Update 4/29/19

This week's Core Building Team meeting was one of renewed energy and forward momentum!

The Cultivating Team (capital campaign team) met for the first time this week, and we were excited to hear about their discussion and their desire to communicate a vision that invites people to be part of something more than a building.  That team is made up of Bob and Sandie Anderson, Dick and Nancy Jaques, Jodi Pribyl, Robbie Nutter, Melissa Harstine, and Tony Classen.  They have some great ideas and will begin meeting regularly to put together a plan.

If you joined us at the April 14th all-church update, you will recognize this slide summarizing the process that the Core Building Team is working through.

This week, the team eagerly transitioned from the ministry plan to taking a closer look at finances.  Thankfully, with the knowledgeable Finance and Cultivating Teams in place, the Building Team doesn't need to camp out here for very long.  We will be able to jump into the initial stages of the facility plan next week, recognizing that all of these plans are going to be worked out in tandem from this point forward.  As we get a clearer picture of what space we might build, we will grasp the financial numbers associated with construction and, in turn, sustainment.  Measuring those against the church's financial reality, we will then make adjustments back and forth across all of these plans.  It will likely be a process of determining phases for the long-term plan, all the while, watching to see how God provides.

Also this week, we received what we needed from the city to move forward with publicly listing the North Building for sale!  It will be listed locally as well as on national lists, in order to get it on the radar of commercial investors across the country.  Please continue to pray for its sale.

The Gleaning Team efforts are officially wrapping up, and we are determining final opportunities to connect left-behind hotel items with people who could use them.  If you haven't already, please make a point to thank these people for their work behind the scenes.  Gleaning team members include Sandie Anderson, Dan Flippo, Nate Harstine, Jon Pagel, and Karyn Clanton.

With that step nearly done, we are arranging for demolition of the buildings we will not keep.  The Riley County Police Department has contacted us, and they would like to use one of the hotel buildings for officer training.  We are coordinating with them and intend to demo quickly after their training.  That demolition date will be sometime in mid-June.  There will be some easily visible changes coming to the property soon!

Thanks for continued prayers...

• for direction and clarity for all teams as plans are made and carried forward.
• for how God wants to use you and your gifts 
• that we would remain unified as a church, healthily viewing the property as a tool for God's work through us.

Update 4/2/19

Another week has passed, and there are several things in motion that we can update you on.

Invitations have been extended to several people, asking them to consider serving on the capital campaign team.  That group is forming, and hopefully, we can introduce them to you soon!

The gleaning team has orchestrated some deliveries of various goods, and they continue to finalize sales.  They are working to determine the most effective way to move forward with what remains.

We still intend to sell the North building.  It has been shown to a few interested parties, but we are waiting on the city, needing to finalize some details with them before we can list it publicly.  These types of things don't seem to rank as "urgent" for city officials, so it's been a slower process than we'd like.

In the building team meeting this week, we worked through a couple of the last pieces of the New Hope ministry plan.  We discussed the LIFEgroup ministry as well as auxiliary ministry groups that we partner with on some level like campus ministries and HIS.  It was intriguing to explore some of the existing needs and consider possibilities that may exist in having a building of our own.  In that same conversation, we examined how the Greenhouse has been used, and how it has served people and ministries in the community who don't otherwise have their own office/meeting space.  While we are yet uncertain about what space(s) we will be able to create and offer for people's use, this discussion was another valuable one as we add layers of understanding to how a space could benefit our own church body and others in the community.  It is exciting to consider the many ways a building space could function and be used all throughout the week.

Don't forget...Plan to join us on April 14th, following church, for a building team meeting update.  We hope to paint a vivid picture of the process we are in the middle of, as well as hear your questions and feedback.  Hope to see you there!

Thanks for praying:

• For those stepping up to help with capital campaign
• That the gleaning team could finish up their task fruitfully
• For a meeting with the necessary city officials in order to get the North building listed publicly
• That we would all hear God and sense how he wants to use this process and this building in our church and for His work in our town.

Update 3/25/19

The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet, 1857

Similar to the workers in the painting above, our gleaning team has been diligently working.  I think that at times, they have wondered if their time and effort was being spent in vain, but thankfully, it is paying off.  Checks are coming in, and we hope to have a semi-final total to share with you soon!

