On Sunday, August 25, I had the privilege of participating in a re-dedication of the sanctuary at Second Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky. It was a greatly anticipated event, and lived up to expectations.

The campaign had a three-pronged objective. The first objective was renewing the Christian Education wing. Next was mission support of youth-based projects local to international. The greatest challenge was to fulfill a vision that had its start over 15 years ago with a previous pastorate and long retired session, revitalizing their worship space.

I have assisted over 100 congregations and supported many others as part of CCS, but seldom have I seen the leadership and persistence it took for this vision to become a reality. The capital campaign started approximately one year ago with the leadership of Rev Dr. Daniel Hans. He recognized that this wonderful community of faith would not be able to “compete” for the hearts and minds of the next generation without fulfilling the vision born of a previous era. It had to be done, but it had to be consistent with the traditions and values that this congregation had established over many generations.

First there was a concept, then a liturgical architect concept, and feedback from members. It wasn’t going to be someone else’s plan for Second Presbyterian – it had to be Second’s plan for its future. Iteration after iteration, through another set of feedback sessions with individuals as part of a feasibility study conducted by CCS, and again back to the drawing board. And then the final proof of the pudding would be to conduct a $1,000,000 capital campaign where every member in every pew would have the final say as to whether the planners and leaders had hit the mark.

The campaign started slowly with Dan and Tom Lingeman, campaign chairperson, believing that this could be done. Bob Elliott, who led the planning team and ultimately would lead the building team, was also right there. Bob was confident that this plan and this campaign would finally fulfill the vision.

In January of this year Tom, Dan, and I were having our usual bi-weekly update call when Tom dropped the bombshell. We could pull out our contingency of additional facility needs, because we were about to reach our goal and the general congregation portion of the campaign had barely begun. There was not just enough to fulfill the vision – there would be more than enough. This campaign would go over their goal by nearly 25%. Abundance and Joy!!!

Vision + Leadership + Persistence = Congregation Success…

And, as Dan said in his sermon Sunday, the sparks of a new vision are already rising as this community of faith again marches forward on its spiritual journey of renewal and a burning desire to pass their values to the next generation.

God has blessed Second Presbyterian Church, Lexington.