Wonder Is Still the Word

One of the most beautiful things about faith is that God so often surprises us.

When we first began the Wonder Campaign at Nativity, a capital campaign for a new building addition, we did so with a sense of excitement and trust that God was inviting us into something meaningful for the future of our parish. Over the past year, that trust has been rewarded in ways we never could have imagined.

In less than a year, our parish has responded with an incredible amount in gifts and pledges. This kind of response doesn’t happen by accident; generosity follows clarity.  When a parish believes deeply in the mission and in what God is doing in and through their community, the people respond.

As our plans have been refined and carefully developed, it’s become clear that fully realizing the vision of the Wonder Campaign will require more than we originally expected. That discovery came after months of thoughtful work with architects, builders, and parish leadership, and it led us to a new understanding: the scope of what God is inviting us to build is bigger than we first imagined.

But here’s the thing, this has never really been about buildings.

The Wonder Campaign is about creating space for faith to grow. Space where children encounter Jesus in joyful and meaningful ways. Space where students wrestle with big questions and discover a God who walks with them. Space where the entire parish has room to pray, to gather, and to be renewed, especially through the gift of a chapel that places worship and reverence at the center of our shared life.

When unexpected challenges arise, it can be tempting to see them as obstacles. But in the life of faith, they are often invitations, an invitation to trust more deeply, to widen our vision, and to remember that God is always at work ahead of us.

Every major initiative in parish life eventually enters a refining season.  One that invites the whole parish once again into the shared dream. There is confidence and hope as we move forward, confidence rooted in what has already been given, and hope grounded in the belief that God will continue to provide.

For those of you leading parishes of your own, perhaps you know this season well. The moment when vision outgrows your original plans. When generosity stretches further than expected. When the next step feels both exciting and ...costly.

In those moments, the invitation is the same: remain faithful. Refine the vision. Communicate clearly. And trust that the God who began the work will sustain it.  Wonder is still our word.

Campaigns are not about buildings. They are about believing that God is still writing a bigger story than we can see.