Category: Worship & Fellowship

In this final article about the February dinners, we take a look at the responses to the third questions asked by all of our facilitators—“How does the community see the church?”  Your participation in these dinners was important to the Campaign Leadership Team to make sure that what we have in mind for Tabernacle’s spiritual mission is a close match to the thoughts of our current congregation.   We have grown over the past several years, and we want to be sure that both our newer and longer term members have a voice in our approach to change.   Thinking about how we fit in our community is certainly a key consideration in our plans.

There are two consistent responses to the question about how the community views our church across all of the dinner notes:

• We really aren’t sure how people around us view the church today.
• We believe that we need to take a more active approach to engaging our community in the activities of our church.

Probably the most obvious spiritual mission that our neighbors can see is our commitment to the development of children via the Childcare Center.  They see the red and white strollers rolling up and down the streets, and they see children playing the in the playground.  There are Childcare Center graduates that live not far from the church—those children and their families know us as a positive contributor in our  community.

We serve our community each week through our Clothes Closet and Food Pantry assistance.  We distribute Thanksgiving Baskets every November to about 100 of our neighbors in need.  You suggested that we look for new ways of serving our neighbor in all age groups.

You also said that we should find new and creative ways of inviting those near us to learn more about Tabernacle.   Including neighbors in occasional “coffeehouse” type music events may provide a cordial way to get to know more of those who live nearby.  Inviting our neighbors to various events at the church throughout the year was also suggested.

Finding ways to keep the neighbors informed as we launch our physical changes and continue to grow our activities that enable us to realize our vision is crucial.  Continued participation in the neighborhood association is one of those avenues of communication within the local area.  We will look for a variety of ways to keep our progress updates available to our neighbors in the months and years ahead.

Again, we thank all of the sponsors for the Discovery Dinners, as well as all of the participants for braving the cold to share your thoughts and ideas!  This was a key initial step for our God-Sized Vision campaign.  As we progress in this campaign, we will make every effort to maintain a high level of communication with both our congregation and our community.

We welcome your questions as we move forward with our God-Sized Vision campaign.  You will find a Vision Campaign Questions mailbox and blank white cards near the sanctuary to write down your questions.  Please use these cards as a way to communicate your questions, and we will be certain to respond either by phone call and/or article in the TAB.  Be sure to write down your name and phone number on your card if you prefer to receive a personal phone call.

The questions below were received after our Vision Event on May 4th.

Question A: 
Has the church discussed borrowing money in regards to this (these) projects? (Especially in regards to pledge commitments)

Question B:
Are we going to take out any loans or look into that possibility with the VA Baptists if we don’t get all of the funds by the end of the 3-year period or do that to begin construction early?

Answer: 
The Church will not borrow funds (from banks or the Virginia Baptist Foundation) to finance the construction; however, we may consider borrowing against the commitment amounts. This type of funding would have to be approved by the Church and analyzed carefully.

 

Question: 
Will you be beginning projects as money comes in or waiting until the full 2 million comes in?
Answer:
We will wait until the total commitment amount is known before deciding how to proceed, including possible phasing.

We sincerely appreciate your interest in the success of this campaign.  Do not hesitate to ask any question that you may have!

 

This week, Tabernacle celebrates 127 years of worship and ministry together! We hope you will make plans to join us on Sunday as we celebrate the arrival of this important milestone as we both celebrate our heritage and cast our eyes forward into the future. Over the past three months we have talked, listened, asked questions, written and read testimonies, and prayed about what Tabernacle means in our lives and for our families.  Over a dozen of us have declared how the Lord has led them on paths they did not know he would lay out for them.   We have witnessed growth both within ourselves and in the congregation.  This is a truly inspired time.

May 18^th, 2014 is “Celebration Sunday” where each of us will have the opportunity to bring our building fund-raising commitment card to Church and place it on the Lord’s altar.   At the same time we place our faith in God as we look to changes that we will see in the years ahead.

Thank you for taking time to seriously consider your financial contribution to our “Our God-Sized Vision”.  Continue to pray for Tabernacle, your role in our future, and how we all work together to realize whatever it is that God has in store for us.  The Lord knows the way and will lead us towards it.  On “Celebration Sunday”, most of all, we celebrate being together in a loving, caring family of people.

Discovery Dinners—Part 3

In this final TAB article about the February dinners, we take a look at the responses to the third questions asked by all of our facilitators—“How does the community see the church?”  Your participation in these dinners was important to the Campaign Leadership Team to make sure that what we have in mind for Tabernacle’s spiritual mission is a close match to the thoughts of our current congregation.   We have grown over the past several years, and we want to be sure that both our newer and longer term members have a voice in our approach to change.   Thinking about how we fit in our community is certainly a key consideration in our plans.

