News

           South Campus news

The news is that the South Campus has a name, a vision and mission statement, and its own blog by now. If you made it already to www.slpowerandlight.org this is not really news for you  

And I know that you are waiting for some really important news – the news that we finally have a location. BUT: We have NOT found it yet. We are still looking.Part of the problem is that we don’t have an answer yet from Mission Investment Fund to the question if they will be able to purchase property or a building for us. They would hold it for three years, and we would start paying as soon as we have revenue coming in at our south campus. We would also have 0% interest at least for the first year. That would be a great help in terms of financing. What makes things difficult is the fact that the south campus is a second site of All Saints and not a mission development on its own. This kind of deal is usually not available for multi site congregations, only for a new mission start that is an entity on its own. It is also not so easy to find a location that meets our needs. 

First of all we had to be clear about WHAT we want to do. Then we had to come up with HOW we want to it. The last step is to find out WHERE this is possible. Pastor Dave, the Location Finding Team and I have been working hard on these questions and this is the result: 

 All Saints Lutheran Church – South Campus Mission Statement 

WHAT:

ASLC is establishing a south campus ministry in order to bring the Gospel to people who are not likely to ever attend a church related activity, who otherwise would not be exposed to the Gospel. 

South Lyon Power and Light – Children of the Light, sharing God’s love. 

HOW: 

 Activities which serve the people of South Lyon and offer them a real service, while offering our South Campus ministry the opportunity to form relationships with people who are not involved with any community of faith.

a.      Activities that could happen out in the community: car wash at which a dollar is given away to every person who comes through; yard work for the needy; snow removal for the needy; grocery shopping for the needy; battery distribution for smoke detectors.

b.     Activities that could happen at a South Campus Location: tutoring; ESL classes; parenting classes/support group (free daycare provided); drama classes; music classes (youth choir for South Lyon); motorcycle Safety classes; bible Study for beginners; coffee house; concerts; worship; yoga; karate.

WHERE:

Location requirements:

I.       Welcoming, cozy space.

a.      Bright.   b.     Pleasant.

II.     Space to accommodate 150 people.

III.  High visibility to local residents.

a.      Preferably downtown. 

IV.  Extremely flexible. a.      Office space.   b.     Meeting space for all ages.   c.      Worship space.

V.    Positive reputation in the community.

VI.  Plenty of access to parking.

VII.            NOT a church-like building.

VIII.         $20,000.00 annual budget for lease/rent. 

The mission statement looks pretty impressive, doesn’t it? We have come this far and all that’s left, is to find the place in South Lyon that matches this mission statement. As if it were that easy! Yes, starting an additional campus is exciting and a lot of fun. And yes: starting an additional campus is also sometimes frustrating and even discouraging.This reminds me of a picture on the door of the teacher’s lounge at the secondary school where I used to teach:

NEVER EVER GIVE UP

  And never ever loose trust in God! 

Pr. Pamela

This entry was posted on 16. March 2008 at 17:59 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.