As you probably are aware, recent growth in our church has created a wonderful challenge for us: we are touching the lives of so many families in our community that we need more space for ministry on Sunday morning. At our Annual Meeting in January our congregation authorized our Church Council (made up of 14 lay leaders and our pastors) to move ahead with the development of a ministry expansion plan that would include completion of the "shelled-in space" on the east end of our building and the addition of parking spaces on our property. Since that time our Building Design Committee has developed a plan that meets our most pressing current needs and our Finance Committee has formulated a capital campaign strategy that will help us fund the project.

We are at the point of being ready to move ahead with those plans and are writing to you today to ask two things of you.

We are writing to ask you to prayerfully consider making a cash contribution or a pledge (over 3 years) to a "Ministry Expansion Fund" in order to help us meet the needs of our growing ministry. Information about how to make such a gift or pledge is presented at the end of this letter.

Our Expanding Ministry: Average worship attendance in 2006, the year before we moved into our ministry center, was 139. In 2007 average attendance was 194. In 2008 it was 203. Last year, 2009, average attendance was 234 - with higher attendance in October (246), November (255) and December (274). On 3 Sundays in January of this year we had over 290 people in our building during worship; on Easter Sunday we had over 500; and this past Sunday (Mother’s Day) we had over 300 people worshiping with us.

While we don’t feel the impact of that growth so much in our very large multi-purpose room, the people in our children’s ministry area during our worship hour feel the impact very strongly. On most Sunday mornings we now have between 60 and 70 people in the nursery, toddler, pre-kindergarten and elementary school-aged worship program rooms. It is, to say the least, crowded, and we are clearly pushing the limits of effective ministry. We fully anticipate that by the Fall of 2010 we will not have enough space to accommodate all the children who would like to be a part of the Children’s Worship Program.

In addition to needing ministry space, it is clear to us that we also need storage space and increased parking space to accommodate both current and future parking needs.

Our "2010 Ministry Expansion Plan" has three components:

1. Finish the ‘shell.’ 2. Add parking spaces. 3. Build a storage-facility/garage.

A brief explanation:

The Shell: When we built our ministry center 3 years ago, we ‘shelled in’ about 2,400 square feet of unfinished floor space on the east end of the building. Recently, our building design committee, in conjunction with our staff and our executive committee, came up with a floor plan that will provide the rooms we need to accommodate substantial growth in our Children’s Worship Program - our most critical need. The plan will also give Ron Ferguson, our associate pastor, an actual office. It will provide for two additional bathrooms. And it will provide at least one classroom for our youth.

Parking: We are already stretched beyond our limits with the parking challenge on most Sunday mornings. The "Ministry Expansion Plan" will open the door for as many as 78 additional parking spaces on our property. National Covenant Properties (our bank) identifies this as one of our most pressing needs.

The storage facility/garage: We currently store most of our seasonal ministry supplies (for children, youth, worship, etc) in the "shell." When we finish that space to create ministry rooms, we will still need to store those supplies. The storage/garage building we have in mind will have ample space for that purpose. It will also have room for power equipment (lawn mowers, snow-blowers) that we use on the grounds year-round.

We are hoping that this entire project can be completed by the Fall of 2010. We have a preliminary indication from the MacMillin Company (the company that built our original facility) that they could complete the project in that time frame.

Estimated costs:

The total cost of this project has not been quoted yet. A preliminary, rough estimate based on conversations with MacMillin was close to $500,000.00. However, their expectation is that once competitive bidding begins, the figure will come in between $400,000 and $450,000. (Once final bids come in, we may have to scale back on the project - depending upon pledges we receive.)

Funding:

While we would like very much to not take on additional long-term debt to fund this project, we anticipate that a loan of some magnitude will probably be necessary. Our Finance Committee has negotiated an agreement with National Covenant Properties (our bank) to loan us whatever amount we need after our 2010 Ministry Expansion Capital Campaign is completed. But we hope to keep that loan as small as possible. To that end, the Finance Committee has established a goal of raising $300,000 for this project. The great news is that we have already received more than $ 80,000 in cash and pledges from people in our church. We have also been approached by a Foundation that knows of our ministry and wants to help us expand our impact in the Monadnock Region by making a contribution to this fund. We are also exploring the possibility of grants from two other foundations in New England that provide funding for capital projects by churches.

Our Request of You:

Would you please consider a cash gift or a 3-year pledge (or a combination of the two) that would help us raise $300,000 for the purpose of expanding our facility to meet the needs of our growing ministry? We would ask that your gifts be ‘over and above’ what you are already contributing to our ministry so that we can sustain our current ministry level and expand our ministry facility for the future. We would also ask that you respond to this letter by May 30, 2010.

If you are willing to partner with us in this way, please use the enclosed card to make your cash gift or to make your pledge and send it to Karen Williams, (karen@ne.rr.com) 63 Ridgewood Avenue, Keene, NH 03431. Your pledge/gift will remain confidential with her.

Respectfully, and on behalf of the Church Council,

Mark Pride, Nancy Karlson, Garth McGrath