Focused by Grace

The Focused By Grace Campaign

To start the campaign to build our second new sanctuary, in the fall of 2009, Pastor Scott Yirka asked Tom Platt to serve as the Director of the Focused By Grace (FBG) campaign.    Tom accepted the challenge and immediately set out to secure the assistance of two experienced leaders:

·         Reverend Clarence Hackett, Director of the Stewardship Department of the Florida Baptist Convention; and

·         Larry Koster, a member of Hibernia who had experience in previous church capital campaigns.

Tom, Clarence and Larry met with Brother Scott to discuss a vision for the campaign, and began to lay out the plans for FBG. 

The first three months involved a common goal of praying, encouraging, leading and giving.  That was to be followed by a continuing effort over the next three years to sustain the campaign.

The Focused By Grace Campaign was built around seven spiritual principles:

1.       The Principle of Prayer:                    Psalm 127:1 – “Except the Lord build the house”

2.       The Principle of Sacrifice:                II Samuel 24:24 and Hebrews 12:2 – “Not equal gifts but equal sacrifice”

3.       The Principle of Communication:   “Tell the people and trust the people”

4.       The Principle of Involvement:       Nehemiah 4:6 “the people had a mind to work”

5.       The Principle of Commitment:     “I will not ask others to make a commitment until I have made my own”

6.       The Principle of Asking:                  James 4:2b “You have not because you ask not”

7.       The Principle of Timing:                 “The right person asking the right person at the right time in the right place in the right way”

With guidance from Clarence Hackett, Tom and Larry set out to contact people who would provide the leadership of several teams, and provided the training to them to accomplish the campaign goals.

The “high-point” of the campaign kick-off was a church-wide banquet held at Reynolds Park in Green Cove Springs at which the initial pledges were announced shortly thereafter, the entire congregation responded to the request to pray for God’s guidance in how they should participate.

The results were a church-wide combined pledge of $2,400,000. 

The new worship facility will take us from an existing sanctuary that seats 500 to a new sanctuary that will seat over 1,000.  Initial plans are that we will begin in the new sanctuary with three morning bible study periods and two morning worship services.

Later, in early August , 2010, Pastor Scott asked the congregation to pray that at least $100,000 contributions come in by August 23, and by mid-August, that goal had been met and exceeded!

It is anticipated that we will have our first worship service in our new sanctuary on August 29^th.