FUTURE PLANS

 

MOVING TO HIGHER GROUND

    Upon hearing that we had purchased over eleven acres up the road, the house mover, who remembered when St. John's church was moved to another location in 1997, remarked, "Can't you Lutherans decided where you want your church?"

    Well, if we want to get "from here to there" how do we do it? Here are some suggested steps.

                1.  Close on purchase of the site. (This happened on April 15, 2004)

                2.  Get zoning approved. (This happened at the April Zoning Meeting. -- We were approved)

                3.  Gather the members at the site for a Rite of Dedication. (This happened on May 2, 2004)

 

                  4.  A topographical survey of the site needs to be done. (This has been completed)

                    5. Solicit one-time special gifts to build up the General Fund -- we used money from there to pay for the land.  (Letters were sent out to everyone on our mailing list -- and the responses are coming in.)   If you would like to contribute to our future church home -- make contributions to:   

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

One-Time Special Gift

1019 E. Schapville Road

Elizabeth, IL 61028

                     6.  Hold Visioning Session.  (This was completed on Sunday, June 13 & Tuesday, June 15.) Gather members to ask:  "What are the strengths of Shepherd of the Hills?" Do we want to move our church building? What strengths do we want to take with us to our new location? What do we need to carry out our current ministry? What needs of our wider community can we serve? What do you envision us doing in 5 years, 10 years from now? These visions should be prioritized. Because "form follows function" we will have a plan that can be "housed" by an architect who would develop a plot plan study. We would be able to see Stage One, Two, Three, etc of what we have envisioned.

How much of this will we be able to do?

                    7.  A Capital Fund campaign would be conducted (Possibly this Fall) asking members to make commitments to a proposal presented to the congregation. Results of this appeal along with available financing would determine how much we could do.

                    8.  Hold a congregational meeting to decide whether or not to move the church and what they would like  (a basement or no basement, when to add the addition, what type of addition,  and more items).

                    9.  A contractor would be engaged. Church moving and whatever additional building had been decided would take place.

        We have formed committees to handle the finances, building, and etc.

FINANCE COMMITTEE -- Terry Crandall, Keith Hesselbacher, LaVerne Grebner, Goldie Foley, Jim Krug, & David Winter.

BUILDING COMMITTEE -- Larry Anderson, Larry Cording, Carl Anderson, Keith Hesselbacher, Barb Hendren, Carol or George Anderson, Bonnie Dal Ponte, Paul Velsor, & Vickie Ehrler.