Why

I see that Troy Woolley has posted a "Why Now?" essay I wrote before leaving for vacation. Here is some background on how it got to be written. I was in a meeting with Vince and Signe Spragins about the campaign. They had been doing what they do so well - striking up conversations with people, and were asking, "What do you think of the capital campaign?" They were hearing a common question, "Why now?" There was little opposition to the projects themselves, just not a lot of enthusiasm, which seemed to be extending from concern about the present condition of the church's finances and attendance. With us so far behind in our giving, and worship attendance flattening out, is this really the time to be undertaking such a large campaign?

That got me thinking, and the essay is the result. I hope you will see my own excitement unfolding as I wrote it. Elmer Snethen had mentioned that the size of the Tenth mother church when it started West Spruce Street Church was 450 and that it was during a huge depression. So I did some research and learned about the big financial depression of the 1850's. But what fascinated me more was reading from Boardman's own report that only 36 persons had committed to attending. And see what they built! And it is now too small! And so the excitement grew in me.

Now, back to my vacation...