The Sky is Falling!

 

OK, the sky has not really fallen, but it was close.  Too close.  The small steeple that is lying in the church vestibule is an all too harsh symbol of the state of our infrastructure.  For truth be told, the church is in desperate need of repair and maintenance.  It has been 10 years since we finished the rebuilding of the main church building and we simply have not had the financial wherewithal to keep up with maintenance at the level that is needed.  Yes we do the basics, painting, repairing pipes and windows, but not the heavy lifting that is needed.  But, we do have a plan.  And we need your help and support to get there.

 

Our church leadership takes seriously Christ’s direction that we act as good stewards of the gifts with which we’ve been blessed as a church.  Our great gifts include spiritual inspiration and growth, fiscal responsibility and extensive physical property.  The past few years have been exciting times for the growth of ministry at Mamaroneck United Methodist Church.  The appointed leadership of the congregation has had ongoing conversations over the past several years that began to touch on the need for extensive, and perhaps radical, long range planning to prepare MUMC for continued expansion of our ministries in the coming years.  These leaders include our pastors and those who serve us faithfully on the Board of Trustees and the Leadership Council.  In an effort to efficiently collect and analyze information, and in the face of the significant deficits in funds available to maintain our buildings in a satisfactory manner, an ad hoc Master Planning Committee was called for by the Board of Trustees which would include members of three church bodies: the Board of Trustees, the Church Leadership Council and the Staff-Parish Relations Committee.  The Committee was chaired by Trustee President Sandy Hobbs and began meeting in May 2005.  After months of research, debate and review, the MPC presented a recommendation to a joint meeting of the Trustees and Leadership Council.

 

The proposal, which is detailed below, engendered much debate because it includes some dramatic steps.  We met two more times to discuss the recommendation and options available. We came to the consensus that we are called to communicate the financial and physical state of the church to the entire congregation so that we can better explore options for the future enhancement of our ministries, income and growth.

 

We hope you will read all the information offered in this special edition of the Messenger.  We plan to offer a variety of opportunities for discussion, questions (and hopefully answers), ideas and suggestions.  This Sunday’s lunch and property tour is our first effort.  We have approached this with a “no option is unreasonable” point of view in an effort to overcome past prejudices and bias and to find new ways to maximize our ministry and our assets.  In order for us to develop and implement a viable and worthwhile long-range plan, it must be one that we all can, and will, enthusiastically support.