BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS

Maintenance & Upgrades

HVAC Replacement

We can no longer depend on our Fellowship Hall, Worship Center, Chapel, and Early Childhood spaces being comfortable due to its 30-year-old HVAC system. The equipment is beyond its life expectancy, and its instability worries us that it may completely break down.

We make repairs, but maintenance is costly, and the old machines' parts are scarce and difficult to come by. The systems no longer cool efficiently, and in some cases, unsightly portable air conditioners are being used that drive up our energy costs.

Additional Solar Capacity

Our current solar system covers only about 50% of our energy needs. This leaves us reliant on traditional power sources and without the opportunity for greater savings.

We would like to significantly reduce our energy costs, increase our sustainability, and move closer to energy independence to have a long-term impact on both our budget and our environmental footprint.

Our church is more than just a building — it’s a vibrant home. These spaces have been the backdrop for countless moments of faith, friendship, and transformation. As stewards of this sacred place, we are called to care for what we have and to dream boldly about how our facilities can grow with us. Keeping them strong and improving them for the future, we expand our ability to build meaningful community, launch life-changing ministries, and extend Christ’s love far beyond our walls.

Sanctuary Audio-Visual

Together, we make a weekly investment in our spiritual formation by gathering in song, prayer, scripture, preaching, and communion around the way of Jesus. Unfortunately, our Sanctuary’s old audio-visual tools diminish our worship experiences and make it difficult for our musicians and ministers to consider any new, innovative ideas.

Overhead, the theatrical lighting system has 17 outdated lights that are not energy efficient and create ongoing maintenance problems and costs. They burn out so frequently that someone, using a lift, must work on them multiple times a month.

Also, our aging video projector struggles to clearly display anything. Its insufficient brightness, combined with the sanctuary’s abundant natural light, results in poor visibility for the congregation, especially those with poor eyesight.

OUTDOOR ISSUES

Parking Lot Repairs & Maintenance

Research shows that people decide if they will return to a church within six minutes of their initial visit. Their potential to return depends on their first impressions.  The property, how a community cares for it, and the “feel” of welcome a property provides are key.

Saint Matthew’s first impression is our cracked and deteriorating North Parking Lot and a South Parking Lot that needs resealing to prevent further damage. Both lots have faded lines and barely visible handicapped symbols and safety zones. This makes navigation hard and can lead to confusion or non-compliance with ADA regulations.

Spaces For The Next Generation

Children’s Play Area

Saint Matthew is blessed with an abundance of children and young families. Our growing children’s ministry is a gift and a responsibility. While our lawn offers a beautiful gathering space, we lack a dedicated, safe play area for our youngest children.

Teen Center Outdoor Access

The Teen Center, a church favorite for sharing fellowship and community, hosted over 100 events last year! The room shows this heavy use, especially in the worn, stained, and faded carpet.

Also, center activities are limited to the indoor area, even though people often want to move into the adjacent yard. Unfortunately, when this happens, it creates a separation between the indoor and outdoor gatherings because moving back and forth is constrained by a narrow door. 

Building Improvements

FAITHFUL FOUNDATIONS

Caring for and enhancing our facilities is more than maintenance— it’s part of our sacred responsibility as stewards of the generous gifts God has entrusted to us. Our Faithful Foundations plan will not only address critical building needs but also breathe new life into our spaces, preparing them to support our ministry today and for generations to come.

Maintenance & Upgrades

Our Sanctuary will receive new, high-efficiency HVAC units, powered by additional solar panels strategically placed in our parking lot. These improvements will allow us to harness and store enough clean energy to meet up to 80–100% of our energy needs, positioning us as faithful stewards of God’s creation.

Inside the Sanctuary, upgraded audio, visual, and lighting systems will dramatically improve our worship and community events experiences. These updates will help everyone see, hear, and fully engage, while empowering our musicians, ministers, and speakers with the tools to elevate worship and make every gathering more inspiring and impactful.

Outdoor Improvements

Our parking areas will receive a fresh and welcoming look with resurfaced or resealed pavement, crisp new striping, and improved signage, creating a more inviting first impression for members and visitors alike.

Next Generation Spaces

For our youngest members, we will create a nature-inspired playground tucked safely along the back fence line. Featuring rolling hills, ropes, and imaginative play spaces, this playground will offer a safe and engaging place for children to explore, learn, and grow in community.

