“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD” Those are the opening words of the 122nd Psalm, spoken by King David thousands of years ago. I think we all know that the church is not a building, it is the people of God. And I know that ministry is by no means about facilities and structures. But our buildings do provide us a place to gather for worship, study, fellowship and much more. Our buildings are an important and valuable resources that help to make all we do as a church possible.
So I want to take a moment today to talk to you about something we often take for granted, our buildings. At Rock Church we are blessed to have some wonderful facilities. As stewards of those facilities, it is always our intention to continually care for, improve, and even expand those buildings in order to provide excellent space for effective ministry.
About six years ago we launched a unified capital campaign where folks from all three campuses worked together to raise over $200,000 to facilitate expansions and improvements at all of our locations. The biggest piece of that project was the pavilion in Plaistow. We constructed the pavilion to provide a central gathering place for ministry wide special worship gatherings, concerts, men’s and women’s events, children’s programs and so much more. We also used funds from the campaign to prepare the Amesbury parsonage for sale, helping us purchase our new building at 58 Macy Street and to do work in the lower level of the Sandown building.
The pavilion is completed, approved and operational. We have purchase our new North Shore building and the work in Sandown is about 75% complete. We have made great progress ministry wide! But there is still a little bit left to be done. So I am excited to announce that we are launching Phase II of our All for One campaign. The goal of phase II is to complete the lower level fellowship hall/nursery/multifunction space in Sandown and to make much needed repairs to the exterior of the North Shore building.
As we did in the original campaign, I am asking us to all come together as one church to complete this important work. I’ve prepared a brief video that shows and explains what is to be done and we have set up a simple online pledge form where you can sign up to help with this important work. So I would ask you to take about 10 minutes to watch the video, prayerfully consider how you might be able to participate in this campaign and then take a moment to make your pledge online. This is to be a one year campaign to run from Jan 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2024.
If we all pull together, I know we can reach this goal in the coming year. We will continue to care well for the facilities God has blessed and entrusted us with. Thank you for prayerfully considering your part in our All for One Phase II campaign.
I love you all,
Pastor Steve