“Almost every church that I’ve served has considered themselves welcoming and hospitable, and that’s just not the case,” reveals Rev. Lee Huckleberry. “But here it’s the real deal.”
“Here” is Jeffersontown Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Jeffersontown, KY, where Rev. Lee is Senior Minister.
Not only does his faith community support local nonprofit organizations and Disciples of Christ general and regional ministries, it also opens its doors widely to visitors—no matter their background or religious persuasion.
But at the end of 2024, the leadership at Jeffersontown Christian Church realized that their congregation’s core values hadn’t been applied to their facility itself.
With our capital fundraising campaign guidance and renovation loans, it is replacing key parts of its property infrastructure so that it can be a place of worship where church goers and strangers alike can celebrate, practice, and share the good news of Jesus Christ with others for many years to come.
Open minds, open hearts, open table
Rev. Lee got his start with Jeffersontown Christian Church in 2020, when he was called as pastor. His first meeting with his colleagues took place in a parking lot.
“For the first couple of years of my ministry, we were open for a while, then we closed, and we’d open, then we closed,” he recalls. “It was to keep everybody safely together.”
Greg Whallin (L), Jeffersontown CC’s campaign chair, and Rev. Lee (R)
Most worshipers are older adults, with 150 participating members and between 70 to 80 attendees on an average Sunday morning. But their age doesn’t stop them from being active in Jeffersontown, a suburb of Louisville, KY.
With Jeffersontown Area Ministries only 100 yards from their church building, congregants collect items for the food pantry every week, in addition to providing donations and rental assistance.
This generous spirit extends beyond their neighborhood too. Last summer, 60 volunteers from the church raised $6,000 and participated in a food packaging event for Love the Hungry, a nonprofit that distributes meals to food insecure children and families around the world.
“One of the things that I have emphasized in my pastorate is basic kindness,” shares Rev. Lee. “In our current cultural framework, it seems like that can be hard to come by sometimes, but if we can just look out for one another, then people are going to notice that because it’s going to stand out.”
A time for everything
It is this value—in addition to welcome, hospitality, inclusion, and love—that the congregation recommitted to at the end of 2024 during a post-COVID discernment process to address membership and neighborhood needs.
Because the faith community’s roof had been replaced prior to Rev. Lee’s arrival, the leadership team did not include the building as a need that required attention. But with almost three decades of experience under his belt, he knew that delayed facility maintenance could put them in a poor financial situation and created an unwelcoming atmosphere.
“Both our main HVAC system and elevator are 20 to 25 years old. The heat went out on Thanksgiving Sunday, and the elevator would occasionally be on the fritz,” sighs Rev. Lee. “We had an outdated sign even though we’re located on Taylorsville Road, a main thoroughfare of Louisville.”
Once the church leaders and the board realized how inhospitable those aspects were to members and visitors, they decided that being proactive was a better course of action than dealing with more severe maintenance issues in the future.
They settled on a project that would see to the replacement of the main HVAC system and upstairs carpet, elevator modernization, the installment of a new LED sign, and the sanctuary’s walls being painted. It would cost $200,000, which the members considered raising themselves. It was a daunting prospect, but God had other plans.
No equal gifts, but equal sacrifice
Last spring, our ministry guided First Christian Church of Louisville through a capital fundraising campaign to raise money for a new roof. Senior Minister Rev. Amanda Wagoner-Meade discussed this experience with Rev. Lee and recommended he work with us to accomplish their goal.
Rev. Lee has a number of colleagues that have worked with Disciples Church Extension Fund in the past, including Rev. Megan Huston at First Christian Church in Bowling Green, KY, so he didn’t hesitate to contact us for help.
When Senior Director of Services Rev. Richard Williams suggested that the church borrow from us and conduct the capital fundraising campaign to pay that loan off, Rev. Lee had his doubts. Raising money for maintenance needs sounded like a boring mission and given the state of the economy, would potential donors even make a gift?
Rev. Richard reassured him by helping Rev. Lee to reframe his view that the fundraising campaign was not just about repairing an old building—it was about renewing the faith community’s mission in this place and recommitting it to be a witness for Christ.
So, Jeffersontown’s Senior Minister got to work. As “chief encourager,” he assembled a campaign team who used Ecclesiastes 3 to devise a theme for the campaign— “For Everything a Season”—to reflect the church’s dedication to inclusion. He also put together a prayer and spirituality team that produced a devotional booklet wherein contributors shared vulnerable, moving stories of the church.
On a Saturday morning in early October, Rev. Richard traveled to Kentucky to conduct leadership training, reminding the teams that what they were doing now was for future generations to enjoy.
“We got the most out of our teams’ gifts and I don’t know if that would have happened without DCEF’s involvement,” admits Rev. Lee.
Carrie Vittitoe, the campaign’s communications coordinator, stands in front of the fundraising tree with Rev. Lee
Over the first four Sundays in November, the congregation conducted its campaign.
“We had this image of a tree up on the wall and we added leaves to it as a barometer of how much money we were raising,” remembers Rev. Lee. “On the fourth week, we were close to $200,000, and this young man came up to me. He asked, ‘We’ve raised that much?’ He was dumbfounded and proud at the same time.”
As of today, the faith community has raised $225,387 and received bids on all the building projects that need to be completed, except for the carpet. This year Jeffersontown Christian Church will begin renovating its building, most likely starting with the HVAC.
“To not only meet our goal, but to exceed it, has just created a lot of positive momentum,” concludes Rev. Lee. “What our team will be talking about next is how we keep it going.’”
Is your congregation, camp, seminary, or region considering addressing delayed facility maintenance needs? Your regional Building and Capital Services Advisor can help.