An Update from the Generosity Committee…

With coronavirus, stay at home, all the  news and adjusting to a new virtual communication process, our collective attention may have slipped from the process we started just a couple of months ago (or is that 5 years?).  This post reviews what we decided and how we plan to continue this project.

At our special congregational meeting on March 1, we approved a process on how to discern what to do with the bequeath from Rose Diestler.  We decided to (1) tithe 10% of the gift to two agencies (Lutheran Disaster Response and Keystone), (2) set aside $200,000 for a matching project to Prince of Peace’s Enduring Gift Fund, and (3) start a process to discern what to do with the remaining gift, about $485,000 at this time.

The Generosity Committee met this week and decided to continue the discernment process and dates essentially as described on March 1 with a few adjustments. We will still have a special event on May 31 for proposals for the $485K to be presented and discussed. This will now be a virtual event; we need to plan some more and will get those details out later.

As planned, we will be asking for proposals from members on how to use the $485K.  These can be small dollar ideas to big dollar ideas.  The proposals will be due by May 17.  The Generosity Committee will preview those presented, suggest improvements, and then help them prepare a pitch and materials for the May 31 event.  If requested, the church will provide access to the Zoom platform for collaboration meetings.  Prior to May 31, all proposals will be displayed on church website.

The event on May 31 will be a “pitchfest” to make the case for each proposal to the congregation.  This will allow us all to get the “lay of the land” regarding the total amount of all proposals.  We will not know if a winnowing effort or a second request for proposals will be required until the pitchfest is completed.  Final decisions will be made by the congregation at a meeting in the future.

Thank you for your interest and ideas in this process.  We are excited to see what ideas you all have.

The Generosity Committee – Barry Brahier, Andrea Clepper, Kent Olson, Diane Syverson, Linda Wagner, and Pastor Peter Christ