Questions about our plans for Beach East and how long those plans will take are equal in popularity these days, and are close behind questions regarding the sale of Beach West. Here is an update:
Sale process for Beach West
A conditional offer period was scheduled to end early in January. However, our prospective purchaser approached us in December to report that completing his research and planning prior to removing conditions on the offer was challenging because of Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Our buyer requested an extension of the conditional period closer to the end of January. Council has agreed to that request. Nonetheless, plans are underway for leaving Beach West.
A committee assigned by Council has created an inventory of all our possessions in the west building, sorting them into what we will keep and what we will declare surplus. This second category will be organized further into items available for ‘sale’ through a silent auction, items to be donated to a charitable organization such as OASIS, and items of no further value to us. All of this work is being managed by Jean Collins, Layton Stewart, Joan Square, Jane Monro, Tom Steele, Karen Dale, Ron Fitton, with invaluable assistance from Harry Wolfraim.
As reported earlier, our organ in Beach West will be kept and stored for our future building. All but four pianos are also available for sale. Barry Truscott and Douglas Brownlee are coordinating organ storage, organ sale, and piano sale, and will appreciate help from the congregation. Please contact Barry and Douglas directly.
Plans for East: Housing Our Ministries Project
Through October and November and with the work of an initial team, Council created an overview plan for moving forward with the renovations at Beach East. This plan, called Housing Our Ministries, outlines all aspects of our building project, including financial structures, design decisions, selection of an architect and contractor, timelines, and so on. Clear planning, driven by the Values and Ministry requirements identified by Council, is essential as we launch into our long range building project. The detailed plan, approved by Council, is available on the BUC website, or hard copies can be obtained from the church office. Housing Our Ministries will be headed up by a Coordinating Group of eight members, supported by a number of Task Groups to look at specific elements of the project.
At its December meeting Council appointed these members of the Coordinating Group:
Communications Lead: Linda Hawke
Ministry, Values & Requirements Lead: Leigh Bowser
Design Lead: Nanci Harris
Property and Construction Lead: Bob Torrance
Finance Lead: Martin McFarlane
Project Manager: Karen Watson
Relocation Lead: Neil Bailey
Clergy support: Abigail Johnson
Council believes this group brings together a sound cross-section of the congregation, as well as the skills and experience needed to move this project forward in a timely and coordinated way.
Our Task Groups will give members of Beach United Church opportunities to be involved in visioning, planning, and implementing our new building. Each member can be involved as they are able for shorter or longer periods of time, as well as offering gifts and talents that we know are a rich part of our congregation.
Next Steps
We will begin our whole building project with a visioning process early in 2010 called Ministry, Values, and Requirements (MVR). Before we build, we need to be clear about how we intend to use our new building. What is our ministry vision for our congregation and for our community? What values are important to us? And therefore, what do we require in our new building?
Currently we have a vision statement called “Ministry-in-Action” which outlines three broad areas of our ministry:
· Being In Community
· Exploring Faith
· Living with Intention
Questions arise from these three areas:
1. What does “being in community” mean in our Beach community in 2010 and beyond? What does it look like daily and who is involved?
2. Do we share similar approaches to “exploring faith” or are there diverse spiritual needs that we need to address?
3. Is “living with intention” the same for everyone and how will we explore the differences?
Exploring these questions will shape what kind of building we need for our present and future ministries as a congregation and in our relationship with the Beach community.
Council is planning ways for us to have conversations about these questions in the next few months. In the mean time, I invite you to reflect on these questions, chat with others in the congregation, and dream about ministry possibilities for our future.
Ron Fitton, on behalf of BUC Council