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June 19, 2007

Sent in pairs

Albuquerque church taps perfect team to run mission fundraising campaign

by Emily Enders Odom
MIJHH Associate for Communications

ALBUQUERQUE — Jesus’ wisdom in sending his disciples out two by two was a model not lost on Bryan Beck.

When Beck, a member of Shepherd of the Valley Presbyterian Church here, was tapped to lead an ambitious $150,000 fundraising campaign on behalf of the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands (MIJHH), he knew that he couldn’t do it alone.

Beck first learned of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s $40 million campaign to raise funds for new overseas mission personnel and new churches in this country in late 2004 through a series of informational gatherings organized by Santa Fe Presbytery, which is partnered with MIJHH in a $1.7 million campaign. He found a dinner meeting, arranged by the presbytery’s campaign manager, Judith Todd, to be especially compelling.

Speakers from across the denomination, including Edmundo Vasquez of the Joining Hearts & Hands national steering committee, gave Beck the sense that “here was an opportunity for the church to get outside of itself.” 

“I distinctly remember going to our mission committee and asking if they would be interested in conducting the Joining Hearts & Hands campaign at Shepherd of the Valley,” Beck said. “We already had so much on our plate, I wondered whether we could do it well.”

That’s when the Holy Spirit sent Rik Chavez to complete the pair.

“I remember seeing Rik one Sunday morning picking up bulletins in the church,” Beck recalled. “While I didn’t know him well, I did know him well enough to tap him on the shoulder and ask him to be my partner in this campaign. His response, ‘Thank you for asking me,’ was an unexpected blessing to me.”

Chavez, who had never done any formal fundraising work before, accepted the challenge as he would any business proposal. He later learned it was “anything but that.” 

“When Bryan tapped me on the shoulder,” Chavez said, “I was fairly involved in the congregation. Joining Hearts & Hands allowed me to step up my involvement a notch or two, leading me to an increased sense of ownership. It was a big transformation for me.”

By their own admission, Beck and Chavez — a cardiologist and a retired Air Force officer respectively — were an unlikely team sent out to do even more unlikely work. Asking members to pledge to a capital campaign in a context when the 327-member church was already anxious about meeting its annual budget was daunting, if not outright ridiculous.

“Yet it was important to put a challenge out there,” said the Rev. Tom Hart, pastor of Shepherd of the Valley, “It just made sense.” 

By February 2007, the church’s $150,000 goal was oversubscribed by $5,000. “It has all come together,” Hart said. “Not only has the campaign renewed a sense of vitality and life within the congregation, watching it come alive for Rik and Bryan was really great for me.”

“Far from an odd couple, they were the perfect pair,” added Jim Collie, executive presbyter of Santa Fe Presbytery. “Just as the campaign brought them together, so did it unify the church.”