On behalf of all the elders, thank you for praying and fasting
for us on Monday, May 7.

Every elder was present, as was the building committee. At
midnight we voted unanimously and enthusiastically to recommend to
the congregation that we move ahead immediately with the
construction of a four-level educational building, plus basement,
on the spot where the present "old sanctuary" stands, plus another
level over the 1955 building at a cost of approximately $6.5
million. This is slightly above where our pledges (plus cash on
hand) presently stand.

Our common consent was that the leveling off of the pledges near
$6.5 million, after six additional months of waiting and praying,
was God's signal to accept what he had moved the people to pledge
and to move ahead with that, rather than continue to wait for
another $2.5 million. This means that the multi-purpose-room/gym
with its basement would not be built at this time. We do not rule
out a later second phase, but that is not a firm plan or proposal
now.

WE ARE CALLING A SPECIAL ALL-CHURCH STRATEGY MEETING ON MAY 30TH
to give you all the details and to ask your vote of support for
this plan. We will pray at 6:00 PM for one hour and then discuss
and act on the building proposal at 7:00 PM.

We stand by the original commitments to enter the new building
debt free and to have half of the money in hand before we begin to
build, and the other half pledged (to be paid by the date of
occupancy) before we begin to build. We are very aware that all the
pledges were made toward a $9 million project that included a gym
and basement. In view of the new scope of the project, integrity
requires that we give all of you a chance to revise your pledges up
or down. We pray that the great majority will agree with us that
this plan is God's leading and will happily keep your pledges at
the same (or a higher) level.

This means that, if you approve the plan on May 30, we will
immediately instruct our architect, HGA, to do what they call
"design and development" as soon as possible. This may take 2
months. Then about 3 months would elapse during the "preparation of
construction documents." Then, it would take about 2 more months
for "bid and award." At that point, assuming that the pledges are
in place and the cost projections are in line with the plan, we
would begin construction. So it is very likely that the "old
sanctuary" would come down and construction begin near the end of
this year, and we could be in the new building 12 to 14 months
later, that is, about March 1, 2003, debt free.

We believe that there are local partnerships with other churches
that can provide at least partial solutions to the (temporary?)
loss of a gym in the plans. We also believe that the old plan to
use the gym for an "incubator" of new churches may perhaps be
fulfilled by using one of the present three services on Sunday
morning as the "incubator."

Lest you feel that this present plan is short of a marvelous
work of God, consider this: When I first floated a debt free idea
before the elders in the fall of 1997 I threw out the wild number
of $5 million as an "impossible" target with a $1 million line
called "out of nothing" (referring to God's ability to create out
of nothing). The reality today is that 775 pledges total almost
$6.5 million which is, on average, over $8,000 per giving unit over
a two-year period. Think of it. This average includes our
teen-agers and those on fixed incomes. This is stunning. We will,
in due time, take the occasion to corporately praise God in a
focused and concerted way. He has been very good to us.

Your partner in the great work of EDUCATION FOR EXULTATION!

Pastor John