Congregational Meeting March 21, 11:15am

UCN’s board and finance committee have been wrestling with the current economic situation of our church. Both the board and the finance committee believe it is time to sell nine acres of land and the house to the north. We have a $60,000-80,000 gap between what we project to be our income versus our expenses for our next fiscal year (depending on pledges received). We are proposing to sell this land and the home at an estimated value of $190,000. We recognize we bought this land for $300,000; our leadership still believes we cannot afford to continue financing a $600,000 mortgage and meet other operational costs, given current trends in pledging and our inability to find an anchor tenant. Further, we are only using the building presently a few times a year, and this 9 acres and building are not part of our long-range plan. We will still have room on land we will still own, to create additional parking and do the next phase of building development when the need presents itself.

The finance committee is currently contemplating using some of the sales income to pay down a portion of our mortgage and some to pay for operational costs over the next few years. We will not be in a position to bring the decision to a vote on March 21st on how to utilize the proceeds of this sale; the pledge campaign and budget process will not yet be complete. That decision will be voted on at our Annual Congregational Meeting in May when our budget is approved.

We have gathered feedback from the congregation through 4 barn banters. It appears we have consensus to sell but we want to open discussion one more time and then vote on how to proceed. We are calling for this vote now, so budget discussions can be finalized and, if the vote is affirmative, the property can be placed on the market in the spring - an excellent time of the year to sell a home.

Please come with your ears, opinions, open hearts and commitment to UCN’s future prosperity. Thanks in advance for your active participation in the business of our church.

Upper Level Schedule for the morning—Please carpool, bike or walk!
10:00—Sunday Service with Rev. Julie Forest; 11:00—Break
11:15—Congregational meeting; 12:30—Adjournment (time approx.)

Lower Level Schedule for the morning:
10:00—RE worship service; childcare afterward; nursery all morning

In gratitude for our companionship,
Patrick Brown
UCN President