The Meet Hope Podcast
The Meet Hope Podcast
113: HOPE in Motion: Investing in the Future
From a simple phone call asking "what can we do for Jeff when he retires?" emerged Hope in Motion, a capital campaign aimed at raising funds for innovative initiatives both locally and globally. In this conversation, Pastor Rick talks with Pastor Jeff and long time HOPE member and member of HOPE's Lead Team, John Grace, about how generosity today creates an impact far beyond what we can envision. Listen now and learn more at meethope.org/motion.
NOTES:
- HOPE in Motion Info can be found at meethope.org/motion.
- Have a direct question? Reach out at jeff@meethope.org.
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Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have conversations about faith and hope. Hope is one church made of people living out their faith through two expressions in person and online. We believe a hybrid faith experience can lead to a growing influence in our community and our world for the sake of others. Welcome to Hope our world for the sake of others.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Hope. Hey everybody, Welcome to another episode of the Meet Hope Podcast. My name is Rick. I'm excited to be here and I'm especially excited to have with me Pastor Jeff Bills. Hey, Rick. And Mr John Grace. Hey, John, how are you Doing? Terrific? Thank you, yeah, that's good. So this is your first podcast with us, is that?
Speaker 3:correct. Yes, it is.
Speaker 2:But it's not your first time at Hope.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:So, john, you've been attending for quite a while, right Since almost the beginning, almost the beginning. Yes, yeah, okay, and you're married to Mary.
Speaker 3:To Mary. To Mary, I have three children and eight grandchildren.
Speaker 2:Wow, great, that's eight grandchildren, eight grandchildren, all right, and you've been part of the leadership team at Hope, off and on, for quite a few years, right, yes, sir, and you're currently serving on lead team. Now, correct, and your roles tend to focus in what areas here at Hope?
Speaker 3:Mostly finance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, finance areas right.
Speaker 3:A little bit of operations, but now that we have a wonderful guy like Dave Falcone here, I'm not needed there, so that's great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, and we're here, we're going to talk about Hope in Motion. So, jeff, why don't you share with us what is Hope in Motion?
Speaker 4:Hope in Motion is a capital campaign. It's a I'd call it a mini campaign because it's only going to last about seven or eight months, and our goal is to raise $125,000 for three priorities an LED wall for our worship space, to raise funds for Longezu University in Malawi and to outfit a couple of our classrooms, one for our kids with some special needs and the other for our fourth and fifth graders.
Speaker 2:Right, okay. And for people who have been around Hope for a while, you know that this is not our first capital campaign. John, you and Jeff have done several together. How many? We were guessing about eight.
Speaker 3:I have no idea, but it seems like it's one big campaign. I would say it's between six and eight. All right, yeah, mary and I were talking about that last night and she seems to think it was six and I think it was eight, so it was probably six.
Speaker 4:Never argue with Mary.
Speaker 2:It's six and counting.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:And so what are some of the things that you guys have learned since doing these together, these six or eight?
Speaker 3:campaigns. No matter what campaign we've had, the results were astounding. Everyone the congregation has bought into it, supported it and gave us the tools that we needed to do whatever the project was.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean the first one. I think it was called Building Hope or. Hope Builder something like that, and we were trying to raise about $800,000. And it was the land and to get the building project, this first phase of the building project, underway. Right and so, yeah, that was a major campaign three years long, john, to your point. Folks just surprised us, right and so, yeah, that was a major campaign three years long, john, to your point.
Speaker 2:Folks just surprised us with their generosity.
Speaker 4:It was crazy, and how much did you have to raise in that initial campaign?
Speaker 3:It was over $800,000, I think yeah, we beat it by about 25%.
Speaker 2:Wow, and that was over three years. Yes, and that was $19.90.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, that campaign was probably launched, john, in mid 90s. It sounds about right. Yeah, I think we bought the. I think we bought the property in like 94 somewhere in there, uh, and then built the building.
Speaker 2:We completed phase one of the building in 1999 yeah, and then, soon after that, though, there was a, there was an education wing added on right.
Speaker 3:Oh yes, within two years. Three years, yeah, three years, yeah. We outgrew the building we were in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that was a quick turnaround from one campaign to the next.
Speaker 3:Right, it was crazy. It was a great rocket ship ride, that's for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and those first few were clear and compelling. They made sense, right, it was a great rocket ship ride, that's for sure. Yeah, and those first few were clear and compelling. They made sense, right, it was. People could see here's the need and what can we do to meet that need so that we can continue to grow? Yeah, then I was here for this one. The meeting place came along. Do you guys remember what year that was? I was trying to remember and I can't remember. Jeff's going to remember.
