AMAZED BY GRACE

“FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS”

LIBERTY CORNER’S LEAP INTO THE FUTURE

THE PLAN

Ten years ago, in 1996, Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church developed a long range ministry plan to carry out its mission to “make disciples of Jesus Christ”.  We believed that God was calling us to continue making an  impact in the Somerset Hills area by bringing more children, youth and adults into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and by expanding our ministry and mission to the four corners of the world.   At that time, in 1996, our congregation was 750 members and an average of 550 people attended worship on Sunday morning.  The congregation endorsed a plan that called for a focused ministry in evangelism, mission, discipleship and spiritual development.  It also included a plan to enlarge our facility to accommodate what we believed would be the future harvest to our ministry.   This “Master Facility Expansion Plan” sought to address four pressing needs:

1. Worship space – an overcrowded sanctuary during preferable worship hours
2. Parking – not enough on-site parking
3. Children and Youth ministry space – not enough classrooms and fellowship space
4. Community gathering space – no central area for the congregation to meet and assemble as they traveled from worship to education to fellowship.

The plan included the design for a larger 600 seat sanctuary, a community/commons area for visitors and congregants to meet, a multi-purpose recreational area, 15 additional rooms for children, music and adult ministries, and a new administrative wing. 

Since then God has allowed our ministry to continue growing.  Our present membership now exceeds 1200 members and our average worship attendance has climbed to as much as 700 people – with as many as 900 attending in Advent, Lent and Easter.  By most measures Liberty Corner Church has grown to be one of the largest Presbyterian congregations in the state of New Jersey.   On top of that our Partners in Mission budget is the largest it has ever been and we have established thriving ministries through the Hearts for Honduras School in La Entrada, Honduras and the Appalachian Service Project.

To keep up with this growth God has allowed us to complete the first half of our facility expansion including nine classrooms, an administrative wing and a multi-purpose recreational space (Center Court).   We have not only occupied this new space but we have already outgrown it.  For example, to continue growth we moved one of our worship services into our gym.  Our off ice space is beyond capacity and our Sunday morning education space is beyond full.   Furthermore, our music preparation space (for four services) totals one musty subterranean room and our nursery space remains half the size we need and far away from worshipping parents.   And … we are still without a convenient community/commons area for our Sunday morning congregation to gather, fellowship and welcome visitors.

WHAT REMAINS

God isn’t through with us yet!  With a renewed passion and vision to “transform our world by becoming a Compelling Christ-centered Community” our ministry continues to grow.  We are compelled to make a difference in the world far away and close at home.  Close at home the Session identified the following limits and challenges in our facility:

1. Worship space – we are proud that our 137 year old sanctuary remains a focal point for our congregation and bucolic community.  However, its limited seating forces us into a four service schedule that sends the preaching pastors scrambling in between concurrent services with sometimes seconds to spare.  Also worship order and format are compromised to accommodate the “pastor shuffle”.   Meanwhile our late morning service has reached capacity.  At Christmas and Easter (prime visitor seasons) we send people away.   In addition, restroom facilities in the 1869 sanctuary remain inaccessible to the elderly and handicapped and no gathering space is available for exiting worshippers without going outside and into a different building.  Hardly hospitable to our new guests!
2. Community/commons area – with a facility that requires at least four services to accommodate the worshipping community the challenge to “keep us together” increases.  It has become harder and harder for us to see old friends and to meet new friends.  Our present space doesn’t permit it.  More and more people complain that they don’t see each other anymore. 
3. Nursery space – our present nursery space was built when the congregation was half the size than it is now.  Furthermore, it is situated a distance away from worshipping parents.  An overcrowded and distant nursery is not an encouragement to parents looking for a new church home. 
4. Music space – our worship and music ministry has grown from one traditional worship service meeting in the sanctuary to three traditional services and one contemporary service in two different buildings.  Meanwhile, we still have only one music rehearsal room! 
5. Office space – as our ministry grows so grows our staff.  Already we have exceeded our staff office space that we moved into just three years ago! 

