St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (PCA) opened in 1983 with two goals:  to stand for Biblical truth and be mission-minded.  Dr. Welden began serving as their senior pastor in 2006 and recalls how warm and inviting the church was to him and his family.  He recalls what lead the church to their capital campaign saying, “You had this beautiful facility, and right beside it were some doublewide trailers where our youth met and had their services” and the congregation wanted to find a way to bring them up to the main building.  As they began to discuss that, other projects came up and soon they found themselves with a list of multiple projects including The Great Hall, Student Center, Worship and Arts Suite, and extensive renovations to the Sanctuary, Children’s Ministry area and offices.

They began looking for a firm “…I knew it would be more stressful and we would raise less money if we attempted to this ourselves. Plus, I could keep my focus on pastoral ministry,” said Dr. Welden.  The church narrowed down and eventually interviewed three different firms.  Dr. Welden recalls choosing Impact Stewardship “…Impact Stewardship seemed the most interested in working within our “quirky” culture, (of which I bring the majority of that) and would not compromise my leadership style and spiritual giftedness”

Despite the economy being “a mess” during the stewardship emphasis the congregation gave sacrificially.  Dr. Welden was emphatic that the church would not see this as a campaign that has a beginning and an end.  But, rather “…this would be a season of concentrated giving that would begin building sustainable stewardship and giving for the life of the church”.  The people of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church enjoyed completed their building in 2012 and they invited Impact Stewardship back for a second campaign.  When thinking back to the campaign Dr. Welden says, “What we experienced was a well-organized, well thought out step-by-step training, prayer driven, spiritual journey of challenge and education which was sensitive to my concerns as the Pastor and our church culture.”

Location
  • Columbia, SC
Project
  • Expansion
Total Committed
  • $2,237,085
Services
  • Capital Stewardship Consulting
  • Media Consulting
  • Graphic Design
  • Campaign Website
  • Video Production

”Our congregation year by year is becoming more balanced in the different age groups, and we are thankful that we have seen unity, growth, and great church health. We were led to do this campaign because bottom line was that you had this beautiful facility and right beside it were some double-wide trailers where our youth met and had their services. We wanted to bring them up to our main building, and since we were looking at that began seeing other projects that we wanted to tackle at the same time.

So, when we began looking for a firm I knew it would be more stressful and we would raise less money if we attempted to this ourselves. Plus, I could keep my focus on pastoral ministry. The church interviewed two or three campaign firms, but we chose Impact Stewardship because they seemed the most interested in working within our “quirky” culture, (of which I bring the majority of that) and would not compromise my leadership style and spiritual giftedness.

The economy was a mess when we started this thing, but our people gave sacrificially to the campaign. I really was never a fan of the term “capital campaign” because a campaign has a beginning and an end; I rather it be called a season of concentrated giving that would begin building sustainable stewardship and giving for the life of the church.

Never was I asked to do things that were out of character or uncomfortable for me. What we experienced was a well-organized, well thought out step-by-step training, prayer driven, spiritual journey of challenge and education, which was sensitive to my concerns as the Pastor and our church culture.”

I am so thankful for personal attention given to me by Gary and the entire team at Impact Stewardship. In fact, we invited you back to help us with a second campaign.

Dr. WeldenSenior Pastor