SERVICES

Four weeks from moving into its new sanctuary, the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Rome, Ga., congregation received shocking news: a January fire caused enough damage that the new structure had to be gutted to the framework. That set the congregation back about five months in the building process. Members of this congregation of 200 have to sit “shoulder-to-shoulder” when there are guests in the pews, Pastor Jack Karch said, so they decided to build, using LCEF as their loan partner. They expect to be in the new church by summer’s end.

Despite the setback, Karch said the congregation remains positive. “I told everyone there are two kinds of problems in the world: the kind money can fix and the kind money can’t fix. For the kinds of problems that many people face that money can’t fix, we turn to the Lord…He’s the only one that can fix those,” Karch said.

St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oconomowoc, Wisc., church leaders were impressed that Consecrated Stewards is based on the Synod’s stewardship principles and looked forward to helping congregants become more aware of the blessings they’d been given.

“This program has been a great blessing to us all,” said Pastor Krug. “It has touched many people’s lives.” The congregation completed two years of the program and is moving into a third. Krug emphasized it is a spiritual event, not a secular one. “People come to realize that they’re the managers of God’s gifts. That includes being involved in all aspects of the church. There was no motivation to make a budget or increase our outreach, although those things did happen in the process.”

Shepherd of the Coast, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was created after Grace Lutheran, Peace Lutheran, and Hope Lutheran churches merged in 2008. This congregation now operates a church, an elementary school and preschool near a large hospital, with a vision to serve employees as well as patients and their families. After selling the other two churches, Shepherd purchased some adjoining property and is remodeling its existing facilities and constructing additional space. LCEF was able to provide a loan to cover construction costs while the congregation conducts a capital campaign. The congregation broke ground in April of this year, but had already had signs of the congregation’s outreach: two children from the school ministry were baptized into God’s Kingdom in February.

The congregation of Holy Cross, Clayton, N.C., is growing into its new church and outreach is impacting lives, said Rev. Bill Beyer, pastor of Holy Cross. “Our worship attendance has more than doubled since we built our facility a little over two years ago. Thanks to the support of LCEF, having a facility has enabled our ministry to grow in several ways,” he said. “In particular, our Open Arms Child-Care Center now accounts for about 25% of our new members. Our center has been a wonderful outreach to our community.”

Participation in ministries that are impacting the community is high. As examples, children and their families made food baskets for local firefighters and police officers who had to work on Thanksgiving and donated generously to two Salvation Army “angel trees” for Christmas. “Neither one of these ministries or outreach opportunities would have happened without our multipurpose worship and child development facility.”

As the congregation at St. John Lutheran Church and School, Darien, Ill., decided to remodel and update the church, it decided to really analyze its needs for the facility. To do that, it used Lutheran Church Extension Fund’s (LCEF) Strategic Ministry Planning. “It was a matter of saying, ‘Let’s start at the beginning and make sure we have our house in order, lay the foundation first.’” said Kathy McClain, St. John’s business manager.

St. John’s leadership approached the design team with a purpose and vision. Now that the plan is in place and renovations are complete, they have shifted their focus to an important milestone: the church’s 150th anniversary later this year.