MenuBackground: The Pastor and Board of Elders with support from the church Council completed a visioning reaffirmation process that engaged the members and friends of Holy Cross in a 1 ½ thoughtful process. The process included several survey’s, 6-8 focus group activities and multiple retreats. The visioning process was completed in 2018 and resulted in the creation of our current Holy Cross mission statement along with 5 major initiative categories that provides our church the focus for everything we do.
Our Initiatives:
Christian Education: Holy Cross has been blessed with two Director of Christian Education (DCE) interns in the past. Currently we are looking into hiring another intern or a full time DCE.
Congregational Partnerships: Engage in 1-2 partnerships & 1-2 “blessing events” per year solely for the benefit of the community. We recently hosted a food truck at our church and a portion of the sales was donated to the Clarence Food Pantry. We’ve also partnered with Wear ‘n Share, and the Family Justice Center. We love and are blessed with a growing partnership The Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Buffalo, NY.
Mission & Relief Events: Enhance our current mission and relief efforts with more externally focused activities within our community and across the world, as well as, provide Holy Cross with mission trip opportunities to serve others and grow our faith.
Older Adult Ministry: Older adults have a legacy to give and a lifetime of experiences to share. The elderly can and do regain significant influence in their lives when they are involved with others. By working with older adults and enabling them to be advocates for their own successful aging, we all have much to gain.
Infrastructure: Enhancing facilities to make them more welcoming and safe for our members, friends and the community
“Krampitz Hall: Tradition Renewed” is our first significant building initiative the congregation has agreed to undertake as part of our recently completed visioning process. The renovation of our fellowship hall will retain traditional elements of the space design that we love, but enhance the space with state of the art Audio Visual features, refreshed color schemes and furniture that allow for flexibility in the use of the space that is modern, warm and inviting that supports activities from Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, mission activities, youth events, small group bible studies, to large fellowship dinners, as well as, us of the space by outside organizations in our community that are in need of a gathering location.
Sanctuary: The next facility initiative our congregation desires is to enhance our Sanctuary. We will establish a visioning group that will work on how to best update the look of our beloved Sanctuary while respecting the 60 years of reverence this space has provided us. Initial enhancement ideas include things like lighting upgrades (pendant and accent lighting), lighter wall colors to brighten the space, better Praise Band setup, enhanced alter area and the ability for easier access for communion to name a few.
Additional ideas identified for future consideration include exterior digital sign, shower facilities for first responders and others in need, landscaping & parking lot enhancements, playground, and several others that will be considered in God’s time.