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In 1826...

...God called a small group of Christians to plant our church in Portsmouth. Since then we have existed to know Christ and make him known.

 
 

A lot has changed in our nearly 200 years as a church.  One thing that has not changed is God's call on our lives: to worship him, to love and encourage one another, and to serve our savior and our city. To do this, we need to undertake critical renovations to our building to ensure that our church is a safe, welcoming and engaging place to carry out our mission. 

 
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Know Christ

 

First, God calls us to worship and serve him. In order to make our building a safe, welcoming and engaging place to worship God and deepen our relationship with Christ, we will make these improvements:

 
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We will update our Sanctuary with a fresh coat of paint and re-glaze its windows to provide a welcoming space for worship and celebration.

 
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We will make comprehensive and critical upgrades throughout our building (including the Peirce Mansion) to improve fire safety, including removal of highly flammable materials, structural improvements to mitigate fire risk, and installation of a new fire alarm system.

 
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We will move the children’s program space from its current location near the building entrances in the basement to a more secure location adjacent to the sanctuary.  This will provide parents with quick and easy access to their children during Sunday services.

 
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Make Him known

 

Secondly, God calls us to love and serve our community— those who are a part of our church family and those who are not.  In order to make our building more conducive to service, especially in our community and among those who have physical needs, we will make these improvements:

 
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We will renovate and re-equip our Community Kitchen, designing an efficient and sanitary environment for large-scale meal preparation.

 
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We will recondition our Fellowship Hall, implementing safety improvements and providing aesthetic enhancements and new furnishings to create a safe, welcoming and engaging environment for all members and visitors.

 

 
 

We will reconfigure the current children’s program space in the basement to house our administrative offices. This will enable our church staff to monitor the flow into and out of the building, and to more easily serve our visitors.

 
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Community Lunch

Serving people who are
hungry for food and hungry for God.

 

This project is not just about our church building.  We’re not interested in creating a museum or a monument.  This is about our ongoing work to build our ministry.  We anticipate several exciting ministry improvements as a result of this work to our building, many of which we have mentioned above.  But that’s not all.

 
 
We remember before God your work of faith and labor of love.
— 1 Thessalonians 1:3

Food is an essential need that brings people together.  In order to help those in our community who are hungry and to support our calling to practice faith in fellowship, our church is preparing to launch a community meal program in 2018.  Each week we will open our doors to the community for a free lunch to be prepared by a rotating crew of professional chefs and volunteers.

The program will be supported through community donations and corporate contributions.  In preparation for this program, our campaign will improve our community space in order to accommodate meal preparation and dining for up to 150 guests.

 
 

The plans

 
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The Goal

 

Our goal is that 100% of the folks who call Middle Street home would commit their hearts and resources to Answer the Call.  We know this looks different for different people; what we're after is unity in God's vision for Middle Street.

 
 

We believe:

Giving is an act of joy

Middle Street is a church of grace.  We will never shame or coerce anybody into giving.  How and how much anyone gives is ultimately between them and the Lord.  We want each person to pray and carefully consider how much they can give, and give with joy. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Giving is an act of faith

When we step out in faith, God increases our faith and builds his kingdom.  He also increases our ability to sacrificially give (Proverbs 11:24–25)

Giving is an act of worship

It’s about your commitment to the Lord before your commitment to Middle Street, or any local church.  When we give to the church, we are giving to God, since he uses the church as the primary means of accomplishing his mission. (Psalm 116:12)

 
 

Sources of Funding

Total Project Cost: $725,000

How we're doing

Total pledge goal: $300,000

We're 89% of the way there!
(As of August 15, 2019)

 

Resources and Documents