July 12, 2007

Dear Members of Immanuel,

We are pleased to announce that the K.I.S.S.E.D. campaign raised $225,379 as of June 22, 2007. Although this is just shy of 25% of our goal of $950,000, it is a great beginning for this three-year program. We thank the congregation for its prayerful and financial support. Mike Snyder, our treasurer, reported that $57,000 of the receipts plus $50,000 from the Good Sam Endowment will be applied to the principal of the loan in July. The new balance on our debt is approximately $845,000. We are aware that there may be more contributions and pledges as our process leading to a senior pastor occurs.

The Campaign revealed several things to our committee: (1) Economically, times are tight, and individuals and families are struggling to meet expenses, and, (2) We need to do a better job of explaining to the Congregation why this debt elimination is so critical to our mission as Christians and as a Church. Although we will go into it in greater detail in the months ahead, we need to eliminate this debt so that we can:
* Hire a full-time Pastor of Christian Education and Youth
* Restore the secretarial and administrative support to its former staff level
* Establish planned savings for repairs to the roof, the organ, and ongoing maintenance
* Restore money to the budget for outreach efforts such as Opportunity House, the Soup Kitchen, Food Bank and support groups.
* Restore money for the music program.

As Gene Waltz mentioned in his June 25, 2007 letter, Rev. Byron D. Leasure becomes our full-time Intentional Interim Senior Pastor effective July 16, 2007. The debt elimination issue is something that we will address with him.

We are being challenged - as individual Christians and as a Church - to eliminate the debt so that we can carry on with our mission of Christian Education, Christian Outreach and more. Thank you for your support. We look forward to working together in the months ahead as we eliminate our debt.

Sincerely,
Richard A. Kratz, Ed.D.
Sandra L. Becker, Ed.D.
K.I.S.S.E.D. Co-chairpersons

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At the Town Hall Meeting on April 10th, Dick Kratz shared these thoughts.

As our pamphlet explains, our campaign is about coming, sharing, working, and succeeding together. Father Theodor Hesburgh, the former President of Notre Dame said something that I have always attempted to follow:

• We don't do things to win friends and influence people.
• We don't do things because they are politically correct.
• We do things because they are the right thing to do.

The Elimination of the Debt is the right thing to do!

Emerson said “What about you shout so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”

• We have a chance to show what we are.
• We have a chance to show that we are more than a beautiful edifice.
• What we are about is what takes place inside of this building.

Don't' get me wrong, I am not apologizing for our new and expanded buildings. We need them to effectively carry out our mission. If we delayed the new construction, it would have cost us twice as much as when we finally did build. So we did the right thing! But now we have a debt of about $950,000:

• The loan expires on July 1, 2024.
• We currently spend $97,200 on interest and principal each year on this loan.
• To exacerbate this situation, we take $36,000 out of our endowment funds.

This will be a three year campaign:

• We want to return to full staffing including a Pastor of Christian Education and Youth.
• This is so critical to our young people.
• Our young people are precious and we must address their needs.
• Young people are 24/7.
• We need a full-time person in this position.
• We need to restore $18,000 to outreach that includes, but is not limited to Opportunity House, Soup Kitchen, Food Bank and Support Groups. Outreach, music and property were forced to reduce their budgets two years ago.
• We need to establish planned savings for anticipated repairs to the organ, roof, and ongoing maintenance such as painting and wall repair.
• We need to bring our secretarial staff to two full-time people so that our pastors can do what we, as a congregation, want them to do.

We will keep the Congregation informed of our financial success and we will celebrate the milestones.

An old Cherokee Indian Chief talked to his grandson about a battle between 2 wolves that also goes on inside people.

• The one is evil:
• It is anger.
• It is jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed arrogance, self-pity, and guilt.
• It is resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
• The other wolf is good:
• It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, and kindness.
• It is benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.
• The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked the grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied: “the one that you feed.” This is not a good vs evil issue, but it is about doing what is good. It's about joy, peace, love, hope, and faith.

We have a tremendous challenge before us, and this won't be easy:

• But it is the right thing to do.
• We have a challenge before us as a Church and as individual Christians.
• We are asked to give of our Time, Talent, and Treasury.
• As I said it won't be easy.
• But look at this:

OPPORTUNITY IS NO WHERE.
OPPORTUNITY IS NOW HERE.

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