Well, the first leg of our capital campaign is complete—a six-week whirlwind of sermons, meeting in committees, homes, and restaurants, and casting vision for a permanent home in the heart of Collierville. Experts told us that we could raise from $1.25 million to $1.5 million in filthy lucre. That is a lot of money—especially as I look out over our congregation and see the young families with lots of children and contemplate the fact that we are not loaded with lots of wealth. Of course, that is relative. To certain parts of the culture, we look as though we live in the lap of luxury, while to other parts of the culture we look more like “lower class.” What I mean is that we do not fit the profile of a community that has lots of liquid cash lying around. Nevertheless, history is ripe with communities of faith who were poor, yet made great sacrifices for the growth of the Kingdom.

Every time I think of how many of the great and beautiful churches in New England were built during the Great Depression, I marvel. At a time of overwhelming poverty, somehow the people of God thought Jesus was worth sacrificing some legitimate creature comforts so that they could share that joy with others. This much I know—a great number of our folk have made huge financial sacrifices to see St. Patrick’s ministry of restoration grow and expand. To date we have raised over $1.3 million within our congregation! I suppose we knew early in the campaign that if the experts are right—if 20% of the folk give 80% of the money—we would have a problem reaching our goals. However, this was not the case here. Our Capital Campaign Chairman, Ed Champagne, tells me that it was more like our top 20% gave about 40% of the money. What that means is that our church as a whole took the challenge to give sacrificially to heart. I am overwhelmed by that, and see it as a barometer of the depth of commitment to Jesus and this community of faith.

Yet the most encouraging things about the past six weeks are the stories I have heard and the things I have seen from our folk. At our First Fruits Offering last Sunday, as I was offering the body and blood of Jesus to our people, I couldn’t help but notice the children as they came by. Many of them had envelopes that had their offerings in them. One of our children had a twenty-dollar bill in a small planter. I had seen the planter around the house for a few days with the twenty in it. I was broke at the time and one day when no one was around, I was sorely tempted to steal it! I was really glad I didn’t when I found out what it was for. I asked Teri what a twenty was doing in a clay pot. I had seen it lying around all over the house. She told me it was one of my little boys’ “First Fruits Offering.” I had to leave the room; one is not flippant in the presence of that kind of sacrifice.  I know how hard money is to come by for them. I offer no allowance for our children. From an early age they get the “Heart Breaker Talk,” that we don’t give money to children; they will earn it. So I know where the money came from—gifts from birthdays, as well as wages from a hard day of helping me in the garden and from shoveling manure out of my pick-up in April, when it was miserably hot. To see his joy in being able to give was better than what he actually gave. That is just one of my children; I know of many of our youth and children who actually made pledges to the new home for our community.

I have even talked to many in our church who have not even taken vows to join yet, and who have told me that they would pledge because they didn’t want to sit in the new building next year and know they were not a participant in helping build it! That is the same heart King David had when he said, “I will not offer to God that which cost me nothing.” Another person who came to St. Patrick when we were in the White Church, then moved away, and recently started coming to our church again told me that they were back, and back with a vengeance. I thought about that in light of the fact that you don’t really think of attracting visitors when you are talking about money and sacrifice. This individual told me they had seen more honesty in talking about money, sin, grace and Jesus in their short time back than they had in years.

I hope everyone understands as we raise this money that the building—while something that will be beautiful in its own right, and which is an act of good stewardship on our part—it is not what we are about. We are about people who confess they are here because there is a fundamental honesty about who we are in Jesus—flawed, broken, tragically sinful people who sin against each other, and yet somehow have understood that Jesus loves us and forgives us in the midst of our fallen condition.  I want to be a part of that community; I will work, sacrifice and give for that community, because I want to experience a little taste of the restoration—now!

We still have lots of work to do and more money to raise, but what a start! The Building Committee is working with our architect as we speak, and our first step is to get the property rezoned for a church. There are lots of things to pray for as we move forward; Scott Fleming, our architect, our Capital Campaign Committee as they continue to raise money, our Building Committee, and that God would grant us favor in the eyes of those in the city who sit in government and on zoning boards. Meanwhile, let’s celebrate all God has done in the last few months!