Growing the faith, ministries, and facilities of our church requires active engagement of the entire congregation. Because this is our first effort of this magnitude, and since some in our congregation have learned from internal campaigns in their past, we took the advice of our Fundraising Committee to seek outside help. After exploring options, we contracted with the Ministry Campaign Services (MCS) group within the Evangelical Free Church of America to provide overall leadership for our ministry resources campaign.
Mr. David Viland (pronounced vee-land) of Ministry Campaign Services (MCS) is working with us to guide our campaign efforts. Dave is a senior consultant with MCS and brings 20 years of church leadership and fundraising experience to our campaign.
Our ministry resources campaign is designed around King David’s model for funding the construction of the temple, as documented in I Chronicles 28-29. We begin with the commitment of leaders and proceed to commitment of the entire congregation. Everyone is to commit to the work, as God leads them.
The campaign leadership team leads efforts in nine inter-connected areas of the campaign. These areas and leaders are presented below.
Campaign chair- Pat Owsley
The importance for the work of the Campaign Leadership Team Leader can hardly be overstated. God has ordained that, in His work, leadership is of greatest importance-spiritually mature, gifted, committed leadership. A ministry such as this is no exception. The quality, drive, and dedication of the person who holds this responsibility have a direct and significant bearing on the blessings the Lord will bring to the effort.
Pastors- Doug Busby and Caesar Paul
Pastors are the recognized voice of the congregation. Their prominent position as preachers of God’s truth gives them great influence over the attitudes and actions of the congregation. Their role on the Campaign Leadership Team is vital to keep the congregation excited about the campaign and to serve as a conduit for congregational feedback to the Campaign Team.
Prayer co-chairs-Dick and Jeanette Hammer
Prayer is central to the capital campaign process because: The campaign is spiritual work with eternal implications. All spiritual strides are made on our knees in humble dependence on Him. This is why fundraising techniques imported into the church without a spiritual base are rarely successful. It is through prayer that our own hearts are brought in alignment with God’s heart and we become convinced of our role in the accomplishment of God’s plan. Satan will oppose any church that seeks to advance God’s Kingdom.
Communications chair- Denny Davis
A very critical piece of a successful capital campaign has to do with regular ongoing communication to the congregation. The entire congregation must be made aware of the church’s ministry vision, and the special events that are part of the campaign experience. Leadership personnel are well aware of the campaign efforts, while many others in the church are not focused upon it. The communication team is responsible for communicating to the church constituency the ministry vision, and the goals and events of the campaign.
Elder board representatives-Jack Flack and Jack Brossman
The Elder board serves as the leadership for the spiritual dimension of the church’s ministries. They oversee the hiring and review of personnel, church policies on spiritual issues, and planning for ministry. They also serve on the Church board, the decision-making and service arm of the church. The Elder board representatives serve as liaisons between the Campaign Leadership Team and the spiritual leadership of the church.
Stewardship education chair- Jack Brossman
A ministry campaign is a good time for the Lord to speak to people’s hearts, not only about their need to give sacrificially now, but also to develop a stewardship mindset toward all of life. The Bible has more to say regarding the proper use of our resources than it does about almost any other subject. For these reasons, we suggest a church use this opportunity to provide some basic teaching regarding biblical principles of faithful resource management.
Project liaisons- Guy Williams and Tom Mays
Project liaisons serve as the link between the overall campaign and activities related to the planning, design, construction, and occupation of the envisioned church buildings. They bring issues of cost, design, regulations, scheduling, and construction to the attention of the Campaign Leadership Team. They also bring campaign perspectives to the facilities planning team.
Advance commitment chair- Sharon Morgan
The purpose of the advance commitment process is to develop a strategy to visit and invite pre-screened people to pray about and commit to a financial gift pledge to the capital campaign earlier in the process, in order to give leadership to the project and to better insure its success.
Special events chair- Jean Wall
The specific purpose of the special event team is to share vision, encourage, and motivate members of the congregation to participate in the capital campaign effort in a significant way through special events. These events celebrate and motivate the church to raise her ministry sights and ask her to participate in a grand ministry venture. Special events are uplifting, motivational, visionary, and call for a specific response of prayer and commitment. Ministry Campaign Services
Consultant- David Viland
The Ministry Campaign Services consultant advises the overall Campaign process. He brings knowledge and experience from many other campaigns to inform the Campaign Leadership team on issues such as: organizing an effective campaign, establishing a reasonable campaign target, developing a communications plan, teaching that motivates spiritual growth and generosity, and growing ministry commitment. This consultant role spans a period of 3 years.
