Historic Timeline
- 1987: Bob and Lisa Schloss receive Christ Jesus as their Savior through the faithful preaching of Pastor Paul Woodruff of Eagle Creek Grace Brethren Church, Indianapolis.
- 1989: Bob and Lisa obtain graduate degrees, Bob from the IU School of Law and Lisa from the IU School of Social Work, and the two take on careers that involve them with children who have been violently and sexually abused and neglected. The two begin foster parenting and foster six children over a seven year period.
- 2002: The Schlosses begin discussing the plight of children who are abused, neglected, fatherless, and poor who are caught up in the child welfare system and praying about whether the Lord is wanting to create a children’s home campus through their leadership.
- July, 2003: The Schlosses move to Columbus, Indiana with their four boys, who are 7-13 years old, to begin the process of creating a children’s home in the neighboring community of Brown County, Indiana.
- Fall, 2003: The Schloss family begins travelling to ministries in different parts of the country which could serve as a model.
- After committing to prayer and fasting, the Lord provides Bob and Lisa with the name “New Song Mission” through a scripture in the Psalms that reads “Sing to the Lord a New Song”.
- October, 2003: The ministry incorporates with the founding board members being Bob Schloss, Lisa Schloss, and Nate Peterman, whom the Schloss’ had met over the summer months. Nate is an Indiana University Kelly School of Business graduate who is gifted in strategic planning and banking. The three begin to develop a strategic plan to carry the ministry forward. Nate later develops expertise in the field of commercial insurance, providing the ministry with valuable insurance counsel.
- June, 2004: Herb Simpson, business owner from Indianapolis joins the New Song Board, adding a wealth of business acumen and experience to the team. Herb was a spiritual mentor to Bob during the first year of his walk with Christ.
- Summer, 2004: Potential ministry property is located in Brown County through a small “For sale by owner” ad spotted in local paper by Lisa Schloss. Owner agrees to drop the price and sell on multiple contingencies that make the actual sale unpredictable:
*Securing additional road frontage
*New Song raising money and making payments over an 18mo. period
*Getting approval from the Brown County Plan Dep at a future date
- October, 2004: First large donation of $100,000 committed. The unsolicited gift comes in at a critical time as the ministry is in discussions with an adjoining landowner regarding the purchase of the property which would give New Song 20 acres of road frontage.
- November, 2004: Additional road frontage is secured and is eventually paid for with the funds from the donation.
- January, 2005: Landscape Architect, Jeff Pitts, & Civil Engineer, Steve Brehob, begin donating what will become hundreds of hours over the next several years to design and engineer the master site plan for the campus.
- February, 2005: Pastor Jerry Day joins the New Song board of directors, bringing additional spiritual depth and insight to the ministry.
- February, 2005: New Song gets an unfavorable recommendation (5 to 1 against) from the Brown County Planning Commission.
- Spring, 2005: Support for New Song grows in Brown County and surrounding communities. New Song now has 30 endorsing churches, 20 advisory council members and 500 supportive friends.
- June, 2005: Favorable letter from Judge Jim Payne, head of Indiana Department of Children’s Services, arrives three days before significant meeting of the Brown County Board of Commissioners.
- Summer, 2005: Nashville Architect, Dave Kreie, begins donating what will be very substantial time over the course of several years to create the architectural drawings and work with many others from various fields who are involved in home design and construction.
- July, 2005: Community support, careful planning, and the Lord’s favor bring about zoning approval from the Brown County Commissioners in a 2-1 vote, rezoning the property as a “planned unit development.”
- August, 2005: Mark Isaacs, owner of Independent Land Surveyors, his staff, and other surveyors begin donating significant surveying that will continue periodically over several years.
- Fall 2005: Donations totaling $104,000 received allowing New Song to make the first $100,000 payment on the 80 acres
- October 2005: Tom Fansler, owner of Smock Fansler Construction of Indianapolis, joins the board bringing invaluable wisdom to the board in the area of campus development
- November, 2005: Accu-Air conducts and donates an aerial flyover of the ministry property to support surveyors in their successful development of a topographical map of the property.
