After church this morning, a meeting was convened to discuss the possibility of moving out of our historic church building, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, that has been our spiritual home for the past 144 years. Twin Lakes Country Club out in Twin Lakes, not even in Kent proper, but rather, in Franklin Twp., is in bankruptcy and foreclosure and they want to sell their clubhouse. We had a slide show of the exterior and interior grounds and I admit, they are quite lovely and spacious and would meet our needs for expansion, but aside from the historic ramifications, there are a bunch of things that trouble me about even considering this move: 1). our church is downtown, in a very visible place, central to the city where it is easily accessible by bicycle, car or on foot. 2). Twin Lakes Country Club is not the most visible place and would need to be accessed by car exclusively by everyone attending the church. It is not within walking distance to anyone who attends the church, and there may be some Twin Lakes residents who live close enough to bike it and some hard core bicyclists who would happily go that far on their bikes to get there. 3). we've failed in recent pledge drive attempts to get the amount of money we've hoped for in order to do all the things we need, and yes, expanding would allow for more people to come and to pledge, but right now, for the foreseeable future, we don't have a lot of money and asking people to pony up more to pay off a loan needed to buy Twin Lakes Country Club would be asking a lot of us who are already tapped out to dig deeper into monies we do not have, 4). we do not know what the maintenance and upkeep costs would be for a facility like the Twin Lakes Country Club, so a new annual budget would need to be drawn up to accomodate for that factor, and it can't be a good number given our current financially strapped situation, 5). finding a buyer who would respect the historic integrity of our building would be challenging in these tough financial times, although we could conceivably rent it out to small congregations looking for a church property to rent.
I have to admit, the pictures of the country club property are really lovely. It's got a swimming pool, tennis courts, large rooms, air conditioning (something we do not have right now in our current facility) and it's lakefront property with a dock. It's got lots of amenities and if it's sold, the suggested bargain basement price of around $250,000 is suggested for a property that has been appraised at around $500,000. But the very idea of moving right now seems to me a bad idea, given how short we always fall in annual pledge drives. While we definitely need more space since we are at capacity right now, I am loath to entertain the idea of moving out of Kent and going north to Franklin Twp. where nearly everyone who attends church will be forced to drive there at a time when we are in the midst of an environmental effort to "green" our church along with our own personal behaviors. We've been encouraging members who live close enough to consider walking or biking to church to save on gas. Moving out to Twin Lakes will assure that everyone will have to drive and the current parking capacity of their lot is 75 when we've got 200 signed and pledged members plus easily about 100 more "friends" of the church who attend services but have never signed the membership book. I guess the idea here is to make returning to one service possible, but I have no qualms whatsoever about having two services. I like to attend the adult Sunday school programming during first service and attend the second service. If we have one service, can we manage all of the adult and juvenile Sunday school programming during just one service, and if so, how? Of course, those are some of the many questions that will have to be answered during this whole process of consideration, but somehow, I just don't think we ought to consider such a move just yet. Money's too tight right now and we have plenty of time to think about expansion in the future when times improve. Maybe property near our current church will open up that we can buy to use to expand where we are. I just hate the idea of leaving our historic home that has been our church for 144 years. Our historic roots are there and the idea of someone else using our historic facility and maybe not caring for it with the same respect that we have is an anathema to me.
This idea that a church is its people and not its building is ridiculous. The building is as much a part of a church as the people who go there. When you have a historic property like we do, it seems important to maintain our ties there. Personally, as lovely as the Twin Lakes Country Club facility is, I am opposed to the idea of such a move, for more than just sentimental reasons. Financial reasons come into play given what I know of the pledge drive efforts during the time that I have attended the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent. We always seem to fall short of our projected fund raising goals, even though our membership is at a historic all time high. I am reluctant for our church to take on more debt at a time when we've struggled so mightily just to make the expenses we need at our current facility. Sure, this opportunity seems like a golden one, but sometimes a golden goose can lay a bad egg, so I am really uncertain about this proposal even though it's obvious that we do need more space. A church is so much more than just its people. To me, what makes us special is the idea that we are still in our historic home where prophetic men and women did some remarkable things in the past 144 years. When you walk into our church, the history just emanates from its walls. You can feel the spirits of those who came before, who built a building that would stand the test of time, that would last through the ages as a beacon of hope to generations to come after them. That is extremely important to me as the church historian, to be able to directly connect with our history each and every time I walk into that building. To say that a church is its people and not a building is to ignore the importance of a historic property like the one we are so fortunate to have. I hope we stay downtown in our beautiful old church and find some way to expand into surrounding properties when and if they are up for sale.
