An Update from the Master Plan Committee
Written by Harold Tessendorf, Chair
The Master Plan Committee continues to explore options for our entire campus that will allow our congregation to be a good steward of our resources and a thriving congregation. We have consulted with church members, neighbors, community leaders, and experts. We have studied the current and defrayed costs associated with operating our campus. Doing this has allowed us to create a range of options about how we can re-imagine the future use of our beloved campus to include its sanctuary, building, parking, and vacant spaces.
We will present the broad outlines of each option at two congregational sessions later this month. The first will be the Wednesday night program on January the 24th, with this session being repeated during the Sunday school hour on January 28th. At these sessions, we will start with a short overview of these options and how we arrived at them. Church members will then visit different tables to learn more about the pros and cons of each option. While they are there, they will be able to ask questions of the committee members at each table and provide the committee with feedback. We will end by asking each attendee to rank the options in their order of preference. The committee will use this feedback to refine these options further.
These options are not all doom-and-gloom. Each option provides us with opportunities and challenges. There is room for creative responses within most. Aspects of some options might even be combined to create new options. Our committee does not have a preferred option, so do not fear that these sessions are intended to manipulate your opinion in favor of any particular one. There is no quick and easy option out there. This will continue to be hard, but important, work. But, we also cannot afford to do nothing.
Our committee consists of a diverse group of wise church members. What we have learnt together to share with you is that we will have to base our eventual decision on the facts and numbers, rather than on our emotions, our past, and our individual preferences. We may not end up with the option that each of us prefers. But as we have grown to know one another a bit better, we have come to respect one another’s insights. We have learnt that we all share a love for this church. Like those who have come before us, we continue to hear the call and commission for this congregation to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Macon and beyond.
Please make plans to join us on Wednesday, January 24th at 6 p.m. or Sunday, January 28th at 9:45 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. We look forward to hearing your insights.