from this place to the ends of the earth.
Together in God’s work of Love,
Pastor Emily