With these challenges in mind the Session agreed to not only proceed with fully integrating our facility to accommodate and facilitate our present and future mission, but also to extend Christ’s mission to other parts of the world as well. 

THE “AMAZED BY GRACE” VISION AND GOAL

Believing that we are congregation that has been and continues to be “amazed by the grace of God” we are challenging ourselves with a bold new step in our congregation’s mission.  Compelled by what God has done for us and sensing that we have been brought to this place in our church’s life, like Esther of the Old Testament, “for such a time as this” – Liberty Corner Church is looking to do something extraordinary for God and for his people.  We believe now is not the time to “lean on our laurels”, but to charge ahead and do something bold for the kingdom of heaven. 

OUR VISION

          To tangibly and effectively and extraordinarily expand the mission of Christ internationally, nationally and locally to transform people’s lives with the good news of God’s grace and love.

OUR GOAL

          To construct three mission centers to respond to crises in three very different places in God’s world.

1. Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa -- Ministry of Hope AIDS Orphanage– the AIDS crisis in Africa has reached pandemic proportions.  Not only are adult Africans dying at alarming rates but millions of their children are left parentless.  Our goal is to construct an orphanage and dormitory for the Ministry of Hope in Lilongwe that will house ?# of children who have no mothers or fathers.  The dream:  to bring hope where there is no hope.  Cost:  $500,000.
2. Queens, New York -- New Life Community Health Center– Our congregation relates to New York City in many different ways – economic, cultural, sports, etc.  But how do we relate to the poorest of its poor?  For years we have been in partnership with the New Life Fellowship Church in its ministry to the economically disadvantaged.  We have agreed to come alongside this ministry in its vision to construct a community health center for those who have no health care.  The dream: to bring hope where there is no hope.  Cost:  $500, 000
3. North-central New Jersey -- the challenge for every local church is to be inwardly strong while remaining outwardly focused.  The two go hand in hand.  In fact, inward strength results in outward focus and outward focus maintains inward strength.  You can’t have one without the other.  What we are able to do today in outward mission is the result of the inward strength of our body.  If we do not make an impact in Basking Ridge and environs we will not continue to make as much of an impact in the larger world.  Thus we are compelled to complete the final phase of our 10 year Master Plan.  The construction of this facility will result in
1.  600 seat sanctuary that will allow

                                                              i.      More room for visitors

                                                           ii.      a shared space for all forms of worship

                                                         iii.      less services

                                                          iv.      the preaching pastor to remain during the entirety of all services

2. a “commons” area where the entire congregation can congregate throughout Sunday morning in order to enhance

                                                              i.      our common fellowship

                                                           ii.      communication of ministries

                                                         iii.      welcome to visitors

3. infant and toddler space in proximity to worship for parents to be close by their children and for parents to have visual and auditory access to worship while they tend to uncomfortable children.

4. the availability of additional rooms for children, youth and adult ministry

                                                              i.      5 classrooms

                                                           ii.      Reconfigured Douglas Hall

5. new administrative and rehearsal rooms for music and worship
6. additional administrative offices

Dream:  to bring hope where there is no hope.  Cost $9,000,000

Our hope and prayer is that you will decide to join us in taking this huge leap in our church’s ministry and mission.  This is the largest endeavor Liberty Corner Church has ever embarked upon.  Yet we believe that God would have us do no less.  Likely he would want us to do more.  We take encouragement from all our mothers and fathers in the faith who did bold and beautiful things for the Lord and for the future of his kingdom.  Particularly those great souls of 137 years ago who with great vision built a sanctuary 3 times the size of what they needed – the sanctuary in which we now worship.  Did they do it for us? 

What will be our gift to those Malawian children?  What will be our provision to the poor of New York City?  What will be our offering to the worshippers of the year 2143?  This is our challenge “for such a time as this”.