« December 7, 2006 | December 7, 2006 | December 7, 2006 »

Pastor's Page

Posted on December 7, 2006 ...

GUEST ARTICLE: Traci Hamilton, Church Treasurer

As Church Treasurer, it is a privilege to work with our Stewardship Committee. Other members include our Assistant Treasurer (Dianne Wade), and six at-large members (Jeff Elliott, Donna Urban, Lanny Tayloe, Joy Rogers, Jerry Barrow, and Jewel Holbert.) Each member of our group was elected by the church and is responsible for the oversight of our congregation?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s financial matters.

Last month, our Building Study Committee presented a facility plan based on surveys of our entire membership. Since the adoption of this plan on November 19, the Stewardship Committee has met numerous times to consider recommendations regarding a method for funding these facility projects. Many hours of meetings and dialogue have gone into this question.

On Wednesday night, December 13, at our regular Business Meeting, the Stewardship Committee will bring a three-fold recommendation regarding this endeavor.
1. That our church formally establish a Building Fund to be used to accomplish the plans adopted from the Building Study Committee.
2. That our church conduct a capital stewardship campaign from January thru May of 2007 to promote and provide an opportunity for members to commit toward this fund. It is this committee?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s desire to raise the entire amount needed within the next three years. Our intention is to avoid long-term financing.
3. That our congregation enter into a partnership with RSI of Dallas, TX and their consultant, Dale Hill, to guide us through this process. Utilizing a highly respected professional consulting firm ensures that we proceed effectively through this campaign. Our church set an ambitious path before itself. We believe that the spiritual, personal, and financial expenditures within this proposal are wise investments toward completing our facility goals.

Studies show that the typical church will raise as much as three times their annual budget when they use an accomplished consulting firm. Churches that try to handle a building fund campaign by themselves only add to the pastor's and staff?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s workload?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùand each of our staff members already has a full-time or part-time job.

A capital stewardship campaign will renew and invigorate the life of our church and its members, teaching this NCBC generation the true definition of giving for our future. Traci Hamilton

?¢‚Ǩ¬ùLet this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Psalm 102:18

?Ǭ? ?¢‚Ǩ?ìI am excited with the amount of experience, ability, integrity and prior success that RSI will bring in leading our endeavor.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Dianne Wade
?Ǭ? ?¢‚Ǩ?ìUtilizing a stewardship consultant throughout our campaign will allow our church to maximize its giving and minimize the amount of time spent by our current ministerial staff on this one aspect of our church.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Jeff Elliott
?Ǭ? ?¢‚Ǩ?ìI believe that to accept assistance from a more experienced and knowledgeable consultant is a mark of wisdom. A professional firm with these resources that can observe the needs and give advice to meet those needs can be the difference in success and failure.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Joy Rogers
?Ǭ? ?¢‚Ǩ?ìUsing RSI to help achieve our expansion goals is like outsourcing a position on our staff. In this way we can accomplish our goals with a reduction in overhead costs.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Lanny Tayloe
?Ǭ? ?¢‚Ǩ?ìMy experience in my work as a project manager and Engineer is that you get what you plan and pay for. As our church contemplates the efforts to raise funds for new construction and renovations, I believe we need a trained individual skilled in performing the specific tasks required in guiding our fund raising at a high energy level required to excite our members. It takes someone that already possesses the experience and knowledge to avoid the pitfalls we would deal with on our own attempts for such a great sum and within a short time frame.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Jerry Barrow