Redeemer has been invited to participate in the Sustainable Solutions for Sacred Sites (also called the S4 Program). This is a Lilly Foundation grant run out of Judson Memorial’s Bricks and Mortals Program which we learned about from Donna Schaper, the consultant who visited us in April after we studied her book during Lent. The purpose of the program is to “produce sustainable solutions to the persistent concerns of congregations about their buildings. We turn problems into possibility by teaching and learning with imagination and experience.” This ties in perfectly with the goal of Redeemer’s Congregation Council to increase the use of our building to expand our mission and help pay for maintenance. However, we have found that putting this into action is a challenge, and we think this program will be a great for giving us direction and motivation. The S4 program is provided by forming cohorts of churches for joint learning opportunities and through professional coaching. Redeemer will be part of a virtual cohort meaning all sessions will be online. The offered trainings are estimated at a $30,000 value for a meager congregation contribution of $500. Redeemer’s Council has approved this expenditure and the application was submitted two months ago. It is so exciting that we have now been accepted!

We are now looking for 2-3 additional congregation members to join Julie Andrew, Rich Carroll, and Pastor Tobias Anderson in this learning process. Commitment would be for a two year period and involve two meetings per month—one with the coach assigned to Redeemer and one with the other cohort church members—and 4 longer training sessions over a two year period. While this is a substantial commitment it will be of great value to helping our church remain financially solvent and expand our mission of Sharing Christ’s Welcome to the community. For more information please check out the website https://www.s4program.org. Ideally, the full slate of participants will be identified in the next two weeks, so that we can start our meetings in September. Don’t wait to be asked (though you might be!), If you are interested in participating please talk to Julie Andrew or email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..