First United Methodist Church of Pittsburgh Capital Campaign

Renovation Plan is Delayed to Address Issues Such as Designing and Engineering the Sanctuary's New Heating System

by David Hounshell, Member, Building Committee

Have you ever sat in the Sanctuary during the dead of winter and wondered why the heating system was so quiet that you were barely aware of it? I know that I certainly have. Sometimes I can hear a rattle in one of the ducts that convey hot air out the ends of the pews, but for the most part the system is remarkably quiet.

First Church's Congregation celebrated Joy Sunday on April 15, 2007.  As the bulletin for the service noted:

"Today we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, the vitality and commitment of our congregation, and the process that began more than two years ago with our 2005-2009 Vision & Strategic Plan.  We have:

• Worked together to determine how to renovate our building in ways that we can better minister to one another and the community in the years to come
• Developed a prioritized Master Plan to guide our renovations over the long term
• Launched the Find Us Faithful Capital Campaign to enable us to begin implementing that plan
• Pledged $700,000 in the first 2 months of the 3-year $1.2 million capital campaign
• Received to date almost $100,000 in fulfillment of those pledges

"We celebrate continuing the process in the future by:

• Working with the Building Committee, RSSC Architecture, and contractors to tailor the plan to fit our resources
• Growing our congregation’s membership, faith, and commitment
• Expanding our capital campaign to include:
• Applying for grants from foundations and agencies
• Approaching our vendors and the local business community"

Campaign totals as of April 15th:  106 pledges and gifts totaling $710,461, including 39 gifts totaling $82,776. 

On Sunday, March 25, 2007, the Find Us Faithful Capital Campaign moved into the commitment phase with a wonderful worship service built around the theme of sacrificial giving.  The Schriver family provided a powerful testimonial about what First United Methodist Church of Pittsburgh has meant to them and why they have chosen to give sacrificially.   At the children's time, Patty Steffey talked about what she found beautiful about our church and why people, the missions of the church, and the church building are so closely tied together.  She also told the children about the members of the church who had chosen to make advanced commitments to the Find Us Faithful campaign because they love First Church so much, and she announced that this group of some 51 families had recently pledged more than $546,000 to the renovation of First Church.  Gail Ransom then helped the children to comprehend this sum of money through the use of a graphic representation--an image of First Church covered with a silhouette of black puzzle pieces.  Children then removed a number of pieces of the puzzle that were covering the image until a little more than 40 percent of the image of the church was "revealed."  Gail and the children then discussed what missions and activities went on in the parts of the church that had been revealed.  Pastor Bob Wilson delivered the final of four sermons on sacrificial giving and discussed his and Glenna Wilson's commitments to Find Us Faithful.  Finally, Pastor Bob invited all members, guests, visitors, and attendees to remember their baptism and to come forward to the baptismal font, to touch the water, and then to deposit their Find Us Faithful commitment cards, weekly donation envelopes, Find Us Faithful time and talent cards, and other expressions of support for the ministries of First Church in the collection plates at the altar.

Our Congregation is a vibrant and vital community of faith joyfully affirming and celebrating the availability of God’s grace to all persons. We celebrate the gift of God’s grace in our lives so that together we can be God’s instrument of blessing to the world. The presence of this building is a vital tool as well as a visible symbol that we are called to faithful ministry in this time and place. “O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.” These words from I Chronicles 29:16 remind us that God has given us this building as a resource for ministry. God expects us to celebrate the presence of our building on its glorious site and to be faithful and responsible stewards of this valuable resource.

God is calling us to fulfill our challenging vocation to reflect creatively and energetically the Good News of God’s love and transforming power by our presence and participation in the East End and beyond. As we enter this Find Us Faithful journey, I commend the Congregation for taking this bold step that affirms our hope-empowered commitment to God for today and tomorrow.

On Sunday, January 28, 2007 Pastor Bob Wilson announced to the First Church Congregation that we have entered the beginning stage of our Find Us Faithful Campaign following a unanimous vote by the Congregation at a Church Conference on January 21 to approve the proposed Phase One renovation plan. The planning for this effort has been extensive and began in early 2006 when RSSC Architecture developed a master plan for the renovation of our historic 1893 building and its adjoining 50-year-old Education Wing.