Legacy of Hope
"Honoring our Past" - "Preparing for the Future"
Hope Lutheran Church has been a beacon for the Christian faith for forty-eight years. It began its ministry to Palm Desert and the Coachella Valley in August 1960 by Pastor David Natwick and eighty-five lay people who faithfully and lovingly gave arms and legs to this great ministry.
Over the years the ministry at Hope Lutheran Church has continued to expand and grow forward. From the humble beginnings in our A-Frame, and education building, we now have a wonderful ministry facility that enhances the ministry to our congregation and to the community of Palm Desert.
In 1994 Pastor Carl Witt, Jr. became our Senior Pastor and has led us through an exciting 14 years. During this time we added Pastor Robert Collick, Pastor Cheryl Corneliussen, Intern Jay Egenes and a whole host of volunteer and staff members. In 1997 we bought four houses on Fairway and constructed our parking lot. In 2002 we dedicated our current Worship Center. The total cost of the project was $4 million. What an achievement! It was not without challenges, but Hope Lutheran continues to financially support this project and has expanded the ministry through the new ministry center. At this point, we currently owe $800,000. What a blessing this Worship Center has been for us.
The goal of this Campaign is to eliminate our debt in order to free up this money to expand our mission to the congregation and community.
With the $63,000 per year we pay in interest, plus principal, we could utilize those dollars to:
When we built our new Worship Center we also added a wonderful Rodgers Trillium Pipe Organ that enriches our worship life and adds so much to our festival and every weekend worship experience. The original cost of the pipe organ was $175,000. The pipe organ is totally paid for. However, we would like to add another wall of pipes and the total cost of this expansion and construction would be $100,000.
Because it seems that there are always economic challenges facing every congregation, we would like to create a substantial reserve/contingency fund, so that ministry in the future need not be overly concerned with the everyday financial situation, but can trust that God will give us an abundant future. Our goal would be to create a reserve/contingency fund of $300,000.
These three elements are the reason for this campaign:
Remove the debt of $800,000 for ministry expansion.
Add additional pipes to the pipe organ $100,000.
Create a reserve/contingency fund of $300,000, in order to sustain
and
under-gird our ministry.
We have heard God's call: Preparing Hope Lutheran Church for the Future! Now it's time to say, "Yes!" and step out in faith. This is our plan:
We are focusing on prayer. Listening to the Word of God and discerning how
the Spirit is calling our church is critical. Without prayer, we will very easily slip
into our own will instead of doing God's.
to address our current debtin a faithful manner. The goal is to raise $1.2 million
to achieve the ministry and mission needs of Hope Lutheran Church for the next
several years.
Hope Luthern Church.
Will you join us?
"Honoring our Past!" We have had a remarkable past that has built Hope Lutheran Church to minister to the Coachella Valley. We are grateful to the lay leaders who have faithfully served Hope Lutheran. We have had wonderful pastors for our spiritual leaders. We are grateful to Pastor Carl and his wife Cheryl for their commitment to Hope Lutheran. We have wonderful facilities, including a wonderful Worship Center and pipe organ.
"Preparing for the future!" The Congregational Council is developing a Strategic Plan that will be able to be achieved when this campaign achieves its goal. We want to expand ministries for the future, by freeing up dollars and preparing our current buildings for future ministry needs. We want to have a strong financial footing upon which the Congregational and ministry leaders may move forward with purpose and confidence that the greatest achievemtns of Hope Lutheran are still in the future. Achieving this campaign goal will solidify and ensure a great future for Hope Lutheran Church.
Just as "Christ has laid the sure foundation" for our lives, the time has come to place our treasure in God's household of faith. Pray what you can do to enhance and expand the ministry of Hope Lutheran Church for the future.
Legacy of Hope