|
From the moment God called a faithful few to start Messiah Lutheran Church ninety-nine years ago, our congregation has faithfully worked to respond to God's call, spreading God’s word and working to our neighborhood in body, mind and soul. Today, Messiah continues to be one of the fastest growing congregations in the Upstate New York Synod, and regularly makes the news for its innovative programming. One of our Community Advocates, Laurie Lumbra, for instance, was recently on the NPR program "Marketplace" heard by over 12 million Americans! The reason for our success can be found in one simple action: we keep coming together, as we have for generations, seeking new ways to engage and assist others in our community. There is no way that the founders of Messiah, gathering just nine years after WWI and having survived a pandemic of their own, could have envisioned everything that this congregation would become. Yet, with confidence and in community, they boldly stepped forward into the future.
In 2021, amidst the darkest days of the COVID19 pandemic, our congregation took two major bold steps, raising over $570,000 to make our faith home a more accessible, welcoming place to be and launching the Rotterdam Community Center for the good of all our neighbors, which since it opened its doors in June 2022 has welcomed over 60,676 neighbors and served over 212,068 meals worth of groceries all powered by over 22,068 hours of volunteer service from both Messiah members and our friends alike! Now, as we prepare to celebrate our Centennial on Palm Sunday, March 21st, 2027, it is time to finish the job we started six years ago by replacing our failing flat roof, replacing our failing boiler and updating our HVAC system to provide air conditioning to the rest of the building, including the Fellowship Hall and finally, to make our basement space, including the Sunday School, Nursery, and Youth rooms, safer and more welcoming for future generations. 
Leaders of our Preschool in the early 1970s.
Here's what you can do now to make our Centennial Appeal a success
1. Join us for weekly Mission Moments (or even give a testimonial!) during Mass beginning on God's Work, Our Hands Sunday, September 13th, at 10:00am. 2. Share a story of what our Spirit filled community means to you with Heather Zimmer at [email protected] by September 16th for inclusion in a Generosity Booklet. 3. Join us for an All Congregation Event hosted by Jody and Bill Fleming on Friday, October 4th at 6:30pm. 4. Join us for Reformation Sunday on October 25th at 10:00am, where congregation members will be asked to make a Statement of Intent both for our Centennial Appeal and our 2027 Annual Fund. A final prospectus for the appeal will be made publicly available alongside our Generosity Booklets on October 4th. |
No matter the challenges of the day, God has always faithfully been present with the people of Messiah, constantly bringing new life to our ministry. If those who stepped forward in faith all those years ago could hear the echo of those faithful footsteps today, they would surely celebrate all that God has done, and know that God’s plan for Messiah Lutheran continues. Today, as we live out our mission of being a Spirit filled congregation grounded in Jesus Christ, nourishing our local community in body, mind and soul, we have so many reasons to rejoice!
So, what does this mean for today as we embark upon our Centennial Appeal? We are going to take a phased approach. To complete work on the roof replacement, the total cost will be under $40,000. Thankfully, given two generous donations that already have been received, this cost is nearly covered! Then, to begin the HVAC work, an additional $80,000 dollars will need to be received by very early in 2027. Finally, to fund the renovations of our Youth Room, follow-on gifts totaling $20,000 will need to be received. Please notice that we are using the term “received” rather than “committed”, as we are absolutely planning to avoid taking on additional debt to fund the needed work. We understand that some would be able to give more over a longer period, and we don’t want to discourage longer term commitments. But for this appeal, we are asking ourselves to move as quickly as possible in providing the funds to pay for the projects so that we come out of the next twelve months stronger than ever! We also want to emphasize that, while we know one or two of the three projects may inspire you more than the others, we are asking that all gifts be given generally to be applied where most urgently needed. Be assured that any funds left over from one phase will be applied to the next, and any funds left over at the end will be applied to further reduce our existing mortgage. 
Cheryl Borski and friends receive the rite of Affirmation of Baptism from Pastor Rohs.
|
Campaign Video & Testimonials
"Messiah at 100" is a congregation wide effort! Find out more about the campaign and hear from a wide variety of our members in the videos below!
Key Documents