Dear Members and Friends of FCC,

A Special Meeting of FCC was held on August 25^th in Schaper Hall, with a single topic to consider, “Shall FCC move forward with a Capital Campaign?”. The members of the congregation unanimously voted “YES!”.

By the numbers, here is what we voted to undertake:

•  A capital campaign goal of $3.5 million dollars; $2.0 million is intended for deferred maintenance projects, and $1.5 million will increase our endowment to support future maintenance and break the deferred maintenance cycle
• Addressing a building project list of 27 projects, to be completed as the funds become available
• A Capital Campaign (in which pledges are made) that will run for 14 weeks, from August 26th-November 24th
• Fulfilling campaign pledges over a 3-year time period
• Hiring 1 capital campaign consultant, Wayne Spaulding, from James D. Klote and Associates for a period of 12-14 weeks to serve as a full-time partner in the execution of the campaign
• Committing 30-35 volunteers for the campaign process, with additional volunteers needed for the building project execution phase

This campaign is a culmination of several years of prayerfully considering our church home at 461 Pierson Street in Crystal Lake. At a minimum, we knew that we had to address deferred maintenance issues. However, during this extended period of study and reflection, we also considered remodeling, renovations and even building a new church. Based on feedback from the congregation, it was determined that the desired course is to stay in our existing building, and repair and improve the facilities.

The church council unanimously voted earlier this year to proceed with a feasibility study to actively solicit feedback from all members and friends of our congregation to understand our readiness for a full-scale Capital Campaign to address these building repairs. Our feasibility study, conducted by Wayne Spaulding and facilitated by the Church Council and Pastor Eric, occurred for 4 weeks from late July through the month of August. The congregation was well engaged with the process, with 27% of households attending. The feasibility study concluded that FCC knows what it needs to do, now is the time to do it, and that the goal of $3.5 million is a reasonable goal. All volumes of the Feasibility Report are available for you to read.

At the conclusion of the Feasibility Study, we held a Special Congregational meeting, for the congregation to vote on proceeding with the campaign. We had over 100 attendees in Schaper Hall and received numerous proxy and online votes. The motion was unanimously approved.

We would like to assure you that this campaign and the building improvements will proceed with transparency and careful change management processes. We as your council are fully committed to good governance.

Thank you to the congregation and friends of FCC for your valuable feedback throughout the Feasibility Study and for participating in the Special Congregational Meeting. Thank you to the facilities committee for developing the building list, the staff for supporting the feasibility studies and congregational meeting, and Wayne Spaulding from James D. Klote and Associates for the support and guidance through this process.

Thank you for your faith in our congregation and for making FCC a great place to be.

The FCC Church Council

Adria Tyndall, Chair

Jody Fields, Vice Chair

Brian Markison, Treasurer

Paul King, Clerk

Al Cuningham

Heidi Rockwell

Dan Schweers