Bishop
Lee was our honored guest on Sunday evening,
March 14. He led a choral Evensong service
and told a packed room in Mahon Hall that
he sees at St. Mark’s a parish that is growing
and vibrant. He presented a check for $200,000
that Dick Anstee took to the bank. Combined
with our in-cash pledges of $200,000, our
debt is now reduced by $400,000.
The
highlight of the Sunday dinner was the announcement
revealing the total of pledge commitments
we have already received, before the campaign
has been officially launched. Not $300,000
or $350,000. Not $400,000. The total pledge
commitments, as of Sunday, are $653,000. Before
we have started, we have exceeded our goal.
At
this point, we have to ask ourselves a sacred
question: what is God calling us to do, with
a result like this? We can go much farther,
paying off the rectory mortgage ($137,000)
and reducing our mortgage debt by another
$100,000. Our goal is not $600,000, but something
greater. We can do more, and that is what
we are called to do. With this support, we
will be able to realize some of our dreams
of expanding our outreach, establishing a
new global partnership, adding support for
our office and youth programs. We are welcoming
new people every Sunday – and we will now
have the resources to help them make connections.
We
are counting on everyone at St. Mark’s to
help with the Campaign. We can meet our goal
and many others in our future. When someone
calls you to ask to talk to you about St.
Mark’s and our Capital Campaign, please let
them know that you are looking forward to
meeting and helping the best you can.
AS
ST. MARK’S CONCLUDES a
year of visioning for the future, we
begin the second decade of the 21st
century and the second hundred years
of parish life. The visioning
process confirmed that St.Mark’s is
a vibrant, growing parish, rooted in
baptism, living our faith through
our core values of worship,
education and service. In order to
make our visioning a reality, we
have chosen to begin our capital
campaign.
Why a capital campaign now?
Why now?
Because of the building program of
2004, St. Mark’s is blessed with a
welcoming parish hall and a safe and
secure place for many wonderful
events. But it has also left us with
a debt of $2.4 million. Servicing
this debt, including payments of
principal and interest, drains
$195,000 each year from the
operating budget.
At about
the same time, due to differences
with the national church many of our
members left St. Mark’s, and our
pledge base dropped more than 40%.
Facing a bleak financial outlook in
2006, St. Mark’s was blessed with an
unexpected, but very generous
bequest from the Lillian Campbell
estate.With this additional funding
reserve, the Vestry decided we could
grow St.Mark’s even while dealing
with this heavy load by drawing on
our reserve funds at the rate of
nearly $100,000 per year in both
2008 and 2009. If this continues,
our reserve funds would be depleted
in 2012.
In 2009,
The Diocese of Chicago indicated
their support of St.Mark’s growing
programs by granting us
dollar-for-dollar matching funds for
any money we raise to retire our
debt, up to $600,000.
We
remember that our Lord says that his
yoke is easy, and with his guidance
we can rise to the challenge of
paying down our debt and
re-directing these funds. For every
$1,000 of debt that we repay, we
lower our debt service by nearly
$80.
Our goal
is to raise $600,000. This would
enable us to receive a matching
total of $600,000 from the Diocese.
By
cutting our debt in half, we can
balance our budget and begin our
second century with the strength and
flexibility necessary to respond to
the needs of our growing
congregation as well as to the needs
of the community around us. Any
money we raise beyond this amount
will liberate more operating income
to fund more staff hours in critical
areas as we grow.
Click here to learn
more about St. Mark's capital
campaign and our visions for the
next 100 years.
You
can now manage your contributions to
St. Mark's online!
St.
Mark's has contracted out with Vanco
Services to manage online donations
and payments to St. Mark's.
Click here to access St. Mark's
secure site to make your
contributions/donations.
Your
Questions Answered!
Click here to view questions and
answers regarding St. Mark's Capital
Campaign.
AS
ST. MARK’S CONCLUDES a
year of visioning for the future, we
begin the second decade of the 21st
century and the second hundred years
of parish life. The visioning
process confirmed that St.Mark’s is
a vibrant, growing parish, rooted in
baptism, living our faith through
our core values of worship,
education and service. In order to
make our visioning a reality, we
have chosen to begin our capital
campaign.
