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“There is not a single wealthy person in my congregation,” said the Rev. Nicholas Zook, pastor at Concordia Lutheran Church, on Chicago’s North Side. “I promise.” Concordia’s approximately 200 members trust God as they finish raising $12.5 million for a major building project.

The money – from city, state, federal and private sources – is paying to transform a former Roman Catholic school and rectory into a child-care and community center. The facility, the Concordia Avondale Campus, is scheduled to open in September 2006.

The Avondale campus will accommodate 211 children and provide social services for teens, parents, and seniors. The campus is one mile from Concordia, where pre-school, after-school and summer care programs have been offered since 1981. Eighty-eight children are currently served there.

“We are renewing our congregation’s witness by serving the community instead of maintaining a Lutheran ‘club,’” said Pr. Zook. “There are no more German and Scandinavian immigrant boats bringing us new Lutherans.”

Indeed, Concordia’s membership declined from 700 to 800 in the 1950s and 1960s to a Sunday worship attendance of 25 to 35 in the 1980s.

“God brought us to the point of death so that we could see our way to new life,” said Pr. Zook. “We never would have started our after-school program if things had been going well.”

The journey toward the Concordia Avondale Campus began in 1996. An MIF representative challenged Concordia’s church council to raise $50,000 from among its 10 members before it could challenge the congregation to raise another $50,000 over three years. The council pledged $65,000. The congregation pledged $58,000.

The money funded the Avondale property purchase, created community programs, and paid consultants to guide the congregation in inspiring donors to fund services.

Ten years before, MIF financed Concordia’s roof repairs. Most recently, a $35,000 MIF Endowment Fund Matching Grant inspired Concordia’s members to raise an additional $35,000 to purchase playground equipment for the Avondale campus.

Through it all, MIF provided vision and support. “The Mission Investment Fund helped the council to see that we could find the money to expand,” said Pr. Zook. “The vision inspired them to do it.”