Decades Gift

DECADES GIFT. Celebrating the Ard family. 10 Ten years of faithful service.

Dear Parish Family,

I would like to introduce you to an initiative we have named Decades Gift. "Decades," because we will soon be celebrating the tenth anniversary of Fr. Robert's installation as our Rector, while expressing the hope that he will be with us another ten years. And "Gift" because we intend to thank him and his family for the love they have shown us and the transformational ministries they have accomplished.

This gift will take the form of an extensive and much-needed upgrade to our Rectory. We are wanting to give the Ards every possible reason to want to stay with us another ten years to help us further transform this wonderful place.

If you were not fortunate enough to have been around for the whole journey with Robert, then you might not be in a position to fully appreciate just how transformative his ministry has been. Our journey with him actually began about three years before any of us met Robert. Our very wise interim, Fr. Mickey Mugan had to do nothing less than teach us to love ourselves and believe in ourselves as a Parish. He told us to be prayerful and expectant and try to discern God's will, but not to hurry. The unofficial motto of the Discernment Committee was "Think outside the box." I think it is safe to say mission accomplished!

Robert's family has played a huge role in making Holy Cross what it is today. Sharol has worked tirelessly to revive our children's ministries. Genevieve brought her friends to church to get the ball rolling. Coffee Hours are better than ever and very well attended due to Kathryn's hospitality skills.

The Vestry has worked for many months to define the scope of the needed renovations and to obtain competitive bids for the work. The main areas of focus will be to completely renovate the very dated kitchen, update the two main bathrooms, and replace the inefficient and leaky windows. The budget set by the Vestry for this work is $175,000, Two individuals have already contributed a combined $10,000 and this has been used to replace a portion of the windows.

We ask you to open your minds, hearts, and wallets to this project. To move forward with the full renovation—which is scheduled to begin in earnest in June—we need to know that this project is widely supported by our church family. We know that this commitment is in addition to what you pledge to give incrementally to Holy Cross. Your gifts to this undertaking are welcome at any point before the end of 2027—but we ask you to let us know how much you plan to give by June 1—so that we can finalize our plans. When you make contributions to the Decades Gift, please designate "Decades" so that we may properly account for your gift. Our committee will, at some point, begin to make calls to families to discuss what we are hoping to accomplish.

If you have questions or concerns, you can contact me: 864-266-6753 cbendavis@gmail.com

or our Treasurer, Peter Franklin: 404-514-3394 woodsidetryon@gmail.com

Thank you for your consideration,

Ben Davis, Chair Decades Gift Committee

Honorary Chair: Ambrose Mills

Members: Matt Aldrich, Doug Arbogast, Litch Carpenter, Peter Franklin, Terri Jo Kennedy, Frances McCain, Virginia Spigener, Don Tucker, Leslie Tucker, Bob Morrissey

Complete the form below to pledge an amount designated to the Decades Gift.

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check_circleThank you for your generous pledge to the Decades Gift! We have received your commitment and will be in touch with you soon.