Our Campaign Launch – September 2024

Jump to:

• Pastor’s Message
• Moderator’s Message
• Case Statement
• Campaign Executive Team
• Capital Campaign Priority Areas
• Donate

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Pastor’s Message

Dear Beloved Community,

Pilgrim-St. Luke’s, United Church of Christ (PSL) has been part of your life, and you have been part of ours. We celebrate our connection and want to share an exciting opportunity.

I invite you to be part of our “A New Season: Repair, Restore, and Create” capital campaign. Our goal is to raise $265,000 to assure a safe, sustainable, and creative space where present and future generations can share life, encourage community, and co-create a world of healing and hope for all, together.

For many generations PSL’s ministry has transformed and blessed diverse people. The way this church loves has healed and encouraged hope for many by welcoming and affirming the lives and gifts of the beautiful diversity of God’s creation: people of all ages and identities and people from different faith and spiritual paths. Our history of welcoming, companionship, and advocacy work continues to encourage inclusion and justice for and with LGTBQ people; a life with dignity and a future with hope for immigrant and refugee people; visibility and inclusion of people with disabilities; and a world of racial and economic justice. People come to PSL with their faith, doubts, questions, and devotion and feel that PSL is a community where they can bring their whole selves.

All of what we do and practice is rooted in and encouraged by our faith and our commitment as disciples of Jesus Christ to embody God’s expansive love, justice, and compassion in the world. PSL is an image of what God’s Beloved Community looks like.

PSL is a strong witness to God’s extravagant welcome. Our church provides a welcoming space for our diverse, multigenerational and multi-racial community. We are bursting with children who’s joy and wisdom inspire and teach us. We have a growing number of compassionate and inspirational young adults, wise and loving older adults, and families of all kinds. Together we continue to encourage and create ministries for all ages. Our building provides a safe space for connection and healing work for community partners who may not find welcome elsewhere: a Black diverse faith community, interfaith groups, mental health services organizations, and organizations working with children, workers, and refugees. These are just some ways that PSL touches and transforms lives in our community.

We are in great shape to take on this challenge. PSL has built and sustained continued financial stability and expects that our general operating budget will be met and our programs and outreach will move forward during our “A New Season: Repair, Restore, and Create” campaign.

“Behold, God is doing a new thing” at Pilgrim-St. Luke’s UCC! Help us faithfully continue to respond to God’s call to be a loving and transformative presence. We ask you to prayerfully consider making the most generous gift you have ever made to our congregation. Please take time to review the information, pray, and commit to give generously to “A New Season: Repair, Restore, and Create” campaign.
I want to thank you for staying connected to our congregation and for your prayerful consideration to being part of our campaign.

With you on the journey,
The Rev. Nancy Rosas, Pastor

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Moderator’s Message

Dear PSL Community and Family,

As we approach the autumn season, I am reminded of the beauty of the change in our natural world as
we embrace the spirit of renewal and freshness that comes with this change. Here at Pilgrim-St. Luke’s United Church of Christ, (PSL), we are embarking upon our own season of renewal in our PSL
Capital Campaign, which we are so excited to invite you to be a part of. Under the leadership of our Capital Campaign Administrator, Harper Bishop, Pastor Nancy Rosas and other members of the Capital Campaign Executive Team, as well as a host of incredible leaders, the Capital Campaign is designed
to reflect the ideas and excitement of our congregation, while keeping in mind the needs of our beloved friends and community members who share our church building with us. Our goal throughout the next three (3) years is to raise $265,000. Your contributions will enhance the spaces where our children learn,
grow, and are affirmed, ensure that the structural integrity of the building itself is secured, and will enable
the church to continue to open its doors to the community members that are continually bringing beauty and equality into our world.

Additionally, not only will your contributions support the ministries of this church, but they will support the ongoing work of so many incredible people, coalitions, and organizations that meet and provide services within our church building. From cooking classes, to legal support for community members, to
affirming the humanity of all human beings from across the globe, PSL UCC invites people to bring all of who they are to our church community to help make the world a more equitable place.

