UPDATE 20 - Project Sanctuary Renewed
In the Spring of 2024, Liberti launched Project Sanctuary, where we raised pledges for the financing and renovation of our future church home at 2531 E Lehigh Ave. We envision that building serving as a sanctuary for worship of the living God, a sanctuary for our church family, and a sanctuary for our neighbors in the River Wards. Since then, God has provided $1.5 million in gifts and pledges. It was spiritually momentous – for me, for my family, and for many of us. THANK YOU all for your extravagant generosity. Families have deferred dreams to make this project happen.
Project Sanctuary is still ongoing. The pledges were for three years, so ending in the spring of 2027. As of this fall, we are halfway through Project Sanctuary. At this midpoint, I want to give you a big picture update and call you to make a final push with us.
First, let’s start with where we are now. I’ll give you bad news, good news, and next steps.
The bad news: buying and renovating 2531 E Lehigh Ave has turned out to be more expensive than we thought. When we first envisioned Project Sanctuary, our goal was to raise $2 million, which we believed would cover both buying and renovating the building. Due to rising prices, tariffs, delays, and problems we did not foresee, the cost to buy and renovate the building will be closer to $3 million.
But the good news overshadows the bad news: God has provided financing and funding so we can get to that $3 million mark and continue with the project. We received $1.5 million in pledges/gifts from Project Sanctuary; we qualified for a loan of $1.4 million; and Liberti received COVID relief funds of around $150k to cover that final gap. God has made a way.
And yet, God keeps providing just enough, and we have had to go back to him to ask for more. Even though God has provided enough for the project to move forward, there are still some shortfalls we have to address:
The $1.5 million includes pledges that are coming in slowly until the spring of 2027. However, we will need most of those dollars over the next few months to pay our general contractor. We need to raise more so we don’t have to deplete our reserves.
The terms of our loan require us to make a $200k principal payment in the fall of 2027. Most of these dollars will come from pledges trickling in, but we are on track to not have enough to make that large first payment in 2027. So we need to raise more long-term pledges.
We need a season of renewal as we look to our future in the new building. Getting into this building is not the finish line. Rather, it will be a new starting line in the life of Liberti River Wards. This building is not the future; this building is not Liberti; this building is not the ultimate container of God’s glory. Actually, all three of those sentences describe us, us people, filled with God’s Spirit, who are living, speaking, and serving as the very presence of Jesus in the River Wards. We need to be reminded that our Sanctuary is Christ; we need to be reminded that this little sanctuary will be for Christ; and we need to be reminded that our neighbors will only ever find true Sanctuary in Christ. The building will undoubtedly be a key tool as we pursue those goals. But we need to dig into the first things again. We need a season of spiritual preparation as we make this final push.
Therefore, looking especially to #3 above, we are calling this short initiative Project Sanctuary Renewed.
Our initiative will have three goals, each aligning with the respective points above.
Raising $175k in one-time gifts before the end of 2025. These could either be pledged gifts given earlier than expected, or one-time gifts beyond initial pledges. This figure will cover our anticipated cash shortfall so we don’t have to draw from our reserves. Moreover, this figure will free us to have a larger budget on furniture as we get situated in our first year in the building.
Raising an additional $320k in pledges. We are going to extend Project Sanctuary from a three-year pledge to a four-year pledge, so giving will be extended until Spring 2028. If you have pledged already, please prayerfully consider extending your pledge for one more year at the same rate you have been giving. Additionally, if you did not have an opportunity to pledge in the spring of 2024, this is an opportunity to pledge for the first time. These new and increased pledges will allow us to pay off that principal payment in fall 2027. Beyond that, this figure will allow us to make additional principal payments early in the life of our loan, which will free us up to devote more funds to staff, ministry, and outreach in our strategic first years in the building.
Raising a team of 25 people who commit to pray for Liberti’s ministry in the new building every day in the 2026 calendar year. This is not a request for an “I’ll pray for that” passing statement; this is a request for a commitment to pray each day, even if it is just for one minute a day, without missing a day, for a full year. I will send out prayer requests to these individuals regularly, and I expect they will gather to intercede a few times throughout the year. Think about it this way: if each member of this team prays an average of 1 minute per day, this team will have logged over 100 hours of prayer by the time we are starting up ministries in the building in the Fall of 2026. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” -Matthew 9:37-38.
We will have printed materials on all this information at our Sunday service on November 16. Our preaching in Colossians will focus on Project Sanctuary Renewed on both November 16 and 23. Then, on December 14, there will be a portion of the service when we invite families to submit new pledge cards, with options to give a one-time gift, make a new pledge, extend your original pledge, and/or commit to pray every day in 2026.
You surely have questions. I would love to hear them! Don’t hesitate to send them my way at swood@liberti.org. I hope to post an FAQ next week.
This post is so long! Thanks for reading it. Join me in praying that God would renew us and provide all we need through this initiative. I look forward to seeing how he provides for us yet again.