For the past two years, I have served as the chairman of Fellowship Bible Church‘s capital campaign. Today, we opened our new student building (see above). As a result, I have spent much of the weekend reflecting on this process and my life in general.
As many of you may know, I have been employed by INJOY Stewardship Solutions for the last 14 years. I spend everyday helping pastors and church leaders fully-fund their ministry through vision-driven capital campaigns. Serving my own church, however, has truly been a privilege.
In an effort to give you some insight into what I am thinking and feeling, the following are 14 Things I Loved About Being My Church’s Capital Campaign Chairman:
- I Love Capital Campaigns – Nothing is more leadership intensive than a capital campaign. You are dealing with senior pastors of growing churches, team building, vision construction, compelling needs, mobilization of leaders, vision casting, diligence, setting the staff up for success, public and private communication strategies, and solving problems. Seriously, how could you not enjoy capital campaigns?! I am so thrilled God has not called me to a lesser task.
- I Love My Pastor – Dr. Crawford Loritts is not only my pastor, he is a close personal friend. My primary job as campaign chairman was meeting with key groups of leaders, making congregational announcements, and answering A LOT of questions. It was an honor to represent my pastor and clear the path with the congregation so his job would be easier.
- I Love Our Church – It was such a privilege to watch our people respond to God’s vision, sacrifice, and invest in the next generation of students.
- I Love My Fellow Elders – I have spent five years in the foxhole with these guys. Also, you should never put your friends in harm’s way. I knew whatever I said during public announcements they would have to answer questions about in their small groups. I always wanted to make their job easy.
- I Love My Church Staff – Capital campaigns do bring additional responsibilities to key staff. I always tried to be an encouragement to them and lighten their load. One of the ways I did this was obviously kind and encouraging words, but I would approach conversations with phrases like, “How can I help you in this meeting”, “What do you need me to say” or “What do you need from me to help you out?”
- I Love Asking For Money – There you go, I said it! I LOVE asking for money. The reason is because I know what God does in the heart of the giver when they experience generosity and I also know what God does with the resources given to change human life. Shown above is a picture of me making this morning’s campaign announcements.
- I Love Making People Happy – What I will always remember about this morning was not the new building, not the fresh paint, not the kind words, and definitely not the amount of money given. What I will always remember is I have never seen our students happier. Everything in this world works to tear students down and devalue them. Because of our capital campaign, we were able to tell our students, “Hundreds of people sacrificed so you could have this facility. This was built for you and your friends. We love you, value you and want to invest in your future.”
- I Love Watching People Experience Generosity – 124 people invested in our ministry for the very first time during our campaign. This is 124 people who made the conscious decision to trust God with what the world worships – money and possessions.
- I Love Being Part Of Something Bigger Than Myself – This was not about me or any other individual. This was not about a building. This was about God working in the hearts and lives of an army of people, called Fellowship Bible Church, to the point they would be willing to sacrifice so the next generation of students could spend eternity with Jesus.
- I Love Knowing There Will Be People I Will Never Meet Until Heaven Who Will Get Saved In This Building – I got saved in 1980 in a building constructed in 1956. I can’t wait to meet the people in Heaven, who sacrificed 24 years before I ever walked in the door, so I could meet Jesus. May I have the same privilege to meet people who will find Jesus in this facility for decades to come.
- I Love Making Memories – I remembered our early elder meetings when this subject originally came up. To go back in my mind to those early meetings and now seeing the hundreds of students enjoying their new facility was humbling and made me so thankful to God for His kindness.
- I Love My Daughter – The way the timeline for construction was originally shaping up, I thought my daughter would be in college when the building opened. Not only did it open during her senior year of high school, she got to lead worship during its inaugural service. See the platform in the picture above.
- I Love Celebrating With Friends – After our morning services, my wife and I joined a fellow elder and his wife for lunch. It was a great time to reminisce, laugh and talk about what it took to see the building become reality.
- I Love Thanking People – Words of Affirmation is my love language. When I do public announcements I take every opportunity to thank people for their generosity. I give them updates and always point out we would not be where we are without their generosity. And tonight, Crawford sent me a text thanking me for my efforts. I have no plans to delete that text. It means everything to me and capped off a great day.
If your church needs to do a capital campaign, do not be afraid. If done right, it can a thrilling and a life-changing experience. And here is the interesting, if done right, a capital campaign can actually be FUN! If you want to find out how this is done, feel free is email me at briand@injoystewardship.com for more information. I would love to speak with you about your need and help you anyway I can.
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