It's Really Happening!
The dream of our own church building is becoming reality...

Ten years ago, Jesus MCC was founded.  Four years ago, we began intentional fund raising to acquire a building of our own. One year ago, we established a working relationship with Bank One and began an active real estate search. 

On March 19, 2001, we entered into a contract to purchase a lovely 22,000 square foot building for $700,000! What a wonderful milestone! 

This will be no ordinary building. It will be the first house of worship in Indiana owned by a congregation that self-identifies as predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT).  It will be a great source of pride for our entire community — a milestone not just for us, but for all who care about GLBT people.

I have no doubt that some day this building will be designated an historic landmark, just as the first African American Churches in Indiana are now classified. We are about to make history!

Over the next 90 days, we are making one final push to raise the last $100,000 necessary to fund renovations to the building and qualify for our bank loan. In an incredible act of generosity and commitment, our Board of Directors and Trustees and their spouses have already pledged $43,300 of those funds! We invite others to join us in this Great Pioneer Capital Campaign.  But before focusing on that, let me tell you about the building.

Why this building?
The Board of Directors and Trustees voted unanimously to purchase this building. On Easter Sunday, we will ask the congregation to vote whether to affirm that decision.  The enthusiasm of our Directors and Trustees is based on several key factors.

First, the location is terrific. The building is located at 2950 E. 55th Place, just two blocks east of the intersection of Keystone and 56th Street. This is barely two miles from where we now meet, and is within five minutes of three major highway interchanges.  The neighborhood around the building is stable, safe, and well regarded. A major bus line runs nearby.

Second, the building is huge.  It's much larger than anything we anticipated being able to purchase.  Two proposed floor plans are shown on a separate page. The first shows how we propose to configure the building initially, with renovations funded by the Great Pioneer Campaign.  Initially, we will have a Sanctuary that seats up to 340 and a Social Hall almost three times greater than where we presently meet. We will also have six class rooms, a nursery, a conference room, several offices, a kitchen, restrooms, and ample storage for our homeless ministry and other needs.

How can we afford so much? God's grace! Three small companies that currently occupy 16% of the building and a portion of the parking lot are willing to continue there. Their combined rental payments of $3,850 per month are enabling us to purchase much more building than we could otherwise afford.  Slowly over time, we will phase out these leases as our Church grows and cash flow increases. In the meantime, these rental arrangements are manna from heaven — God's grace!

Third, there is ample parking. Of all the buildings we have looked at, this one offers the best parking. The building sits on 2.68 acres, virtually all of which is paved.  In addition, we have acquired an exclusive option to purchase an adjacent 1.75 acres for $110,000.  Half of this lot is already paved. We will have two years to exercise our purchase option.  In the meantime, we will be able to park on this extra lot on Sundays. Once the option is exercised, we will have substantial frontage on 56th Street, a main thoroughfare, giving our Church excellent visibility.

Fourth, the building is attractive. Although not a fancy cathedral, this is one of the nicer buildings we've looked at. The exterior is red brick, and the roof is gabled. It is immaculately maintained.  Once we add a steeple, do some landscaping, remove some fencing, and reopen some windows, the building will look as if it were originally constructed as a Church.  (Incidentally, there is no way we could build a new building of this size and materials for anywhere near $700,000. The model building that sits in our lobby is only half as large and would cost at least $1.2 million to build.)

Fifth, the building will be easy to reconfigure as we grow.  Our search for a building has been complicated by the rapid rate at which our Church is growing.  We have seen several buildings that could meet our current needs, but would become obsolete when we double again in size, which could happen in just a few years.  This building offers a long-term solution. 

The second floor plan shows how we could eventually reconfigure the building to seat up to 700 in the Sanctuary. This could be achieved by simply moving a few walls and rerouting some plumbing. Given the initial free-span construction of the building, none of the walls that would have to be moved are load bearing.  In other words, we can continue to grow in this building for years to come without expensive additions.

What now?
God has entrusted us with the opportunity to acquire a wonderful building that will support years of expanding outreach.  To give us a boost, God has thrown in an extra $3,850 of monthly rental fees! God has done what we've asked. Now we must do our part.

Approval of our bank loan will depend on whether we can raise the $100,000 needed to renovate the building for initial use.  As noted before, our Directors and Trustees have already pledged $43,300 of that amount. For the rest, we turn to you, the congregation and friends of Jesus MCC.

When I first looked at what is needed and discussed it with my spouse David, we came up with an amount we felt we could reasonably afford. Then we doubled that amount. Why? This is what it means to be a Great Pioneer — to take chances for a cause that is greater than ourselves.  Our Community has waited a long time for this. Now we're on the brink of something truly historic.  God is giving each of us, in our lifetime, the opportunity to be part of an historic first.

When I stand before God, I want to be able to say that I recognized and rose to the occasion.  The gift David and I are giving as part of this Great Pioneer Campaign is probably the most important gift we will ever make.  So we have approached it like that. We view this as the best gift we will offer God in our lifetime.

May all of us, as we evaluate what we will give, rise to the occasion and stretch ourselves. Our names will all appear together on a plaque that will hang in the lobby of our building.  The plaque will state that we were the Great Pioneers who had the vision and courage to establish the first house of worship in the state of Indiana to arise out of the GLBT Community. Please join us with all the generosity you can muster in this pioneering endeavor. Stretch yourself; rise to the occasion!  Future generations will salute you, and God will smile.