Waynedale United Methodist Church

Waynedale United Methodist Church had been functioning under the burden of ongoing debt for years and church leadership knew it was time to do something about it. The reality was that the details of this debt had not been addressed and the congregation was not fully aware of the financial drain the debt was causing. Church leadership was ready to take action but didn’t know how to proceed, but they knew they needed help.

Using our Pre-Campaign Assessment process CGS was able to discover that renovations included in the initial plans were financially unfeasible and many members of the congregation were not excited about the renovations. Upon the recommendation of CGS, Waynedale UMC revised the project before proceeding with the campaign. The CGS team then stepped in, acting as the very “training wheels” that Pastor Ted Jansen and the church leadership needed to support them throughout their capital campaign. Providing the specific steps for team recruitment and training, campaign best practices and communication resources, CGS walked alongside the campaign team as they informed the congregation of the specific financial goal and communicated why the debt reduction was so important.

What Waynedale United Methodist Church was not anticipating was the momentum that paying off the debt created. People were thankful that the campaign offered a clear plan and way for them to respond. The people responded with pledging and giving. One person decided that they wanted to offer a matching challenge after initial pledges were received. The match was met and momentum continued. Momentum has continued as over 80% of the goal has been met after 13 months of 36 month campaign. Leadership has noticed a more optimistic congregation that sees the “light at the end of the tunnel” and knows that they worked together to accomplish something great. Pastor Ted Jansen said it this way “There is a different spirit in the life of the church than there was a year ago, the congregation is more optimistic and positive. It feels like removing the debt will be a breath of fresh air that will allow us to dream again.”