- Volunteers from various churches step forward to help with office needs.
- Spring 2006: Donations come in to make a second payment of $100,000 on the 80 acre tract
- Spring 2006: Office suite donated by Joyce Thayer Sword, a Columbus attorney, allowing the Schlosses to move the office from the home in which they are renting. Volunteers rally around to do remodeling & decorating.
- Fall 2006: Donations come in to make the final payment on the property thus giving New Song a full 104 beautiful acres in Brown County to rebuild the lives of children. The property was paid off early, reducing the total purchase price of $374,000 by $24,000
- Summer 2007: A grant is received allowing New Song to hire its first part time Office Assistant, Shelley Benefiel, who proves to be a vital asset to the ministry
- Summer 2007: List of supportive friends grows to over 1000 people.
- April, 2008: LA Brown, owner of a small excavation company from Bluffton, Indiana, hears a New Song radio advertisement while traveling on I65 near Columbus. This will lead to substantial help to the ministry in all phases of construction, particularly in the area of home building as the Bluffton community of builders adopts the building of one of our first three campus homes
- May 2008:Final approval from the Brown County Commissioners is received on the master site plan
- June, 2008:Volunteer teams organized by LA Brown begin excavating our main campus road. John Brickley of Bluffton is a key team member
- June 2008: New Song offices are flooded out and we lose our free office space and much equipment and supplies. Friends come to help salvage things and move us to a temporary location
- Summer 2008: Ministry friends and partners grow to around 1500 people
- Summer 2008: Jane Twaddle, civil engineer, learns about New Song at a church service and agrees to donate the design of the campus bridge
- Fall, 2008: Pastor Rob Mapstone and the congregation of Columbus Missionary Alliance open up their parsonage to provide free offices to New Song.
- Fall 2008: Road work begins with the generous help of Wagler Bros Excavating
- Fall 2008: Budget grows to allow the hiring of a Communications Director, Brynne Schultz who greatly enhances and expands our marketing and public relations efforts
- Spring 2009: Bridge work begins, with a major donation from Smock Fansler Construction
- May, 2009: New Song receives financial commitments totaling $222,000 in a two-week period.
- May, 2009: Written commitments from construction contractors and subcontractors begin coming in offering to donate time toward the construction of the first three campus homes.
- May, 2009: Meeting held in Bluffton, Indiana with 40 contractors, subcontractors, and others who indicate that they would like to build one of the ministry’s first three homes.
- Summer 2009: After much prayer, the New Song Board of Directors determines to move forward with the building of the first three campus homes if the ministry receives enough funds by August 20, 2009 to frame in three homes by the winter of 2009
- August 20, 2009: The last few dollars come in the door totaling $390,000 that allows the ministry to move forward with home building construction
- September 19, 2009: The first major event is held on campus—The Groundbreaking Celebration and Homes For Kids Campaign Launch. The event is attended by more than 300 people. The $3.9 million capital campaign is publically launched
- September 28, 2009: Ground is broken on the construction of our first three campus homes. While the homes are being built by friends from all over Indiana, the three homes are generally adopted by:
Home Site A: Bluffton
Home Site B: Brown County/Bloomington
Home Site C: Columbus
- Fall 2009: Dave Mueller of Mueller Properties, Bluffton, begins to provide important advice on electrical plans and will go on to help with the home construction and wiring of Home Site A
- LA Brown is officially hired on a contractual basis as Volunteer Coordinator and Site Manager, spending much time recruiting and supervising work crews on Home Site A
- September-December 2009: More than 200 volunteers help in the framing of the first three homes. Church groups, business teams, and many individuals donate their time and labor
- December 2009: By God’s grace, the first three campus homes are now framed in. Work will continue on Home Site A, the Bluffton home, as the New Song Board decides to direct most of its existing funds toward completing that home.
- January 2010: Dave Iler is hired on a contractual basis as the ministry’s Project Manager. Work on Home Site A continues
- Current: God continues to supply for the ministry’s financial and people needs in His unique way and perfect timing