Case Study
First Free Evangelical Church
Chicago, Illinois
Senior Pastor Dr. Bill Shereos
The people: Bill's congregation, teeming with economic and cultural diversity, is in a neighborhood with a large, diverse population that borders the exclusive condominiums just off Lake Shore Drive. The congregation is made up of students from local colleges and universities; young, bright professional singles; and 70 percent of the congregation "turned over" in the past four years. Bill is a God-driven pastor who leads a flock that is passionate to please God.
The challenge: With a deepening sense of God's direction, leaders wanted to tear down some of the church's apartment buildings and erect a new Family Life Center. The project demanded a million-dollar campaign the likes of which the church had not seen in over 45 years - meaning the church had an incredible need to expand its ministry with limited resources.
Enter CGS: Senior consultant Dick Beall advised that a church should never launch a campaign without first making sure that the congregation really owned the project. Today's congregations often vote overwhelmingly in favor of capital or debt-reduction campaigns but the average congregant has little interest in praying about, let alone giving a sacrificial gift for projects they don't own. Beall suggested a pre-campaign assessment to make certain everyone was on the same page.
The result: Beall found out the congregation wanted to know that the vision for this project was from God and not from a few leaders with agendas. Congregants also wanted to be reassured by leaders that they had committed this project to prayer. When leaders could finally confront the real issues, the scales tipped toward a huge campaign success.
The response: According to Pastor Shereos,"It was critical for Church Growth Services to listen to representatives of our congregation. Since our church had not had a major capital campaign for more than 45 years, we had to be careful. Exceeding our goal has given our congregation new hope. More importantly, the campaign has served to further align our congregation with our vision. We are discovering that as we work together and make sacrificial commitments, we can do more than we believed possible."
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