In addition to creating spaces where people and organizations are supported in their incredible work, PSL UCC is also a church where people are nourished, loved, and guided to be our authentic selves. This is a congregation that welcomes the depth of who we are as human beings. For many of us, we are the combination of many identities, faith traditions, and spiritual ancestral legacies that make us who
we are today. PSL UCC is a congregation that not only welcomes the fullness of who we are, but honors all of who came before us, recognizing that without them, there would be no us. PSL UCC is a church that celebrates the expansiveness of God, and is reminded every Sunday by Pastor Nancy Rosas that,

“we all are beautifully and wonderfully made.”

Be sure to review the FAQs and information about Ways to Give, as well as other vital resources to help you navigate this community-changing campaign. Please join me in supporting our Pilgrim-St. Luke’s Capital Campaign, and share our journey as we continue to explore, affirm, and nourish all of who we are. With your support, we can joyfully anticipate many more autumn seasons, full of renewal, growth, and a freshness that will sustain us for many years to come.

With Deep Gratitude,
Dr. Danielle Johnson, Moderator

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Case Statement

Introduction

Thanks to the strength and dedication of its members, coupled with their generosity in giving their money, time, and hard work, Pilgrim-St. Luke’s United Church of Christ is a living, breathing testament of God’s faithfulness. We now have an opportunity to repair and restore the physical manifestation of our faith and bring our building into the future in a way that honors the past and lives into the vision of the future we are co-creating with one another.

History

In 1872, a community of German immigrants began meeting for worship at a humble chapel at the corner of Richmond Avenue and West Utica Street in Buffalo, NY. The cornerstone of the church building as we know it today was laid in 1911, evidence of the continued faith of the congregation in the future of their work and love. Today, the legacy of these ancestors lives on in the vibrant multicultural, intergenerational, and welcoming community of Pilgrim-St. Luke’s United Church of Christ. Much has changed and evolved in this 150 year history, but the solid foundation of our forebears remains – loving God and each other, no exceptions.

Present Needs

Addressing Critical Maintenance Issues – $197,000
This list is full. From a boiler replacement to new carpeting, exterior masonry repair, and roof repairs, the PSL Board of Trustees have put together a list of critical maintenance issues and categorized them using a rating system A to C with associated cost. For more details, please see the stand-alone document with this statement.

Expanding & Improving Spiritual Formation Rooms – $15,000
In order to accommodate the growing needs of the children and teachers, PSL needs to renovate the existing rooms and make plans to expand the ministry’s current footprint. This would include physical alterations to the spaces, as well as making it more welcoming to the youth who regularly attend and visit.

Installing Solar Panels & Sustainable Stewardship – $25,000
PSL is dedicated to taking proactive steps to get off of fossil fuels and adopt harm reduction strategies as well. This includes installing solar panels on the roof of the church, which promises to reduce our current electricity costs by half, and replacing our 35 year old boiler with heat pumps or other more efficient technologies.

Renovating Commercial Kitchen & Dining Area – $13,000
Investment into the kitchen would benefit the congregation immensely. The upgrades and improvements would allow the church to sustain its own events and at the same time generate revenue by renting out the kitchen to community members as well.

Goals

The campaign will raise $265,000 to fund all of the key areas listed above and specified within the stand-alone budget document provided.

Costs

• UCC Capital Campaign Services – $11,000
• Campaign materials and supplies – $5,000

Conclusion

This is an ambitious campaign. It’s also well-researched, feasible, and desperately needed. The time for faith and action is now. Inspired by the wisdom of our elders, our children’s boundless energy and imagination, and the beauty that is so omnipresent on Sunday mornings at PSL, we have selected “A New Season: Repair, Restore, Create” as our theme for this capital campaign. The result will be a safe, open and affirming, as well as sustainably restored place for God’s people, from one generation to the next. Join us in this new season of faith, giving, and hope!

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Campaign Executive Team

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Capital Campaign Priority Areas

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Donate to the Capital Campaign

Contributions and donations can be made with cash, checks, stock transfers and using the online payment system, PayPal. You can be a one-time donation or have your contribution made over time, up to a three-year period. When using PayPal, please note that your donation is for the capital campaign. To access our PayPal account directly, use the QR Code below, or click here to donate.