For our teens, we will bring to life a long-held dream of transforming the Teen Center into a flexible, indoor-outdoor gathering space. Plans include replacing the north-facing windows with glass accordion doors, allowing the space to open seamlessly onto the courtyard, complete with new carpeting inside and a new deck extending onto the north lawn — perfect for hosting both church and community events.

GOALS

$3,500,000

Ultimate Goal
Complete all our plans, including fully eliminating our debt.

$3,000,000

Challenge Goal
Complete minimum goal plans plus youth center 
and parking lot plans, fully fund our maintenance 
reserve fund, and pay down additional debt.

$2,000,000

Minimum Goal
Complete HVAC, solar, and audio visual improvements, fund local mission plans, build the fence and playground, begin funding a building maintenance fund, 
and pay down about $300,000 of debt.

HOW TO GIVE

To ensure that we reach our objectives and our potential, we ask you to consider special gifts over and above your regular contributions. Gifts can be given to the campaign in a variety of ways:

Long-Term Pledges are payable over three years and may be paid in monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual installments by cash, credit card, or ACH. A 10% or more initial investment is requested.

Non-Cash Gifts* include gifts in kind such as labor and materials; securities such as stocks, bonds or gifts through qualified charitable distributions such as IRA rollovers; real estate such as marketable land, homes, vacation homes, and rental or commercial properties; or valuable personal property like precious metals, gems, jewelry, artwork, collectibles and even newer and classic automobiles, watercraft, and motor homes.

Deferred Gifts* are gifts arranged to be received later, such as new or fully paid up life insurance policies, certain trust arrangements, or gifts through a person’s will by bequest.

Matching Gifts may be possible. If you serve on a board, work for, or have retired from a company that matches charitable gifts, you may be able to double your campaign gift. Check with the company to see if they match gifts to causes like ours.

*All non-cash and deferred gifts must be approved by the church before acceptance.

Designating a gift to a specific area of need may be a meaningful way for you to contribute to the campaign. Donors may dedicate a gift in honor or memory of whomever they choose, with church approval. Donors may also ask that their gift be designated to campaign elements not listed below.

Facility Opportunities

HVAC System: $500,000 
Solar Panels: $400,000 
Parking Lot Repair & Restripe: $200,000 
LED Theatrical Lighting System: $100,000 
LED Lightboard: $100,000 
LED light walls: $100,000 
Cement Fencing: $75,000 
Playground: $200,000 
Teen Center Deck: $100,000 
Teen Center Glass Accordion Wall: $50,000 

The gift amounts listed do not necessarily reflect an opportunity's actual cost. Rather, they approximate its actual cost, factor in its value, visibility, and prominence, the needs of our campaign, and our community's gift abilities. Recognition rights will be granted once payment for the opportunity is fully received. Fully funded gifts may be made in honor or memory of a loved one and will be acknowledged to them or their family. Opportunity donors will have their names and the names of those they are honoring commemorated in a special way, as will all other campaign donors.

Because God is not done with Saint Matthew.
Because our neighborhood needs what we uniquely offer.
Because the table is wide, but we need to make more room.
This is more than a capital campaign — it is an invitation to build the next generation of ministry, hospitality, and impact.

No matter the size or form of your gift, your support is both urgently needed and deeply appreciated. When we come together — through prayers, service, generosity, and, for some, extraordinary giving — we make this campaign not only possible but powerful. With God’s help and the combined efforts of our community, we will achieve our goals.  And when we do, all that we have accomplished so far will simply be the foundation for an even more vibrant and faithful future. We invite you to be part of this transformative 
journey — one that will strengthen our church and expand our ability to serve God and one another for years to come.

YOUR GIFTS AT WORK

Look at the substantial savings that campaign gifts can help Saint Matthew realize over the life of its loan, and what these savings can fund if the debt is eliminated.

$300,000  $57,789  Over two years of children’s ministry
$250,000  $50,000  One year of utilities expenses
$200,000  $38,256  One year of worship ministry
$150,000  $28,894  Almost two years of property insurance
$100,000  $19,263  One year of landscaping, garbage, and other outside services
$50,000  $10,000  Two community outreach events
$25,000  $4,815  Youth ministry camp transportation
$10,000  $2,000  Two years of young adult ministry

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11