Speaker 4:Well, I only remember, because I had asked Dave Falcone, so it was 2012.
Speaker 2:2012. Okay, yeah, and that was different, because that was an opportunity without a particular vision, in that we were looking for a way to bless others and bless the community. We didn't know what God had in store for us, right?
Speaker 3:That's correct. Yeah, it was an opportunity that presented itself. We knew it was adjacent land to our facility. It was worth more to us than anybody else. It was about a six-month negotiation deal. It was going to be a reverse auction online. We heard about it, we got involved in it and we ended up getting it for about 20% of what the original ask was 20%. Yeah, it was crazy.
Speaker 4:A lot of the stuff is crazy. Yeah, no, it's miraculous in some ways, and to have a master negotiator like John as part of the process is yeah. It was fun.
Speaker 3:It was a lot of fun yeah.
Speaker 2:And so, initially, we used that building, once we were able to occupy it, to host outside groups right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, the unique thing about the meeting place, as you said, it came along, came along. John brought it to our attention and you know just said this could be a great opportunity, but we didn't have a plan for it. And so we went to the congregation and shared that and said you know what we would envision is, rather than using it for our own purposes, we're going to use this building to bless the community, whatever that means. And again, john, to your point, that's kind of that's a tough ask. Right, we want to buy this, but we don't know what we want to do with it.
Speaker 3:Well, that's a great point, but I did a lot of thinking about this last night preparing for today. It wasn't a tough ask for us because our church has always been forward thinking. They're always thinking about. We don't look behind us, we don't look at what we should have could have. We always seize opportunities when they present themselves and the congregation. As long as you said, like you said, Rick, you could define just in generalities a purpose, and the purpose was to support the community. The church got right behind it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what's fascinating as we look back is that God had an even greater purpose that we would have had. We had no idea in 2012 that that would someday host and support our food pantry ministry. We had no idea, right.
Speaker 4:Nobody but God envisioned 2020 and the impact of the pandemic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was thinking last night as well when I was preparing is that the people that gave in 2012 had no idea the impact they would have in 2020 and beyond. Right, right, that was. 500 families, over 2,000 people every month. Right, that would have been if we could have told them that in 2012, it would have been an even easier campaign.
Speaker 4:Right right right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I love that. That to your point, john, is we're always looking forward, always looking at what's the next opportunity and how can we position ourselves so that God can do something even greater in the next era. So that brings us to today, this current campaign Hope in Motion. John, how did this campaign get conceived?
Speaker 3:Well, I received a phone call from an individual who moved away from the community, who was here in probably the very beginning. Yeah, and she said to me she was thinking and praying about what are we going to do for Jeff when he retires.
Speaker 2:Okay, how are?
Speaker 3:we going to support his retirement and that's what started the whole thing in motion. That's what started it Her request about thinking about how we can thank Jeff it got me started, got me jazzed. We got a group together and this is just another part of that campaign.
Speaker 2:And then I guess you went and just asked.
Speaker 3:Jeff. Well, eventually I didn't want to say anything to Jeff until I thought it was going to be successful. But when we had a pretty good feel, for we had a core group until I thought it was going to be successful, but when we had a pretty good feel, for we had a core group that I thought could help us launch this thing I went to Jeff and I said what would you want to basically be named in your honor for your service of being a founder pastor? And the things he picked out were all things that weren't for us. I mean, they were really.
Speaker 3:Malali was people we were probably never going to meet, but it moved me, the screen. I in the beginning was not for it, but I didn't want to fight it. I thought, if that's what people want, that's what Jeff wants, that's what we're going to do. We went to church, mary Ann went to church, we were traveling, and we went to a church in Florida and they had a screen very similar to the screen that Jeff had described and it blew me away. I was like this is it? Wow, yeah. So I sent the pictures to Jeff of what we saw in Florida and his comment to me was it must be the screen I'm looking at but I can't see it because we know Jeff has challenges seeing and I thought how cool is that that he wants this for the congregation and he can't even see it?
Speaker 4:Yeah, because it is future-oriented. And to your point again, john all of these projects people invested in, many of whom weren't going to experience it, like we had people supporting the building project who knew they were going to be moving away.
Speaker 1:Right right.
