See below for more detailed information on our plans

Parking

Seven years ago Peace Lutheran Church began laying the groundwork to purchase the three residential properties immediately west of the church.  One was purchased immediately; the other two homeowners were not ready to sell at that time but agreed to sell to the church in the future.  Just this spring they agreed to sell their homes to the church by 2011.  Our hope is to raise the capital needed for the purchases by then.

To convert that property into parking will take two separate actions by the city planning board and ratified by the city council.   The first is to rezone the property; the second is to apply for a conditional use permit.

A third action we will pursue is to petition the city engineers to close Cambridge Ave. and convert the street into additional parking.  If the city engineers agree to that proposal it will forwarded to the city council for final approval.

Stewardship

The last time that Peace Lutheran Church has an extensive stewardship campaign was twelve years ago when the decision was made to build the new sanctuary.  Many new faces have become part of Peace since then and those folks have never had the same opportunity to learn about being “managers” of all that God has given us.  To say it another way, we haven’t been challenged to grow in that area of our discipleship in a long time.

In response, the Church Council has brought onboard Rev. David Misenheimer from Kairos and Associates.  Rev. Misenheimer has been helping renew our stewardship ministry as well as lay the groundwork for a capital campaign in the fall.

Children and Youth

We have long used a good portion of our classrooms, fellowship hall, and kitchen space for the programming needs of our Preschool, our After School, and most recently our Day Care ministries.  It was a good fit because those ministries used the space M-F and our children and youth ministry used the space mainly on Sundays.  But as our congrega­tion has grown, our programs have grown as well and they no longer all fit on Sunday.  Currently we have three “pinch points” in our space for ministry for children and youth. 

#1) We now offer a Wednesday night congregational meal, an expanded Confirmation program and a Sunday School, and we are short on space

#2) As we offer more ministries during the week, especially involving parents of young kids, the need for a second nursery area has emerged.

#3) As we offer more after-school programs for middle school and high school youth during the week, the need for a second recreational space has become apparent. 

Worship Space

Worship is at the center of our faith community and having enough room at worship for our members as well as for visitors has been a long-standing goal at Peace.  Obviously not all five of our worship services our full, but the critical services are those in the “prime time” hours on a Sunday morning.  When they start to fill up, the percentage of our members at worship begins to drop.

Eleven years ago we built a new sanctuary to address that issue.  Five years ago we added a fourth worship service to the Sunday morning schedule.  Last year we flip-flopped the formats (contemporary vs. traditional) at the 9:00 and 10:10 services to even out the attendance patterns.  We could build a 100-seat balcony, but it would come at a hefty price tag per seat.  We could get more seats for the money by building a second worship space.

#1) A second worship space that could hold 500+ worshippers would add an additional 1000 seats with two services during “prime time” on Sunday morning.

#2) The worship schedule could return to a three-service schedule in the existing sanctuary, allowing for more time in between worship services for fellowship, and worship itself wouldn’t have to be so “tight” and sometimes “rushed”.

Preschool, After-School (Peace CARE), and Day Care (Kids World) Ministries

Simply put, each of these ministries has a waiting list.  If more room were available for them to use, they could serve more families in our community.

Wellness Ministry

One area that wasn’t surveyed during the visioning process was our brand new Wellness Ministry taking shape under the direction of our Parish Nurse.  Part of the vision for that ministry includes spaces for adults to participate in learning, exercise and crafts.  There is currently no unused space during the week to accommodate either of those ministries.

Music Ministry

No one could argue that our Music Ministry is one of our strengths at Peace.  With so many different groups meeting to practice, rehearsal space is at a premium.  A second (smaller) rehearsal room for the Bell Choir could also double as a second adult meeting space.

Part of the vision of the Music Ministry is to cultivate future musicians through a School of Music.  If there were extra unused classrooms during the week, they could be put into service for rehearsal and lesson rooms for a School of Fine Arts.