Long-Range Strategic Planning Update - July 2008

VOTERS’ RESOLUTIONS:

At a special voters’ assembly on June 29, 2008, the members of Prince of Peace adopted the following resolutions:

1. “Be it resolved, that the voters of POP authorize the Board of Directors to conduct a capital campaign to raise ~$2.2 million and to use the raised funds to implement the strategic plan which includes:
   • Daughter church plant -- $558 K
   • Hispanic church plant -- $673 K
   • Mortgage Elimination -- $495 K
   • Campus Improvements -- $250 K
   • Mission tithe -- $220 K”


2. “Be it resolved, that the voters of POP authorize the expenditure of $18,500 from the POP Reserve Fund to complete the design phase of the campus improvements component of the long-range strategic plan.”


3. “Be it resolved, that the voters of POP request the Northern Illinois District to designate Prince of Peace as an Ablaze Covenant Congregation.”


4. “Be it resolved, that the voters of POP authorize the Board of Directors to enter into a contract with Capital Funding Services and conduct a capital stewardship campaign in the fall of 2008.”

PROGRESS UPDATES:

Since that meeting...

• Prince of Peace has received the “Covenant Congregation” designation by the Northern Illinois District. This designation will be publicly recognized at all worship services on Rally Day weekend in September.


• An Outreach Pastor Call committee has been formed and begun its work, inviting the congregation to submit the names of possible candidates.


• A capital campaign orientation seminar was held for the congregation on Sunday, July 20th and the campaign leadership team is now being formed.

STRATEGIC PLAN SUMMARY:

After much thought, prayer, study, and discussion, we are increasingly convinced that the most effective strategy we can pursue in fulfilling our mission and vision is daughter church planting. Numerous studies have shown that daughter church planting has proven to be the most effective method for reaching the unchurched.

Once we decided to plant churches, the next question before us was, “Where do we do it?” Again, after much thought, prayer, study, and discussion, we believe the Lord is leading us to begin by planting a daughter congregation in Lake in the Hills. There are several reasons why Lake in the Hills was chosen:

• Our District leaders, after extensive research, believe Lake in the Hills is “crying out” for a church plant.
• Double-digit population growth over the next five years has been predicted for Lake in the Hills.
• There is currently no LCMS church in the community.
• POP has ~25 active families living in the area. Many of them have already expressed interest in helping us start a “west campus” for Prince of Peace.
• The pastors of St. John’s, Algonquin (south of Lake in the Hills) and Prince of Peace, Crystal Lake (north of Lake in the Hills) are supportive of our plan.

The Lake in the Hills effort is scheduled to start this summer with the call of our Outreach Pastor. We hope to have him in place by January 2009.

The long-range strategic plan also includes a ministry to reach the growing mission field in our own backyard by calling a full-time, bi-lingual pastor to our staff to plant a Hispanic congregation in Palatine. Our research revealed that the North-East Palatine population is already 24% Hispanic, and growing! Clearly, God has brought the foreign mission field to our doorstep!

The Hispanic ministry is now scheduled to begin in January of 2010.

Because we plan to engage in a significant fund-raising effort for our daughter church plants, we also feel that this would be the appropriate time to address some needed improvements to our current campus. Specifically, we need sound and lighting improvements to the sanctuary and fellowship hall and a re-design of the fellowship hall for more effective multiple-classrooms.

We are also planning to include retirement of the current church mortgage into the campaign. The balance on our existing mortgage, the result of previous POP building projects, currently stands at ~$900,000. Including debt retirement in the campaign will allow us to pay off the mortgage three years earlier than scheduled, saving ~$95,000 in interest and making the church completely debt-free. Our plan is that the money currently budgeted toward monthly mortgage payments will then continue to be set aside for the long-range facility needs of the two daughter church plants.

In keeping with POP tradition, the team shared plans to tithe (10%) from the capital campaign to the LCMS “Fan Into Flame” fundraising campaign. “Fan Into Flame” is the Synod’s financial campaign for the “Ablaze” movement, an effort by LCMS leaders to share the Gospel with 100 million people and plant 2,000 new LCMS congregations. This will be the largest mission outreach offering ever collected in the history of Prince of Peace congregation!

QUESTIONS?

If you have questions or comments about anything mentioned in this update, please contact Pete Barber, chair of the strategic planning team, at .