There are two consistent responses to the question about how the community views our church across all of the dinner notes:

We really aren’t sure how people around us view the church today.

We believe that we need to take a more active approach to engaging our community in the activities of our church.

Probably the most obvious spiritual mission that our neighbors can see is our commitment to the development of children via the Childcare Center.  They see the red and white strollers rolling up and down the streets, and they see children playing the in the playground.  There are Childcare Center graduates that live not far from the church—those children and their families know us as a positive contributor in our community.

We serve our community each week through our Clothes Closet and Food Pantry assistance.  We distribute Thanksgiving Baskets every November to about 100 of our neighbors in need.  You suggested that we look for new ways of serving our neighbor in all age groups.

You also said that we should find new and creative ways of inviting those near us to learn more about Tabernacle.   Including neighbors in occasional “coffeehouse” type music events may provide a cordial way to get to know more of those who live nearby.  Inviting our neighbors to various events at the church throughout the year was also suggested.

Finding ways to keep the neighbors informed as we launch our physical changes and continue to grow our activities that enable us to realize our vision is crucial.  Continued participation in the neighborhood association is one of those avenues of communication within the local area.  We will look for a variety of ways to keep our progress updates available to our neighbors in the months and years ahead.

Again, we thank all of the sponsors for the Discovery Dinners, as well as all of the participants for braving the cold to share your thoughts and ideas!  This was a key initial step for our God-Sized Vision campaign.  As we progress in this campaign, we will make every effort to maintain a high level of communication with both our congregation and our community.

Do you have questions about the Vision Campaign?  Please plan to attend our Vision Event on Sunday, May 4^th.  And look for opportunities in future editions of the TAB to ask questions and view responses to those questions about this exciting time in the life of our church.

 

 

 

 

 

Vision Event Thank You

This past Sunday’s Vision Event was a special time for Tabernacle!  Members, guests, friends of the church and staff all shared a delightful meal and inspiring testimonies about the solid foundation of our past and the light of our future.  The children fifth grade and under discovered ways that they too can contribute to our vision going forward while enjoying their own lunch menu.   What a delightful time for our congregation as we place our faith in achieving God’s Vision for our spiritual mission in the years ahead.

We express our sincere gratitude for everyone who contributed to making this Vision Event such a success.  We can’t name every person who helped along the way, but we hope you know how much we appreciate your time and effort.  We thank:

• All of those who attended for making the time to share in this important part of our church life.
• All of those who prayed for blessings on this event, including those who could not attend in person.
• Those who presented their testimonies, either in person or by video.
• John Burgess and his team of cooks for their hard work in preparing almost all of the food by hand (except the fried chicken)!
• The team of planners for thinking through what would make this event meaningful to all of our attendees.
• The event set-up team for all of their efforts on Sunday morning.
• Our hosts and hostesses for their welcoming kindness and assistance at each table.
• Those who helped finish clearing the tables, wash the serving dishes, and take out the trash.

Highlights of our Vision Event

• Approximately 140 – 150 youth, adults and children attended, meeting the challenge of blocked traffic because of the collegiate cycling championship
• Four inspiring testimonies were presented–you can view the video of Brenda and Bill Gradwell on Facebook or in “Media” at www.tbcrichmond.org.  Cung Thawng’s testimony can be read on Facebook or at “testimonies” on the church website.
• Our children’s activities included creation of their own “bank”, where they can store their pennies for contributions to the Vision Campaign.  They are also creating a poster about their role in Tabernacle’s future.
• Bill Welstead explained the Vision Event packets distributed to all in attendance.  It is important to remember that only our Financial Secretary will have any knowledge of how much an individual decides to contribute to this campaign.  It is a very personal commitment decision.
• Bill announced that the Advanced Commitment total to date from our Endowment Fund, Campaign Leadership Team, Senior Staff, and Administrative Board Chair is $257,380 (over a 3-year period).
• Comments were by far very positive about this event and about our future.

 

Next Steps

1. Pray about your individual role in this campaign between now and Celebration Sunday on May 18^th.
2. Plan to join us on Celebration Sunday!
3. If you are unable to join us on May 18^th, forward our campaign commitment card in the addressed envelope provided in your Vision Event packet.
4. If you were unable to attend the Vision Event, look for your Commitment Packet in your mailbox very soon!  If your address has recently changed, please call the church office and let us know.
5. Questions written down and placed in the mailbox at the event will be answered by personal phone call and/or publication in the TAB.  Remember to use the cards and Vision Campaign Questions mailbox located just outside of the sanctuary to ask any questions that you have in the next couple of weeks, and we will be certain that your questions are answered.

