We dream of a home to call our own and share with the community – A church building with our name on the sign, a sanctuary with the Lutheran Service Books in the pews, a permanent altar that stays decorated throughout the week, a fellowship hall for potlucks, wedding receptions, baby showers, college student meetings and youth group activities.  Sunday School rooms to instruct our children, an office for our pastor to meet with congregants.  We haven’t just been dreaming of this home, we’ve been saving for it for years, and we’ve made progress. 

 

Moscow is a unique place – both college town and rural community, with a bustling business scene, surrounded by thousands of acres of dryland farming.  It is so special that the real estate market has provided unexpected challenges.  At the writing of this message, two commercial real estate listings are available in the entire town, both over $900,000, and requiring significant work to transform into a church.  Vacant land is equally challenging – the rolling hills of the Palouse are beautiful works of God’s creation, and challenging to flatten into a building site.   In the four years we’ve been searching, we’ve learned that a home will require an investment of nearly $1 million.

 

To that end, Augustana Lutheran Church has embarked on a capital campaign to raise $300,000 to help finance our permanent home.  Combined with current assets and modest debt, Augustana will be poised to act quickly when the right piece of land is on the market or the right building is for sale.