Join us on Commitment Sunday April 3, 2022 at 10 am
“Grant, we pray, to all your faithful all the gifts they ask to gain;
what they gain from you forever with the blessed to retain;
and hereafter in your glory evermore with you to reign.”
After a decade of transition within the church and a season of upheaval for the entire world, we are reminded of the sacred yet simple truth named in the hymn “Christ is Made the Sure Foundation.” As we continue to build for the future, our hope is to do so from a place of stability, sustainability, and abundance for whatever lies ahead.
A Foundation on the Corner of Dana and Channing
For more than 140 years, First Pres has shared the good news of the gospel in Berkeley and beyond. With this vision in mind, we built Geneva and McKinley Halls and increased communal space by 70% in 2005, which expanded our capacity for First Pres ministries and our outreach to the broader community. For more of the story, view the On This Corner 2005 video on this page.
Building for Our Future
Through four capital campaigns from 2000–2018, our building projects have been sustained by our congregation’s faithful generosity, sacrifice, and prayers. In 2015, our mortgage payments were $900,000 (20% of budget). In 2019, we received an anonymous $5 million gift that allowed us to reduce our 2021 mortgage payments to just $127,000 (3% of budget) with the challenge to become a debt-free church.
A Sure Foundation means…
- Retire Our Debt: $1,300,000 to eliminate the mortgage from our annual budget
- Invest in Our Physical Foundation: $700,000 to start financial and environmental sustainability projects (i.e., solar and LED lighting conversion to reduce future utilities expenses), and complete deferred maintenance in Westminster and McKinley Halls
An Anonymous Matching Gift Makes the Congregational Target $425,000
The campaign goal is $2,000,000, and we are blessed by an anonymous giver who will match 100% of the funds raised! With $575,000 already received and committed, we need the congregation to contribute $425,000 to this campaign.
Let’s Strengthen Our Foundation for the Future Together!
Now is the time for our congregation to join together to build for our future and retire our debt. Paying off our loan will further increase our church’s financial health as a stable foundation for ministries to grow—with a posture of creativity and abundance rather than sustaining under scarcity and budget constraints. Our greatest hope is everyone who calls First Pres their church home will participate and be a part of reaching this milestone—no matter the size of the gift. How is God calling YOU to invest in the future sustainability of this church?