Again, we are sincerely appreciative of everyone’s prayers as we move forward in realizing our God-Sized Vision.  Our faith in God is our guide in all that we do, and his presence is evident in every step we take.   We are truly blessed!

Our Campaign Vision Event is Here–Sunday, May 4th!
Whether by bulletin note, a printed invitation, or phone call from another member of our congregation, we hope you are aware of our Vision Event taking place on Sunday, May 4th in the Fellowship Hall after worship services. More importantly, we hope that you plan to be there!

Why are we holding this special luncheon?

Tabernacle has embarked on an important campaign in the life of our church. We have taken this opportunity to look back on what the church has accomplished in its past to base how we want to approach creating a vision for our future. Our campaign focuses primarily on our spiritual mission and then how we modify our physical footprint to make it flexible enough to support that mission. The Vision Event is meant to provide you with testimonies that inspire us about the path ahead of us, as well as help us all begin prayers regarding our individual roles in making facility changes possible.

What’s on the menu?

Let’s start with dessert! You will enjoy John Burgess’ cookies–that might be reason enough to attend! The main course will include foods for everyone, including those with a vegan diet. Chicken salad wraps, veggie wraps, fried chicken and a variety of salads are highlights for the youth and adults. Our children’s group has its own delightful menu of chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, fruit cups, and other fun treats. This is a no charge buffet—one you don’t want to miss!

How do the children get to their event? 

If your children are with you at the end of the church service, we ask that you escort children fifth grade and under to the Yellow Room immediately after worship services. Kristin Koger and Meghan Strollo will meet you there. They have a terrific program in store for our children so that they too can learn about the role they have in the future of Tabernacle. Children in the nursery will stay in the nursery throughout church services and the Vision Event.
When does the Vision Event start?

The Vision Event starts for children, youth and adults immediately after worship services on May 4th. As soon as Sunday’s service is over, we ask that you make your way to the Fellowship Hall– unless you are a parent that is going to the Yellow Room first. The buffet will be ready for you!

What is the event program like?

As soon as you have a chance to eat most your delicious meal, we will begin the Vision Event program. After introductions to your Campaign Leadership Team, you will experience a series of testimonies from various members of our church. These testimonies are brief, heartfelt statements about the wonder of Tabernacle and how they view our potential for what God has in store for us. Included among those testimonies is a special video recorded for the event. Bill Welstead will then explain the Vision Campaign packet that you will receive, and your event hosts and hostesses will ask for your assistance in recording who receives the packet. That will help us follow-up with those who could not attend and receive the packet in person. If anyone has to leave early, we will be certain that you get your packet before you leave.

What if I have questions about the changes that are being planned?

We welcome your questions! We will provide blank cards for you to use to write down any questions that you have. We will have an upright mailbox at the back of the Fellowship Hall labeled “Vision Campaign Questions” that you can place your question card in. A member of the Campaign Leadership Team will make sure that your question is answered in the very near future. We will also publish an article called “Frequently Asked Questions” in the TAB so that everyone benefits from answers to some of the questions we receive. The question box will be placed in a convenient location near the sanctuary for the weeks following this event.

Again, we are so very excited about this special time for Tabernacle! Please make every effort to attend our Vision Event. Remember that the Collegiate Cycling Championship race is on the same day, so you may want to take Floyd Avenue or Cary Street when you drive to church on Sunday. We look forward to seeing you there!!

God-Sized Vision Discovery Dinners – Part 2

In February, many of the members of our congregation gathered in homes to enjoy dinner and a discussion about their vision of the future of Tabernacle. This is part two of a series of articles about what you said, focusing on the second question of three.  That question was, “How do you see us as we move forward?”   Your responses helped us gain current insight into your thoughts about the future of our spiritual mission, as well as possible changes to the physical layout of our buildings.  We sincerely appreciate everyone’s honest exchange about the wonderful potential that we have ahead!

Most of the answers to the question about what you think is at the heart of our future growth seemed to fit several categories:  spiritual mission, nature of the congregation, diversity, and building changes.  Our spiritual mission is obviously at the core of your focus, including comments such as:

• Maintain our core services of the food pantry and clothes closet.  Keep the Fan Feast and our Thanksgiving baskets going.
• Agreed we are moving in the right direction – want us to continue investing in children and youth and walking beside brothers and sisters that have resettled in Richmond as refugees.
• Keep the sponsorship of seminary students and their housing
• Consider Gap group—between youth/young adults and the seniors—how we continue to grow by engaging folks of all ages; consider more programs for our teenagers.
• Reach out to the immediate community – be more assertive about engaging the neighborhood and environs and VCU; consider “Coffeehouse” evangelism with music and fellowship.

