Westminster Presbyterian Church Focus Group Meetings Result in Unanimous Vote

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
July 23, 2021

Lancaster, PA – Westminster Presbyterian Church just completed an eight-week Readiness Assessment, comprised of twenty-four focus group meetings with a comprehensive presentation of proposed building plans for a new fellowship hall/dining facility, multi-purpose space, classrooms for children, youth and adults and new office space. Four hundred seventy nine individuals attended, representing 300 families which were reflective of the church demographics.

A Final Report was completed by the James D. Klote & Associates Consultant and provided detailed statistical data and dialogue from attendees.  The dialogue at the focus group meetings was very informative and provided vital feedback for the session before finalizing plans for a capital campaign. More than 79% of respondents to a survey indicated they would financially support a capital campaign and 41% of respondents would support with their time to assist with the capital campaign. Westminster Session voted unanimously to move forward immediately with the capital campaign after presentation of the Readiness Assessment Final Report from the James D. Klote & Associates senior consultant.

Senior Pastor Chris Walker stated, “Having just completed our eight week Readiness Assessment, I am so thankful for the wisdom of this process. We were able to get a significant portion of our congregation to come out in small groups so that we could hear their questions and get their feedback. The responses in the meetings and through the questionnaires gave us the confidence we need to move forward with our campaign.” Tucker York, Executive Pastor was quoted, “Our church has a history of generosity and several building campaigns. However, we knew we needed to try a more proven approach with our next building expansion. James D. Klote and Associates was the only firm that gave us the confidence that we could reach our challenging goal. With our readiness assessment behind us we are very encouraged by the strong support of our congregation. The Klote process and professionalism has prepared us well to have a successful campaign and fulfill our ministry vision!”

Carl Graber, the James D. Klote Consultant on the project said, “The visionary leadership from the Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor, Session and the Administrator was excellent. They followed our process in every detail and that is evident in the positive study results.  This was one of the most positive readiness assessments in my experience and we are very optimistic about our campaign!”

James D. Klote & Associates is a full-time, on-site capital stewardship consulting firm with offices in Falls Church, Virginia as well as Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles. Klote & Associates was also recently ranked the #1 church stewardship consulting firm in the United States by Volkart May, a market research firm in Minnesota.