Reflecting on our past and planning for the future 

Our History

Our church began almost 75 years ago in 1950 in a small donut shop on Charlestown Road. Graceland has had a rich and fruitful presence across Southern Indiana. And over the decades we’ve grown, changed, moved locations, and added locations too, but through it all, we’ve always been about one thing: reaching Southern Indiana with the good news of Jesus. In fact, Graceland exists to “put Jesus first in our lives for our neighbors.” That’s the mandate for me and you – we’ve been doing that for 75 years. Let’s do it for 75 more! 

 

The Challenge

There are over 330k people that comprise the 6 counties of Southern Indiana (Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Scott, and Washington) and most of those individuals have yet to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. We believe Graceland is positioned to see the needle of lostness move 1%-2% over the next ten years. In addition, there remains a vast lostness all around the world—a reality that should compel us to live with a deep sense of urgency. To that end, we believe that the following initiatives will help us continue to keep Jesus at the center of all that we do.  

 

A “Connector” building from our Kids building to our Main building. Cost: $2.0M – 2.5M 

  • Though we are 1 church, multiple locations, we understand that our New Albany location carries the lion’s share of the financial burden and is indispensable if we are going to see 1%-2% of Southern Indiana reached for Jesus. Graceland has had a rich heritage of men and women laboring tirelessly for their generation, as well as for the upcoming generation–we want to continue to see that take place. Our current setup for young and median-aged families to walk across a busy parking lot and drop their kids off is not ideal and not the most functional use of our space. We believe a Connector building will help meet our growing needs and communicate to families that we see them and want to continue to invest in this up-and-coming generation.  

 

Graceland.Church, Charlestown. Cost: $4.5M – $5.5M 

  • Charlestown is a fast-growing area in need of more gospel presence. We believe there is a tremendous opportunity for Graceland to launch a campus. To establish this, we need to purchase land and build a space for worship and kids (or renovate a space) and fund a leadership team (e.g. Campus Pastor, Worship Leader, staff for Kids, Assimilation, )We also believe that a Graceland-Charlestown campus could be a “New Albany 2.0” in that it could be our second largest campus and make a significant contribution to the overall mission of Graceland.  

 

Graceland.Church’s international partnerships. Cost $1.25M – $1.5M 

  • We have identified international partnerships in Honduras, India, Newfoundland, Scotland, and Ukraine. In each of these countries, we have relationships with individuals and churches that are committed to influencing their region and nation through the multiplication of churches.  

  

THE TOTAL COST: $7.75M – $9.5M 

This money will help build our Connector building, launch another location in Charlestown, and continue to partner with like-minded churches and organizations to launch new churches across Scotland, Newfoundland, Ukraine, and India. 

  

Next Steps + Your Role

Auxano – a multi-decade church consulting group has worked with hundreds of churches on large-scale capital fundraising efforts. Mike Gammill and Greg Gibbs are guiding us through a faith-driven approach that is specific to our church raising the dollars needed to fund the vision. 

LMH, Architecture – this team of architects and designers has worked with Graceland for years. They will help translate the vision of Graceland Church Charlestown and our Connector building into reality. 

Campaign Readiness Assessment – in the Fall of 2024, we will do a deep listening exercise with you, our Graceland family through planning sessions, congregational surveys, and confidential interviews to get feedback before proceeding with any plans or raising funds. The confidential and anonymous questionnaire aims to understand our Church’s readiness to pursue a capital campaign to raise funds for the initiatives; everyone will have the opportunity to fill out an anonymous questionnaire.  

Capital Fundraising Initiative – in 2025, if the assessment seems to indicate positive support for a campaign, the Elders and Executive Team of Graceland will lead our church through a time of prayerful discernment whereby we will determine a generosity initiative and ask you, our church family, to give over and beyond your normal giving.  

 

Our Hope + Prayer

Regardless of what we do in the future, we need to pray. As we prayerfully consider what Jesus has in store for the future of Graceland, we are incredibly excited to see what is going to take place in the years to come. We are asking you to pray for wisdom, clarity, reliance, and courage as we seek to make plans to impact more lives across Southern Indiana and the world as we “put Jesus first in our lives for our neighbors.”  

 

Jesus-willing, great days ahead,  

nate's signature

 

Dr. Nate Millican
Lead Pastor