Blog
By: Pastor Doug
For quite some time there has been discussion about renewing the building at Holy Cross. We’ve seen a few designs, wrote a few articles in the newsletter, and heard individuals talk about it.
“But, what’s happening? What can we expect in the near future?”
Before we answer those questions we need to remember that nearly ten years ago, faithful members of Holy Cross worked hard and recommended a plan for renewing our facility. Let’s talk for a moment about that original plan. Imagine this space expanded to the parking lot and rising two stories. The original plan was to build a room that would replace the Fireside room, create a dedicated music room, youth room and offices on both the first and second floors. But that was not all we planned with this original design.
Our greatest need for renewal has been our education wing. The original plan was to tear down this building and rebuild a new structure that would better serve our ability to encourage children and adults to be nourished by God. Now let’s step outside the west doors again. Imagine a large, new fellowship hall with a room bigger than Hiller Hall but serving much the same purpose. The food pantry would have moved to this structure, a new kitchen would have been built and the space could have served for many different activities for the entire congregation.
A voters meeting adopted this plan, but also adopted a resolution that we would first pay off our existing mortgage before moving forward with renewing our facility. We put the building plan on hold and worked faithfully to achieve that goal. In December of 2017 we burned the mortgage, revisited our building plan, then realized that we faced a Mt Everest challenge.
How were we going to pay for it? Phases had been built into the plan, but the problem was escalating costs. And we began to realize that we would probably never accomplish what we set out to do. So, we took a deep breath and asked ourselves one simple question – Why?
“Why do we need to renew our present facility?”
Holy Cross is made up of amazing people. I’m honored to be a part of this community. We’ve grown together, cried together, rejoiced together. Let me share with you one of the greatest qualities of Holy Cross.
“This is a congregation that cares about children.”
Right now members of Holy Cross sponsor nearly 100 children in Honduras through Compassion International. When other churches would have closed their preschool because of dwindling attendance, we voted to keep it open and now it’s thriving with a waiting list. When other churches have given up on Vacation Bible School ours is still going strong.
We, the community of Holy Cross, believe that God is calling us to encourage those who hunger to be nourished by him. We are a hungry lot, craving for our souls to be nourished by something more than things. What is driving our need for facility renewal is our call to feed these souls with God’s grace. Let me say that again because it is so important. The reason we’re looking at doing something with this building is because God has laid a burden on us to feed people with Christ’s love and compassion.
Let me take that thought a little deeper.
Though what we will present to you in the coming days will benefit all age groups at Holy Cross, it will help children the most. Think about the world these children are growing up in, a world of depression, loss of hope, and fear. You and I know that Jesus loves children. He wants to cradle them in his arms, bring them to a place of rest and hope, and most importantly he desires that they impact this world with his love.
“Can we do this in our present facility?”
Absolutely, in fact that is what we are doing. It’s not a question of can we do this with the structure that we have, but can we do it better and with more children and adults than we presently do? That answer is also yes.
As many of you know, I have two grandsons who are an important part of my life. I have a limited time to influence them, especially in their walk with Christ. There are many of us at Holy Cross who are in the same boat, caring for, praying for, and even crying over our grandchildren.
“We want a place where they can be fed by God.”
Many of our new members at Holy Cross have children and are looking for a place where these children can grow in their relationship with God. They want us as a community to join them in raising their children with hope rooted in God’s mercy.
And dream with me for a moment about those in the greater Colorado Springs community who don’t know Christ and their children.
“Don’t we want them to know the hope we have in Christ?”
The new facility renewal plan that we will present to you will be a structure that better equips all of us as witnesses for Jesus Christ.
Here is what you can expect over the next few months. We will produce videos that cover the purpose of the floor plan, how we will renew our current facility, and how we will pay for this project. You will be given a chance to give feedback to members of the building committee, feedback that is extremely important. You will also be given the chance to vote on the plan including financing and fundraising.
The core leadership team of the building committee is already at work. Jeff and Lorrie Faunce and Rob Lowe are leading the charge. They are keeping this project in their prayers and working to build a team that will lead this effort. I’m privileged to work with them.
Won’t you join us in praying for the future of Holy Cross?
“God is faithful. He will lead us forward.”
