I thought it was a very helpful meeting. The purpose of the meeting was not to come to any decision, but to discuss our options for Long Range Planning. Our discussion was respectful and lively, with healthy participation from everyone.
I heard a number of things expressed:
- Several people expressed their concern that we not go into debt or get over our heads financially.
- Some people encouraged us to "have faith" and expressed a desire for leadership to step out with a clear building vision for others to follow.
- A number of suggestions were made regarding renovation of our present buildings.
- There was quite a bit of interest in purchasing new property, even if we couldn't build on it at this time.
- There was some frustration expressed over the decline of the Episcopal Church and our inability to grow.
- "Doing nothing" was not seen as a viable option.
- The architect's plans from the Feasibility Study didn't seem to draw a lot of interest.
All in all, we mucked around in the messy business of sorting things out. I believe this is a necessary part of a building process. Before we can ask our parish members to agree on a building plan, we have to have considerable discussion, conversation, debate, and reflection first. I thought we made a good beginning of that last night.
Here are the options we listed for Long Range Planning:
- Do nothing
- Set a threshold to aim at before we build
- Establish the minimum we need to have and work toward that
- Buy new property and come up with a plan in phases
- Do creative fundraising
- Generate excitement
- Renovate our present structures - with a price tag
We made a list of our needs:
- Visibility - we need to look like a church
- Educational facilities
- A parish hall for fellowship
- Playground
- Childcare near worship
- Good entrance
It was a good meeting and I appreciate the efforts of everyone who participated.
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