Update 5/27/19

Happy Memorial Day!

Thanks to a group of you who showed up to help this weekend, there is another trailer full of copper ready to take to salvage.  Some estimate this is close to double what was harvested last weekend, so we're hoping it's worth about $5000.  For reference, that is about equivalent to New Hope's KidsLIFE budget line for a year.  That's a good day's work!

Other things in motion this past week included...

• Preliminary movement of the property boundary between the hotel buildings and the North building was successful as part of being ready to sell the North building.
• The Finance Team and Cultivating Team have both been working behind the scenes to help New Hope be successful in communication and financial stewardship through this building project.
• Initial calculations were done to begin assessing realistic costs of sustaining a future building.  The core building team will continue to revisit these numbers as we work through the facility plan.
• A storage pod was purchased and moved onto the property to house the new mower along with P-TAC units and other salvaged goods yet to be delivered to buyers.
• Demolition work was scheduled for mid to late June, but may be contingent on flood emergencies around town in the coming weeks.

Between now and mid-June, people will be at the property working on Saturdays.  Consider coming out to help!  If Saturdays don't work for you, let us know and we can get you (and your family or small group) set up with a project to be completed when you're able.  Any time and effort is appreciated.

Update 5/6/19

This is an exciting picture!  During this week's Core Building Team meeting, Brad Buser got us started working through a predesign process for the church facility plan.  It was exciting for the team to start talking about specific spaces and functions for the building.

As we discussed various aspects of the church building, we drew on knowledge gained from previously going through the church's ministry plan.  It was encouraging to realize that the disciplined work of past months was bearing fruit in giving our group direction and vision for how spaces could be used well.

Here are just a handful of snippets that have stuck out to our group as we have processed the ministry plan.  We envision that a building of our own could equip us to have/do these things...

• Spaces (with more varied functions than the Greenhouse provides) that can be used all throughout the week by New Hope members and others in the community
• Sound and audio/visual equipment that can stay in place from week to week
• A designated space for our Fusion youth to meet for large group times and for smaller studies
• Multipurpose space(s) that can be setup to function in different ways for different groups/times of the week.
• Opportunities for more than one group or ministry to meet on site at a time
• Parents could have more natural opportunities to overlap with Fusion students and their events
• Designated KidsLIFE rooms that are outfitted specifically for the kids/teachers using them each week with no need to set-up and tear down
• A configuration that provides increased security for our children's ministry
• Classrooms to provide childcare options for groups meeting throughout the week
• Possibilities for community outreach and hosting events
• Space for partner ministries to meet and hold events
• A playground and inviting outdoor space to encourage connection
• A welcome/information center where it is more clear how to get connected and involved
• Comfortable spaces for small groups of people to sit and talk
• More visibility to the community and accessibility to a different pocket of Manhattan

These possibilities are exciting to us as we've prayerfully considered what makes our church unique!

Please continue to pray... 

• for guidance and discernment for this next stage of planning. 
• for volunteers to help with mowing and upkeep at the property this summer.
• that God would continue to captivate our hearts more than a building. 

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 2/26/19

Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying "I am a slow walker, but I never walk back."  He believed that by examining an issue deliberately and thoroughly, he could come to a confident conclusion that wouldn't need repealed later.  Similarly, we (the core building team) are striving to make well-examined decisions while maintaining forward momentum.

Our team continues diligent work on master plan aspects of our building project.  Most specifically, we are finalizing a comprehensive look at the long-term vision of New Hope, specific ministries of the church, and space requirements of those ministries in order to assess more clearly our building needs.  This step in the process can be painstaking.  It can be tedious.  Yet, it is invaluable.  As a team, we continue to agree that is helping to bring clarity and unity, and for that we are excited!

Thank you for praying:
-That the building team would work efficiently and with a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit leading them.
-For a buyer to come along to purchase the North building.
-Isaiah 43:19--that God would make Himself known as the One who makes things new through this building project.

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.

Update 1/28/19 and a Call for Cleaning Help

Have you driven by the hotel property and noticed the verse reference on the sign? 

 It is Isaiah 43:19.

Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. 

Of course, this verse isn't about our property specifically.  It is a prophecy that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ's first coming.  However, in some similar ways, we pray that this overgrown hotel "wilderness" would be a place where we get to see God making things new, both in the physical space and in the hearts of people who are involved there.  

As we take steps towards a master plan for bringing new life to the property, it has seemed prudent to pursue the sale of the newer, northern most hotel building, sometimes referred to as the Regency Inn, but more commonly dubbed, "The North Building".  We purchased the entire hotel property at a price far below market value with the knowledge that there could be opportunity to parcel off "The North Building" and recoup a large chunk of our initial investment.  As the core building team has considered finances, explored how the property could be divided, and what the building could possibly sell for, we have determined to move forward with trying to sell it.  There has been a notable amount of interest, but we aren't able to fully market it until it is cleaned and prettied up a bit.

"The North Building"

So, that is where you have opportunity to help!  We are hosting another cleaning party and we need you!  Would you join us!?!  Please contact Eric at eric@milestoneks.com if you plan to be there.

Saturday, February 2

10am-3pm 

(come and go as needed)

at The North Building

This aerial photo is looking towards the West.  The "North building" is near the top right.

Thank you for praying for these things:

• The gleaning team as they finalize some sales in the next week, and for wisdom as they determine what is worth selling on our own, and what to haul off for auction.
• That God would bring a buyer for the North Building.
• For how God might want to use your strengths, time, resources, and prayers to honor him through this project.  
• Isaiah 43:19 for our church.

Update 1/21/19

Since its formation, the core building team has been meeting weekly to assess the property, get our minds around what this process might entail, and start taking baby steps towards presenting a master plan for the church.  It's been a great deal to consider, but we are making progress bit by bit!

We are reading a book titled "Plan 4 It" by Tim Cool.  Key points from the reading provide some structure in order to determine how to approach a master plan that will meet the needs of New Hope.  As we journey through this process, we are compiling feedback received from people in the church, putting together ministry descriptions, assessing current budgets, considering feasibility of the cost of different building possibilities, as well as looking at sustainability of whatever facility we end up with.  There are a lot of pieces to discuss!  If you'd like to gain a deeper appreciation of the process, we invite you to purchase and read the book with us!  

In a project of this magnitude, sub-committees are essential.  While other committees are yet to be listed and formed, one sub-committee is already hard at work.  The "gleaning team" has been working to take inventory of furniture, equipment, and construction materials at the hotel that could be of value, in order that they might be sold or donated.  Several businesses are coming to look at various things for purchase even this week!  Pawnee Mental Health has already picked up five bedrooms' worth of furniture to outfit their new homeless transition housing site.  We donated the furniture to them, and they were beyond thankful.  Upon learning of our heart to help people in poverty, they offered the possibility of starting some kind of partnership with our church in the near future.  This could lead to some great possibilities for our church and those who personally desire to help our town's homeless population.

Please be praying for:

• Continued guidance and clarity for the core building team as they seek to work towards a master plan
• Pawnee Mental Health's transitional housing facility, as well as possible opportunities to minister there
• The gleaning team's work to sell and donate assets left behind
• That God would continue to work in powerful ways to glorify Himself through this building project