All of us have benefited greatly from Saint George through the years. This challenge offers another way to meaningfully respond by supporting our Building Through Our Faith campaign.

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Background

The 71 year history of Saint George is rich in tradition, especially parishioners' record of rising to every challenge to meet growing building needs. The original Greek Orthodox parish in Greenville was a small building consecrated in 1936 by our community's beloved first families. The original Church was built at the Decamp Street location during WWII to serve a large and growing family of Orthodox Christians. The multipurpose Hellenic Center was constructed in the mid 1980's. In 1995, the magnificent Cathedral was completed. The small Chapel, dome, and mosaic icons were finished from 2004-2006. The recent completion of the new grounds/parking layout and amphitheater structure marked the end of Phase I of the "Building Through Our Faith" long range plan.

Today, the facilities provide a special, holy place of worship, fellowship and spiritual growth for approximately 600 member families. All of the milestones to date have been accomplished through hard work, fundraising, and the outstanding service of our dedicated parishioners. Key sources of capital have come from the giving of individuals, families, and organizations as well as an extremely successful annual Greek Festival.

The Challenge

The Hellenic Center presently serves many purposes for regular weekly parish use. These include: church luncheons, annual Greek Festival, general assemblies, dinner/dances, basketball practice, and some wedding receptions depending on availability.

However, in other ways the Hellenic Center fails to fully serve the parish either as an income producing vehicle or for more formal reception type events. Currently, on many occasions, the Hall is unavailable due to prior booking for athletic or meeting purposes. Despite many efforts to "beautify" the Hall to satisfy those who wish for a more formal setting, it still has the look and feel of a gym, thereby missing rental opportunities.

On Sunday mornings, we experience overcrowding on the lower level of the hall. Several of our high school Sunday school classes are forced to meet under the Cathedral, separated from the other classes. With the positive growth in numbers of many young children, classrooms are too small to accommodate the students. The nursery is also quite crowded during well attended church services.

Because of its substandard flooring and outdated physical attributes as an athletic/sports facility, the Center has not been used for official competition in many years. All St. George boys, girls, and adult teams must go to other churches in the community to play in official church league games. We presently have no "home court" for games. A proposed exercise track and workout/training room would give the opportunity for ALL Parishioners to strengthen their physical as well as spiritual well being.

The proposed solution is comprised of two components:

Phase II: Construct a new, modern, state of the art Gymnasium and renovate the Hellenic Center banquet room. (Expected Start: Spring 2009 / Estimated cost: $2,500,000)

Phase III: Construct a new Education building, Kitchen, and Small Hall (Expected completion: Summer 2015 / Estimated Cost: $5,000,000)

The Project
Our construction phase will not begin until $1.5 million has been secured in pledges, donations and other funds. We are asking each member to pledge an amount over a 3 to 5 year period that reflects his/her belief that we need better facilities to meet the future needs of our growing parish. Once the $1.5 million has been secured, the Board will proceed to obtain the necessary financing.

The Campaign
To successfully reach the ambitious campaign goal over a three to five year period, the committee will utilize proven professional fund raising methodologies. First, the campaign will be conducted over multiple phases. Once the current or planning phase is completed, we will start the quiet phase, when the committee will be seeking significant leadership gifts absolutely required to reach our goal. Then the public phase will begin, when all families, organizations, and friends of St. George will be encouraged to participate through sacrificial giving.

For a campaign of this magnitude to be successful, the attached gift chart illustrates the types of pledges required. All gifts, regardless of amount, will be received with deep appreciation and gratitude.

In addition to capital campaigns, all charities acknowledge the value and even the necessity of an endowment. These perpetual assets are built principally through estate giving. Therefore, endowments take a long time to develop. It is proposed that a "planned giving" component be included in our capital campaign. There are likely many people in the community, who, making their final journey to God, would wish to make one last gift of gratitude to the Church that gave them so much in this life. Those gifts to an endowment will ensure that generations that follow will also be well served.

A new campaign committee consisting of 12 members has been organized to guide our community through Phase II. To successfully reach our goal, the committee has engaged Father Anthony Scott of Stewardship Advocates to conduct a planning study to test the feasibility of raising $8,500,000 over a three to five year period. The data received from comprehensive questionnaires and interviews will be the basis for setting the campaign committee's goals and priorities. The results will help determine the next steps for the "Building Through Our Faith" long range plan.

 

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