If you have been keeping up with updates and announcements, you know that we recently asked for nominations of people to serve on a capital campaign team.  There is still time to nominate someone if you'd like, by emailing jwiebers@gmail.com.  We have an initial list of names, and we plan to start contacting those people this week in order to ask them to prayerfully consider serving our church in this way.  Thank you for continued prayers for the formation of this group, and you can look forward to an introduction to the team once it is formed.

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Mark your calendars for April 14th!  You're invited to join others of New Hope for a family meeting following church that Sunday.  This will be a chance to connect with others, as well as to hear an update from the core building team.  We will aim to share the process we are engaged with as we see it thus far.  Hopefully, the time will stir questions and feedback from you as well.  More details are to come!

Help us with Name and Nominations (Update 3/18/19)

As the building team met this week, some discussion centered on the topic of fundraising.  We agreed that we need to get a team of the people formed who can begin the work of planning and preparing for this.  However, as we deliberated about what their task would be, we acknowledged that "capital campaign team" doesn't seem to capture fully what they will be asked to do.  "Capital campaign" might connote a negative idea to some in our community, perhaps giving the sense that the team is just hungrily searching for money.  While an obvious and unashamed part of what this team will do is ask for money, we agreed that it is much more than that.

The people who comprise this fundraising team will be trusted with the job of researching and putting together a strategic plan.  There will be administrative tasks.  They will ask for money.  But most importantly, they will be tasked with communicating well the heart and vision of New Hope.  This is the key.  We hope and pray that in the fundraising effort, the focus isn't just on dollar signs and getting a fancy facility.  Rather, we hope there is a compelling vision with a longing to help better equip our church for the sake of God's kingdom.  This is what we want people to give towards.

For weeks, we, the building team, have been seeking to get an accurate grasp of the "DNA" of New Hope.  In doing so, we are more excited than ever about the unique personality and calling God has given our church in the Manhattan community.  We think a building of our own will be an invaluable tool as we minister in our town.  Are you someone who gets excited about communicating that vision?  Do you know someone who is naturally enthusiastic and able to draw others to a cause?  Who in our church body is a skilled communicator and vision caster?  We need those people!  Would you please take a minute to consider who you think could be a good fit for the fundraising team, and let us know at jwiebers@gmail.com?  

Additionally, would you help us come up with a name for the "capital campaign team" that better encompasses the role of sharing vision and communicating well?  If you brainstorm any ideas, please send those on to jwiebers@gmail.com as well.  

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And for those following our progress as we work through our church's ministry master plan, you might be interested to know that we are almost done.  We talked through momLIFE and women's ministry this week, and will tackle Fusion, Team 127 and campus ministries in the coming week(s).

Please be praying:

• For perseverance and continued momentum for the building team.  Pray that they would lean into God and seek rest even as they work diligently.
• For gleaning team sales that should wrap up soon...multiples transactions should be finalized this week!
• That the North building would sell.
• For the formation of the fundraising team.

Update 2/4/19

First of all, THANK YOU to all who came out to the hotel property last weekend to help clean at the North Building!  We had approximately 20+ people (including some students from other churches in town) and great progress was made in the effort to make the building as visually appealing as possible!  Check back later this week for a 3-D tour!

The core building team has finished reading through the book we mentioned a couple weeks ago, "Plan for It" by Tim Cool.  It has given us a common understanding and overview of the master plan process before us.  We were encouraged by how many points we've already been aware of and working on.  One impactful thought from the book was the idea that any facility a church uses is simply a tool for ministry.  Our job is to evaluate and propose a facility that can be an effective and efficient tool for who God has made New Hope to be.

As we consider how to prepare for upcoming steps, the core building team has determined that the next sub-committee we would be wise to form is a capital campaign team.  This team will be tasked with researching, planning, preparing, and carrying out the fundraising endeavor for the building project.  They will work closely with the core building team, elders, and church finance team. While a master plan for the property is yet to come together, there are many initial tasks that a capital campaign team could could begin to mobilize for.  We are prayerfully considering who could be a good fit for this team.  Do you have a recommendation for us?  Do you sense this is a way God is asking you to serve?  Please let us know by emailing jwiebers@gmail.com.

Thanks for praying:

• Praise God for a sense of unity among the building team.  Pray that we would hear from God and discern together how he is leading.
• For the sale of remaining hotel furniture as well as the North Building.
• That God would guide the formation of the capital campaign team.
• Ask the Lord how He would like to use your strengths, resources, and prayers through this project.