Vision 2000 Update - November 2000

Combine the rapid growth of a rural/suburban community with a Lutheran congregation that is expanding its ministry and you have the seeds for Vision 2000.

Vision 2000 is the name of the major initiative at Union Evangelical Lutheran Church of Neffs. Our goal is to construct a new Lutheran worship facility on the 76-acre campus we share with our U.C.C. sister congregation.

What kind of growth are we trying to support?

On September 12, 1999, we held our Groundbreaking Ceremony for our new worship facility. Pastor Dennis W. Moore presided and was supported by Reverend Gene Handwerk, Associate of the Bishop NEPA Synod, and Reverend Thomas N. Thomas, Senior Pastor Union U.C.C.

This ceremony was made possible due to the success of our Capital Fund Raising Campaign. Led by Mitchell Possinger and supported by Dr. Walter and Mrs. Janet Loy, over 330 individuals/families participated. We successfully raised contributions and pledges for over two million dollars.

The congregation approved the design for our new worship facility. The design recommendation came from the Building Construction Committee led by Edward Caulkins. Construction began in October, 1999.

The new worship facility is 30,000 square feet and will cost approximately $3.2 million. The new facility will have:

Occupancy is planned for Winter of 2000.

Our Original Vision 2000

Vision 2000 Union Evangelical Lutheran Church, Growing In Service To Christ is not a goal in and of itself. It is the process by which our congregation will enter the next century of service and mission to our lord. The rich history of this congregation and the union setting now takes on a new image -- two congregations sharing the Neffs campus in their own facilities. We have come a long way from the struggling Lutheran congregation which was invited to join the Reformed Church to share its building and future in the 1700's. Vision 2000 takes this venture of faith from the present into the future.

Growth is a wonderful sign of a healthy and vital congregation. It is an affirmation of the interpretation of mission and the call to be faithful to Christ. Both congregations ahve enjoyed such growth. With growth, however, has come another challenge -- two healthy congregations sharing a facility that has maximixed its utilization potential. Expansion of ministries and programs has been stunted by scheduling demands and requested use of our facility. Vision 2000 will address this major challenge by enabling us to build our own facility in order to meet the current and future challenges and opportunities for ministry.

Vision 2000 is about a facility -- a new worship center and fellowship area: a new building that is completely accessible to those physically disabled; a new center for education and program ministries; and, expanded office and administrative areas to carry out the day-to-day operations of our congregation. There are many and vaired dreams about what the facility will look like: how it will be arranged: adn how it will increase our ministry through programs and service. It is exciting to dream, especially to dream the dreams of the Kingdom. Vision 2000 is our process whereby those dreams will become a reality.

And yet, Vision 2000 is about more than a building -- it's about creating a ministry base for the present and the future. Sof of our current hopes and dreams for ministry are connected to oru ability to "do them." Our own facility provides the base to plan and to initiate ministry that is not directly connected to the plans of our sister congregation or other groups using the current facility. Fellowship, youth, education and worship are only a few areas of ministry that will be enhanced by Vision 2000. The potential is limited only by our imagination and willingness to serve.

To make this vision a realtiy, we have set a financial goal of $1 million dollars through the Vision 2000 -- New Century Fund. It is a goal that will cause us to look seriously at our priorties and our commitment to Christ and to the mission of HIs Church. However, it is also a very attainable goal for a congregation that has been blessed with the membership base and financial resources that we have been.

"Vision 2000 -- Growing In Service to Christ" says it all. This emphasis is about our facility, our dreams, our growth, our service, and our future. It's about entering the next century of service for our Lord firmly planted in the past and reaching out to the future.