The Lovely Lane family has been enthusiastically supporting the Blessed to be a Blessing capital campaign in the early months! Gifts began rolling in during June, even though we didn’t officially start the “clock” on the campaign until July 1. However, so far, a fewer number of givers than expected have participated.

New Roof Coming This Fall
Our first project — the new flat roof — was quickly, fully paid. Members and friends provided an amazing $120,000 within weeks. The contract has been signed and crews arrive to begin the roof work on September 19!  Thank you for your generosity!

Mortgage Loan Payments Started
We’ve also been making good progress on project number two — paying off the mortgage loan. As of August 14, gifts of $55,671.19 have been sent to the bank! Those gifts, combined with the regular, monthly payments from the general fund, are whittling away at that loan!  And we’re only officially in the 2nd month of the campaign!

Summer is generally a slow time for financial giving in most churches. Families are traveling and Sunday attendance is lower than ‘school year Sundays’. So, the fact that our congregation has been so generous and enthusiastic early on is fabulous. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Fewer Participants Than Expected
The only issue that the committee is concerned about, is that only slightly more than half of the givers who regularly pledge to the General Fund / Annual Stewardship campaign have made a pledge or gift to the Blessed to be a Blessing capital campaign. As it stands today with current pledges and gifts (standing at only 41% of our goal), the remaining non-pledged gifts needed to complete the campaign would need to total about $530,000.

The committee is hopeful that people are planning to use the option of giving gifts when possible throughout the campaign, rather than pledging a regular, fixed amount. The committee will be working to keep the campaign awareness high through progress reports and events.

We Can Do It!
Gifts of any amount are welcome! The most important thing is that we all work together as a church family toward meeting our goal. And although the campaign goal is large, we will get there in baby steps! If you haven’t yet, please take a step and participate today! Gifts can be made at the church via check, sent via your bank using the online Bill Payment function, or you can provide a gift anytime online.

As always, if you have questions about the Capital Campaign, please feel free to contact Lead Pastor Paul Wilcox at the church (319-393-6674) or me, Capital Campaign Committee Chairperson Eric Wylie, at my home (319-832-1531).