Speaker 4:And so they were doing it for we talk about, for the sake of others, to be in the process of being conformed to the image of Christ, for the sake of others, and so this is just another example. You know, like, yeah, we're not probably going to know the people who graduate from Langezu University, but the impact of that on those lives and on that country is incalculable for us, Right yeah. And I think the same thing with this LED wall it's going to attract generations yet unborn.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, and just like the Meeting Place campaign, we'll be supporting something that we don't know the opportunities yet that God has for us. Right, you know that with students in Malawi, with the LED wall, with the environments for the kids, programs, Like we don't know, even know the kids yet who will be a part of that? Correct?
Speaker 3:yes.
Speaker 2:And to see that we'll, that God is positioning us to literally change the world around us right. Change here in Voorhees and literally change the world. When you consider Malawi in this. Yes, so there's a challenge to this, jeff, that you have suggested. Do you know where I'm going with this? I like this. I think it's so approachable for people.
Speaker 4:So how do you? You know when you ask people hey, we want to raise $125,000, well, I don't think anybody's going to be writing me a check for $125,000. But if you're out there, please call me.
Speaker 2:And we take Venmo. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4:But what has always been the case is we ask people do the best that you can. If everybody does the best that they can, then we end up getting there and we've got six or eight experiences to demonstrate that One of the ways that, just practically, I thought about it if everyone gave 10% more than what they gave last year and designated that 10% toward this project, we would raise the money that we need. And so I know there are people who can't do that and I certainly understand that, and I'm sure there are people who could do more than that and I hope they'll prayerfully consider that as well. But, john, I'm confident we're going to raise. What do you think?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, so you're saying on average, we could increase the giving 10%?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I think it's very doable, based on our history.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yes, I do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And so, john, let me ask you you and Mary have been members of this church almost from the beginning, right, right From the high school days. Yes, and share what makes this place so special in your experience.
Speaker 3:Well, Hope's a really unique place, I mean from the first time I walked into the church. By the way, I came to Hope Church kicking and screaming.
Speaker 2:Like a lot of us.
Speaker 3:Like a lot of us yes, mary and I were shopping around for a church for a long time it felt like months for our daughter, corinne, to be confirmed and we were sitting in the living room and we get a phone call from somebody who's telling Mary that there's a church in town starting up, and so this is like perfect timing, right? So Mary's like yelling over to me do you want to go and do you want to commit? And this person's on the phone and I said, well, where's the church? Well, it's only two miles from home. That works. There was a bunch of criteria, questions that I had, because I was always about believe it or not, talking about capital campaigns. I was always didn't go to church for a couple decades because I thought it was all about the money. And I go from that to this sitting here talking about doing a podcast Capital campaign.
Speaker 3:It's like what? Has God done to me. It's been fantastic. So, anyway, hope is a unique place. I mean the people that are around it. Like I said, they're forward-thinking, they're doers. Their glass is always half full, not half empty. I could go on and on, Of course, all of our own individual stories, but to me, hope has just always been an inspiration. To me, everything we've set out to do we've been able to do, thank God.
Speaker 2:Someone's going to show up in the near future tomorrow, the next day, the next Sunday, after this, screens have been installed and the same impact that's been made in your life and in the lives of so many others is going to happen again, and that you know. It's a global impact, right?
Speaker 4:Well, and that you know it's going to be a cool thing for our online folks as well. And so, literally, the church has no boundaries, of you know. Forever the church was bound by geography and, because of online, geography no longer is a boundary for us. We're not bound. The heart of Hope Church isn't bound by geography either. That you know. For decades now, we have gone to Haiti, we've gone to Cuba, we've gone to Brazil, and now God's calling us to Malawi.
Speaker 2:Well, this has been fun.
Speaker 3:Yes, has it been all right? Yes, for your first podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very good, very good.
Speaker 3:Hey everyone, thanks so much for been all right. Yes, for your first podcast. Yeah, very good, very good.
Speaker 2:Hey everyone, thanks so much for being part of this episode. I hope you guys had fun. I had fun doing this and I just want to encourage you all that after this episode, we're going to have three more episodes to follow and talking about the LED wall and what that involves. And talking about Malawi, and with Bruce Main. And then also talking about our kids wall and what that involves. And talking about Malawi, and with Bruce Maine. And then also talking about our kids' ministry environments and how that's going to impact future generations. So please make sure you listen to those episodes as well and if you need more information, you can go to our Today page, as always, or you can also go to meethopeorg forward slash motion. So, everyone, have a great day and thanks again for listening.
Speaker 1:Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we continue our conversations about faith and hope. If you don't already, please join us for worship on Sundays or on demand. You can learn more at meethopeorg or find us on socials at meethopechurch.