“We Are Ready!”
The Readiness Fund is a mission and ministry which will allow Sheridan to meet the need placed before us while also choosing to stay intentionally debt-free. It is based on what the Apostle Paul teaches.
“For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has…”
The word eagerness in the original Greek is “prothumia” (προθυμία). A second and helpful translation for it is ready. The root infers being inclined to give, and that inclination comes out of a response to God’s blessings. The sense is that we are filled with the Spirit and eager. Zeal and enthusiasm are hallmarks of “prothumia.” Essentially, God’s work on our grateful heart makes us ready to give.
The question each of us has to answer is one of inclination. Are you ready?
The Readiness Fund is born out of a desire to respond to God’s work in the hearts and lives of Sheridan members who wish to make a difference established in 2015. With The Readiness Fund we will consistently seek to:
- Do creative mission projects both internationally and locally.
- Continue our rich tradition of capital improvements to our beautiful campus.
- Repair and maintain our facility as a means by which we honor God.
We seek to do these things above and beyond the central funds of a mission, namely our general operating budget. The Readiness Fund seeks to do the mission that Sheridan couldn’t do in any other way.
View previous projects of the Readiness Fund:
Current Projects
What we are ready to do
Capital Improvement: Worship Center sound system
Our capital improvement project will be with our Worship Center sound system. The life cycle for most tech is usually less than ten years. Our soundboard is approaching 15 years of age and the majority of our microphones are older than that. This, along with the introduction of streaming worship online, has exposed our need for newer equipment. The list of needs is long, but $50,000 from the Readiness Fund will get the process started.
Mission: Pine Ridge Reconciliation Center
Our mission support will go toward Pine Ridge Reconciliation Center (PRRC), an ELCA ministry located on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. PRRC serves to foster mutual trust, respect and understanding, while addressing the deep poverty that exists on the reservation. Sheridan has committed to giving $15,000 to PRRC in order to make capital improvements.
Through a historic and ongoing partnership in ministry with the Presbyterian church just across the parking lot from PRRC, the space needs can be accommodated. Your gifts to the Readiness Fund will help fund much-needed upgrades to the Presbyterian church. These upgrades involve installing a working restroom in the church and updating the kitchen for the Kid’s Time meals.
As post-COVID times are on the horizon, PRRC needs to update the guest rooms at the retreat center. Your offerings will also help provide new floors, updated paint and new mattresses.
Renovation: Landscaping
Our renovation project will be with the landscaping of our Sheridan campus. Much of the original landscaping has either died or overgrown the space for which it was planted. Still, other areas need new landscaping. Working with landscape architects from Clarke Enersen Partners in Lincoln will yield a complete landscape plan, which we will fund over the course of years. Our initial commitment to getting things started will be $50,000 from the Readiness Fund.
We are ready! Are you?
You are invited and asked to support the Readiness Fund. Gifts may be specifically designated or you may choose to support all projects by simply supporting the fund. We trust the Spirit will lead us to hear God’s call and that you will generously respond over time.