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December 2006
Grace First Presbyterian Church reaches ambitious $1 million fundraising goal for Joining Hearts & Hands:
The final $65,000 was pledged between worship services on Sunday, October 29
When the Rev. Dr. Steve Wirth entered the pulpit of Grace First Presbyterian Church in Long Beach, Ca., to preach a stewardship sermon on October 29, he had no inkling that a couple in the church would take up his charge to be faithful stewards quite so immediately.
From left to right, Eunice Sato, Grace First campaign committee member; Steven Wirth, pastor; Bill Saul, campaign co-chair; and Tim Jackert, campaign co-chair. Photo by George Eldridge.
No sooner had Wirth announced that the congregation was just $65,000 shy of its challenging $1 million goal to transform churches in the post-Katrina Gulf Coast, than a couple followed him to his office, envelope in hand.
“That’s what you asked for, wasn’t it,” said the anonymous couple, as they presented Wirth with a $5,000 check and a pledge card for the remaining $60,000. Rendered nearly speechless, Wirth found his voice by the second worship service later that morning in order to announce that the campaign had reached its goal.
“There was quite a bit of enthusiasm at the second service,” Wirth reported.
The 687-member congregation, which had launched its $1 million campaign just this past August, met – and has since exceeded – its challenging fundraising goal in less than four months. Through both its financial and hands-on, missional commitment, Grace First is already supporting the needs of at least two redevelopment churches in the Gulf region, including Berean Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, La., and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Gulfport, Ms.
“Our people looked at the fundraising challenge from the perspective of abundance, not scarcity,” said Elder Bill Saul, co-chair of Grace First’s campaign committee and former chair of the national Joining Hearts & Hands steering committee. “People are very generous when you spell out the needs.”
“For a church of our size to accomplish what we did in that brief window of time is nothing short of a miracle,” Saul added.
In addition to its pledge of $1 million for Gulf Coast church transformation, Grace First has already made a gift of $200,000 to the national Joining Hearts & Hands campaign through the Presbytery of Los Ranchos. The church has also begun significant capital improvements to their physical plant, utilizing funds that were on hand from the sale of the former Grace Church properties, with which First Church merged in 2003.
Among those improvements is the renovation of the church’s fellowship hall, which the Session voted in September to name for Marilyn Saul, the late wife of Bill Saul, in admiration for her dedication to Grace First. The Session further voted to allocate to the $1 million building fund all of the monies received by the church in Marilyn Saul’s memory.
“They’re starting work on the fellowship hall now, which would have touched Marilyn deeply,” Bill Saul noted with emotion. “The spirit here is so wonderful now.”
For related stories from the Presbyterian News Service, see:
California congregation reaches $1 million Mission Initiative goal in four months |
