Dear Family of Grace,
When people are asked what they like about our church, they normally mention the caring people and the fellowship, the meaningful worship experience, the music, their Sunday school class, the great youth ministry, etc. Rarely do they mention the building other than maybe to note the beauty of the sanctuary. The heart and soul of Grace Church are our people and our ministries. Our building is a mere tool to facilitate our ministry.
However, when our ministries and our numbers outgrow the building, then people do start talking about the building. We have all heard such things as:
"Where are we going to put all these kids??!!" "We have no place for our adult Sunday school class." "There is no place large enough for the youth group to meet." "The hallway is too crowded; what if there is an emergency?" "I would like to have a more contemporary worship experience, but there is no room for another service." "We have to park on the grass, again!" "It is too bad that all the staff members have to share offices (or don't even have an office)." "Where are we going to put all these tables and chairs?"Grace has been blessed by God with great success in our ministry over the past 15 years. But God also has given us a great challenge: "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded." (Luke 12:48) We can continue to meet the challenge of growth, to reach out to the community with the good news of Jesus Christ, to be a place of peace and comfort to those in need of a churchhome, to engage children and youth in a loving, caring and nurturing ministry, and to expand our physical resources to accommodate God's blessings OR we can say "That's enough, God. We are tired, content, satisfied, and we have other priorities for our resources. Let some other church take up the task; we have done enough."
The Building Committee was formed because the church leaders decided to take up God's challenge and provide the physical facility for our ministry. The committee listened to the church family and then tried to maximize the expansion appropriate to the scope of our land while keeping in mind budget, aesthetics and the priority of church needs. The Building Committee, working with our architect, Jack Althouse, and our construction manager, Ken Funk of Arthur Funk and Sons, has developed a master plan to guide us in expanding our facility for the foreseeable future. The scary part of this is that we can only look forward through human eyes; we have no idea what God has in store for us.
I am mindful of the Bible verse we focused on during the building project in 1998, "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1) This building project is not about bricks and mortar, but about what God wants and what he is asking Grace Church to do in his name. That is why I support this undertaking and why I think it is vital to Grace Church's future.
Robert E. Watkins, Jr.
Building Committee Chairman