After church this morning, a meeting was convened to discuss the possibility of moving out of our historic church building, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, that has been our spiritual home for the past 144 years. Twin Lakes Country Club out in Twin Lakes, not even in Kent proper, but rather, in Franklin Twp., is in bankruptcy and foreclosure and they want to sell their clubhouse. We had a slide show of the exterior and interior grounds and I admit, they are quite lovely and spacious and would meet our needs for expansion, but aside from the historic ramifications, there are a bunch of things that trouble me about even considering this move: 1). our church is downtown, in a very visible place, central to the city where it is easily accessible by bicycle, car or on foot. 2). Twin Lakes Country Club is not the most visible place and would need to be accessed by car exclusively by everyone attending the church. It is not within walking distance to anyone who attends the church, and there may be some Twin Lakes residents who live close enough to bike it and some hard core bicyclists who would happily go that far on their bikes to get there. 3). we've failed in recent pledge drive attempts to get the amount of money we've hoped for in order to do all the things we need, and yes, expanding would allow for more people to come and to pledge, but right now, for the foreseeable future, we don't have a lot of money and asking people to pony up more to pay off a loan needed to buy Twin Lakes Country Club would be asking a lot of us who are already tapped out to dig deeper into monies we do not have, 4). we do not know what the maintenance and upkeep costs would be for a facility like the Twin Lakes Country Club, so a new annual budget would need to be drawn up to accomodate for that factor, and it can't be a good number given our current financially strapped situation, 5). finding a buyer who would respect the historic integrity of our building would be challenging in these tough financial times, although we could conceivably rent it out to small congregations looking for a church property to rent.
I have to admit, the pictures of the country club property are really lovely. It's got a swimming pool, tennis courts, large rooms, air conditioning (something we do not have right now in our current facility) and it's lakefront property with a dock. It's got lots of amenities and if it's sold, the suggested bargain basement price of around $250,000 is suggested for a property that has been appraised at around $500,000. But the very idea of moving right now seems to me a bad idea, given how short we always fall in annual pledge drives. While we definitely need more space since we are at capacity right now, I am loath to entertain the idea of moving out of Kent and going north to Franklin Twp. where nearly everyone who attends church will be forced to drive there at a time when we are in the midst of an environmental effort to "green" our church along with our own personal behaviors. We've been encouraging members who live close enough to consider walking or biking to church to save on gas. Moving out to Twin Lakes will assure that everyone will have to drive and the current parking capacity of their lot is 75 when we've got 200 signed and pledged members plus easily about 100 more "friends" of the church who attend services but have never signed the membership book. I guess the idea here is to make returning to one service possible, but I have no qualms whatsoever about having two services. I like to attend the adult Sunday school programming during first service and attend the second service. If we have one service, can we manage all of the adult and juvenile Sunday school programming during just one service, and if so, how? Of course, those are some of the many questions that will have to be answered during this whole process of consideration, but somehow, I just don't think we ought to consider such a move just yet. Money's too tight right now and we have plenty of time to think about expansion in the future when times improve. Maybe property near our current church will open up that we can buy to use to expand where we are. I just hate the idea of leaving our historic home that has been our church for 144 years. Our historic roots are there and the idea of someone else using our historic facility and maybe not caring for it with the same respect that we have is an anathema to me. 
This idea that a church is its people and not its building is ridiculous. The building is as much a part of a church as the people who go there. When you have a historic property like we do, it seems important to maintain our ties there. Personally, as lovely as the Twin Lakes Country Club facility is, I am opposed to the idea of such a move, for more than just sentimental reasons. Financial reasons come into play given what I know of the pledge drive efforts during the time that I have attended the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent. We always seem to fall short of our projected fund raising goals, even though our membership is at a historic all time high. I am reluctant for our church to take on more debt at a time when we've struggled so mightily just to make the expenses we need at our current facility. Sure, this opportunity seems like a golden one, but sometimes a golden goose can lay a bad egg, so I am really uncertain about this proposal even though it's obvious that we do need more space. A church is so much more than just its people. To me, what makes us special is the idea that we are still in our historic home where prophetic men and women did some remarkable things in the past 144 years. When you walk into our church, the history just emanates from its walls. You can feel the spirits of those who came before, who built a building that would stand the test of time, that would last through the ages as a beacon of hope to generations to come after them. That is extremely important to me as the church historian, to be able to directly connect with our history each and every time I walk into that building. To say that a church is its people and not a building is to ignore the importance of a historic property like the one we are so fortunate to have. I hope we stay downtown in our beautiful old church and find some way to expand into surrounding properties when and if they are up for sale. 
2 comments:
I hope you find a way to stay where you are, too. The country club site is gorgeous, but doesn't look much like a sacred space to me.
I'm of the "church is the people" school of thought, but that isn't to say that the building, and all of the history and memories and connections that go with it, are unimportant or should be minimized.
We had another meeting after church this afternoon and one person said that the building looked too "church-y" and could therefore be a real turnoff to potential members, and that she felt more at home in more sterile, modern, non-church looking buildings. When some of us mentioned our current proximity to the University being something we could build on to attract college students, she said that this wasn't a part of our mission.
I get the feeling that the cards are stacked against those of us who want to stay put, as more and more people seem to feel that a Country Club setting would be more attractive for possible newcomers than an old church building. One person even went so far as to say that if you want new members, you'd better have a Country Club feel to your church.
I mean, what exactly are we trying to say about ourselves? That we're a Country Club meeting house, or a church in its original historic setting where the history just ooozes from the walls? Where's the concern for our history? I guess there are a fair number of people for whom that really doesn't matter.
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