The Task Force decided to format a survey that would ask members to rate/comment on current programs as well as suggest changes/new ideas for the church as we move forward. Two mailings of the survey were done, one in May 2005 and one in January 2006. The results were astounding! First, the feedback surpassed all expectations. Typically, when a survey of any type is mailed to a mass amount of people, a 1-5% response rate is reasonable (and in some cases, generous). For this survey, the response exceeded 20% of the congregation-they clearly had something to say!

Based on the data collected in the surveys*, the Church Council held a retreat to prayerfully consider the direction of the church and…voila! Here we are today embarking on one of the most ambitious and God-propelled movements in the church history! What an exciting time! Now is the Time!

*The results of the survey were book-bound and can be found in the church office.

As a consequence and initialed by council, on January 10, 2005 a Long Range Planning Task Force, representing a cross section of members and associate members, had its first meeting. They discussed how to reach the most members and associate members and get the most feedback possible. This was accomplished by sending an every person questionnaire. Two mailings were sent to be sure everyone received a copy, the first one during May, 2005 and the second during January, 2006.

The results of the survey (104 responses) were broken down by category and age group and given to council in booklet form during May, 2006. The members of council individually reviewed the results between May and September and at an offsite retreat during September, 2006 developed a Four Year Plan which was officially adopted at a regularly scheduled council meeting during October of that year.

One of the concerns that came out of the survey was building and grounds use; this included Victory Park and the possibility of building a pavilion there. Even though the proposed pavilion project had a favorable approval by members of all age groups, what should be the scope? Further, there was overwhelming opinion that the trailer should be replaced and/or removed. Replaced with what? As a result of these concerns, a Campus Development Task Force was created to study campus development in its entirety.

Their first meeting was held January, 2007 and their last meeting concluded in September of the same year with the Task Force’s recommendation to expand Fellowship Hall, renovate the church narthex and establish building and capital fund committees to study options and present their findings to the congregation for approval at a later date. Your council reviewed and agreed with their findings and proposed a motion including their recommendations with an additional request by council to spend up to $10,000.00 dollars for any miscellaneous architectural fees or cost of preliminary design drawings for approval by the congregation at the Congregation Meeting held on December 07, 2007. The Congregation fully supported the motion and it passed unanimously.

Approximately five months after the December 07 meeting (April-May time frame), both the Building and Capital Fund Committees were established. Committee Chairs were determined as were the members of the respective committees. People were now in place to begin the work that would be required by each committee. The information gathered would be presented to the Congregation for their approval; if given, the committees would continue to move forward with the proposed building project.

The Building Committee determined the alterations needed to Fellowship Hall and the church narthex, developed a Request for Proposal (RFP) and agreed to hire an architectural firm to manage the project from start to finish. References were checked and RFP’s were sent to those architectural firms selected; site visits by the architects were also requested by the committee.   After review of the RFP’s, two firms were selected for interviews and Victor Latavish Architects was unanimously selected. The expansion of Fellowship Hall and the renovation of the church narthex are proposed at 1.2 million. The price includes all architectural, contractors and permit fees but does not include furnishings. The preliminary design drawings will cost $17,100.00 dollars; $7,100.00 dollars more than the Congregation authorized back in December.

In order to address this issue, a Special Congregation Meeting was held September 28, 2008; a very different economic time than when we first decided to consider the expansion and renovation of our facilities to create an environment to grow in faith, community and mission. At that meeting, our congregation approved the balance of the money needed for the preliminary design drawings; a strong statement by our membership to continue to move forward even in these difficult economic times.

The Capital Fund Committee began by developing a vision which would enhance our church by building spaces that provide an open and inviting environment to grow in faith, community and mission. To develop a timeline that coincides with that of the building committee, to provide a communication process that keeps the congregation informed and to try to get as many members involved in the capital campaign as possible. A decision was made to hire an outside consultant to help with the capital campaign; four firms were interviewed by phone and two of those firm’s consultants were interviewed on site. The consulting firm of Kairos was unanimously selected.

A Special Congregation Council meeting was held on October 05, 2008 for the purpose of discussing the Capital Fund Committee’s decision to employ Kairos, a Christian resource development firm to be our consultant for our capital campaign at the cost of $32,500.00 dollars; subsequently, council made a motion agreeing with the Capital Fund Committee’s choice and cost of employing Kairos to help Christus Victor acquire the resources necessary to move forward with the building project.

On October 26, 2008, a Special Congregation meeting was held for the purpose of updating the congregation on the continued progress of both the Building and Capital Fund Committees and to ask the congregation for their approval to spend the $32,500.00 dollars to employ Kairos. At that meeting, our congregation approved the money needed to move ahead with our building plans and fund raising.

During November 17-20, 2008 Pastor Miseheimer a consultant of Kairos conducted interviews with a cross section of members and focus groups of our congregation to determine the level of support for our building project and our willingness to move forward. On December 07, 2008, the results of the Resource Assessment Study (or interviews) were made available. Pastor Misenheimer spoke with 73 members representing 41 households and he was delighted with the positive results shown by the members of our congregation who were interviewed.   Because of the congregations support and on his recommendation, your council agreed to move forward with the building project and have the architect get started on the preliminary design drawings.