The sanctuary at San Antonio Mennonite regularly seats around 50 people for Sunday worship , but also hosts outside groups for meetings and events . Angela Bartels
3 . When did you start to make progress with the fundraising ? We were referred to Partners for Sacred Places ’ New Dollars / New Partners program by a Presbyterian partner church and decided to try it . In the fall of 2014 , we participated and met four times over several months . The program taught us how to tell our story . We went through exercises to explore the history of our building and the potential of the space . From a fundraising perspective , we learned that 60 % of renovation donations come from individuals outside of the congregation . So we started telling our story to the community to see how they could support us .
To get things rolling , we put a house we had acquired on the market and planned to use the sale money for the most urgent renovations . We needed new HVAC and electrical systems and to move the bathroom and shower area away from the kitchen . That was going to cost half a million dollars ! We utilized our resources to cut costs where we could . For instance , an engineer in our congregation did the plans for free . The house deals kept falling through , and one day I took some new congregants to see it . I posted pictures of the house from that visit on Facebook , hoping to spread the word , and it sold that day , from the posts !
One of the congregants to whom I showed the house told me about Impact San Antonio , an organization of 500 women who each contribute $ 1000 to a pool and give the money to charity annually . Organizations in need make their case to the group to receive the money . After learning about Impact San Antonio , we applied to be one of the five organizations to receive the money and we made it all the way to the finals . In the finals , two people stand up in front of the whole group to pitch , and the vote takes place then and there . The storytelling we learned in New Dollars / New Partners really made a difference . While we didn ’ t win the big prize that year , we did win $ 10,000 , and an individual was so compelled by our story that she decided to match that amount . The next year we pitched Impact San Antonio again and won for our category —$ 100,000 ! We used that money to renovate our upstairs , which hosts nonprofit organizations focused on education , immigration , and refugee services .
4 . How has your church mission changed or evolved ? Our mission has changed ! We have 50 people in the pews on a good Sunday , and we have online services , too , but our church is a lot more than worship . A year after we did the New Dollars / New
10 SACRED PLACES • SUMMER 2023