As mentioned before, your outlook for our future is a positive one!  There is such a comfort level with the welcoming nature of our church, as well as the cultural diversity of our congregation.  As one member said, “The Burmese are not “our ministry” anymore; they are ‘us’.”  Additional comments about what we might do to build on our current sense of congregation as we go forward include:

• Translate sermons into Burmese and other foreign languages; include multilingual graphics in our classes and sermons.
• Continue making children integral to church life and worship.
• Seek & promote ways to foster deeper personal relationships.
• Bring new people in by invitation of the members, as we do today—our congregation is relationship-based.
• Consider the place of our Childcare Center in life of the church – ways to purposefully reach out to these folks and be inclusive with activities.

When it comes to how we think about facility changes as a part of our future, we are ready for just that—change.   Many of you are interested in more details about those plans.  The blueprints and how we prioritize the modifications we make are topics that we will delve into in the months ahead.  Our focus today is to be sure that the kinds of changes we envision are ones that support our spiritual mission, both current and future.  Over the past eight years we have thought through how we could best use our existing space and modify that space to provide flexible use as we grow in our spiritual mission.  We measured rooms and hallways to help us begin the process of estimating possible construction costs.  Now we are on the verge of making it happen!  Your suggestions for how we approach finalizing building-related changes include:

• Find ways to maximize the use of the Grove Avenue entrance while making the Meadow Street entrance more appealing.
• We need to address having a more secure entrance or our Childcare Center and universal access to our church facilities for persons with special needs.
• It is good to provide housing for seminary students and visiting mission teams.
• Make sure we ensure flexibility within our facilities to implement new and existing church programs and activities.
• See if we can address parking as we grow.

Our next article will cover the responses you gave to the final question we asked at our Discover Dinners—“How does the community see the church?”  Again, we are grateful for your input and interest as our future unfolds!    Everyone is integral to our success.

We Listened, and Here’s What We Heard

We extend our thanks to the over 100 members of our congregation who attended one of twelve church dinners in February. What a great start to our Vision Campaign, giving us an opportunity to listen to what many of you believe is instrumental to our vision and our success in the years ahead! These dinners provided a chance for members of our congregation to participate in discussions about both our spiritual mission and physical structure. We have had similar discussions over the years, but this was a time to openly consider again how we view our future, based on the impact of our recent growth and the expanding needs of our community.
Our facilitators asked three questions at each dinner:

What excites you about the church right now?
How do you see us as we move forward?
How does the community see the church?
Participation at each dinner was excellent (along with the food)! Your comments were shared with the church staff and the Campaign Leadership Team, and now with you.

The first question—what excites you about the church today—sparked the most discussion and the greatest variety of responses. The most frequent answers sounded like this:

• The consistent welcoming, open nature of the church—everyone
• Very welcoming personality — genuine and naturally warm
• People invest in each other–for example, sponsoring artists, taking kids fishing, mentoring, helping with meals, taking care of each other
• Children’s ministry growth—so much growth in the nursery they’ve split into two classes, plus the infants
• Kids playing up and down the halls…and how many people know those children’s names
• There is a great emphasis on celebration of tradition, yet without sacrificing the desire to embrace change.
• Comfortable acceptance; open to ideas; no “cliques”
• Multi-generational, multi-cultural, multi-national
• Music and sharing of talents and individual gifts freely
• We are a church, not just an organization; we have a passion for a God-led ministry; our basic mission—serving God, and so many people “get it”
• For our size, we have great programs; our clothes closet, food pantry and serving our community’s various needs
• Good energy—mainly due to growth and the energy of the staff
• Wide spectrum of musical offerings
• Sermons stimulate, communicate and connect

Your outlook for Tabernacle is a very positive one! The consistent message is that we strive to open our doors and genuinely welcome anyone who wants to join us. Our church family and its spiritual mission are core to our continued growth and ability to expand what we offer to the world. We are truly an accepting and sending congregation that believes that what we do does make a difference. We are truly blessed with a sense of service and talent to help make that desire to serve a reality.

We are very grateful to all of our of our dinner sponsors—your time and efforts are sincerely appreciated!
In the next article about our “discovery dinners” we will focus on the second question—how do you see us as we move forward?