Questions and Answers
Why are we having a capital campaign at this time? We are conducting the “A Foundation for the Future” Campaign in order to provide funding for the purchase of 22 acres of land in a prime location in League City. This opportunity is available to us for a short time at an excellent price. This purchase will insure that your church can continue to grow and in doing so allow us to fulfill our mission to Serve, Share, Worship, and Win Souls for Christ.
Why do we need this land? It is true that we have not yet out-grown our sanctuary. However, we are outgrowing many other parts of our current facility. We have a number of Sunday school classes that need bigger rooms and groups wanting to form new classes, but we have little space to offer. We do not have sufficient or appropriate office space for all of our staff, nor do we have sufficient storage space. Parking is also a challenge on many Sunday mornings. Potential solutions to these and other problems at our current site would be expensive, require numerous compromises due to our limited open real estate, and would only provide short term relief.
League City population is expected to reach 120,000 by 2025. Given the pace of growth in our community, we believe that it is essential that we take action now to address our space limitations while there are still plots of land available that are adequate for our needs. If we wait, attractive properties will continue to be consumed for other uses and the price of any remaining tracts will escalate.
Why is this proposed land a good choice for LCUMC? This land is in the area of rapid growth in League City, is conveniently located on a major street, and is visible from the freeway. We will have street access on all four sides. It is within 1 ½ miles of our current campus. This land is being offered to us at 30-40% below market value
What is the schedule for acquiring the land? During the month of March, many of you may be contacted to help in this campaign. During the month of April, our Sunday services will focus on the campaign, with a special Major Event on Sunday April 30, Celebration Sunday. On May 14, the campaign results will be announced. At that time, purchase activity can begin for the land, after which improvements will begin. Throughout the three year span of this effort, your church will keep you informed of all progress and status.
How much will it cost? Our objective is to purchase the 22 acre tract of land and fund some basic preliminary improvements to the property. Our goal is to receive pledges sufficient to allow the loan required for the purchase to be paid off in three years. That amount is $2 million.
What about the church’s existing debt? LCUMC currently has about $600,000 of long term debt associated with its existing facilities. We will continue to pay down this debt as part of our normal operating budget as we have been doing for many years. As we pay down the debt for the new property and begin the planning and construction of the facilities on the new site, we will also begin marketing the current campus. Upon the sale of the current campus, a portion of those proceeds will be used to pay off all remaining debts on the current facilities. The remainder of the funds will be used in financing the new facilities.
Why are we spending money to hire consultants to help us raise money? LCUMC has many knowledgeable and talented people who are always ready and willing to help in what ever efforts the church undertakes. However, we do not undertake projects of this nature or magnitude very often. Key leaders of the congregation believed that it was important for us to bring in additional expertise, professionals who specialize in helping churches with capital campaigns, to help ensure that our efforts would be successful. The overhead costs of the entire campaign will total less than 3.5 percent of the amount of money we are trying to raise, with the consultant costs only a portion of this.
So, what is the church asking me to do?
- Make prayer your first priority. Pray individually and collectively that God’s family of the League City United Methodist Church would be found faithful to His call on our hearts. Pray for this campaign that everything we do in it will be consistent with God’s will for our lives and for our church. Pray also for boldness.
- When asked to participate, step forward and take part.
- When making an estimate of giving, have faith that God will provide.
- See the needs, share the dream, become involved and committed to God’s work and together we can celebrate “A Foundation for the Future.”
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