At the “Family Meeting” on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, Peace voted overwhelmingly to approve the Board of Directors’ recommendation. That recommendation read:
The Peace Lutheran Board of Directors recommends that Peace Lutheran Ministries conduct a capital campaign for the purpose of raising $17.8 million in order to build a new sanctuary, associated facilities, and planned refurbishments at Lawndale to allow all ministries to unite on one campus. The capital campaign shall primarily raise donated funds from multiple sources but include the possibility of borrowing funds of no more than $3.5 million for the campaign.
After the vote passed with 89% voting to approve, we took a follow-up vote of unity by saying “Amen” to the decision to move forward together as one church family.
Now, the next steps begin immediately. The Facilities Group meets with TSSF Architects, who will begin the engineering and drawings for the new facilities. You will begin to see information about pledging and giving for the campaign in the next few weeks.
Coming in the new year, we will have a sermon series which will culminate in us bringing our pledges forward as an offering to God in worship, and then we will celebrate the journey upon which we are about to embark!
During this time, we will need to spend time in prayer to figure out what God is calling each of us to give toward the campaign, over and above our regular offerings. This is a big project, and we will all need to dig deep and sacrifice – but we serve a much bigger God, and with Him, all things are possible according to His will!
I want to thank all of you who participated – by speaking up in the meeting, by casting your vote, by watching online, and by lifting everything up in prayer.
This is only the beginning, Peace. We are excited to keep the communication flowing every step of the way, so watch your Peace Connections and pre-service slides every week. From the beginning, we have promised transparency, and that will not change.
Please continue to pray. Pray for us to follow God’s plan faithfully and courageously, and pray for unity among us as we move forward together. These are exciting times, Peace family!
– Rev. Erik Schmidt, Peace Lead Pastor
Looking Back
In the late 1990s, God led Peace Lutheran to His vision and plan for ministry in Saginaw Township. A master plan for a variety of ministries was developed at that time. That master plan included spaces for school ministry, senior living, worship and community engagement. Led by the Spirit, Peace embarked on the first part of that plan by constructing the K-8 school at the intersection of Shattuck Road and Lawndale Road. In 2016, Peace was, once again, guided to expand its day school and, especially, the Early Childhood Center ministries, adding infant and toddler care to its existing preschool offerings.
In recent years, Peace has come to realize that our family has been “living” apart from each other with its school and worship ministries located on two separate campuses. In November 2024, the Peace Congregation voted to adopt a vision of recombining those ministries onto one campus, our Lawndale location. Since that time, many congregational, staff and leadership discussions have been held to glean information about the current functions and future needs of our ministry in order to create plans that reflect a combined family of ministries that reach a community searching for such.
Our updated master plan, floor plans and renderings represent concepts of how Peace can accomplish its vision of “One Family” on “One Campus.” None of these drawings are intended to represent the final product, rather to show what can be and the direction we’re heading with initial designs.
Concept Gallery
In this gallery you can see some of the concept and architectural documents provided for this project.
Learn More
To learn more about where we’ve been and where we’re headed, click here.
