BUILDING UPDATE MARCH 2009
JOURNEY OF FAITH - PART TWO

  Introduction
A year ago the Santa Cruz Valley United Methodist Church embarked on a Journey of Faith to grow ourselves and the church and to initiate a capital stewardship campaign.  We are now starting on “Part Two” of that journey. Part Two will encourage the Journey to be embraced by our new friends and church attendees.
 
BRIDGE Team
The BRIDGE Team was established to create a strategic plan to grow the congregation through the three year life of the capital stewardship program. The aim is to keep current people connected and achieve connection of the newcomers.
 
Purpose, Vision and Plan
The purpose of SCVUMC is to be a multi-generational church making genuinely committed Disciples of Christ. Our vision is - - “to reach the broken, the battered and the bored with the grace of Jesus Christ”. The plan is to construct a building that will house SCVUMC so that it can fulfill its purpose and reach its vision.
 
Orientation Meeting
Within the Part Two effort we plan to hold an orientation/dinner meeting primarily for those members of the SCVUMC family who have joined us since last March. It will be held the week of March 15—specific date/location to be announced later. This event will allow them to learn about the Journey of Faith and the details of our building program.
 
Celebration !
We are planning for a celebration event on Sunday, March 29 to thank those who have taken part in the Journey of Faith efforts and welcome those who have joined our church family. Church service will be outdoors followed by a picnic.  Everyone is invited. Please plan to attend this fun filled service.
 
Sermon
Pastor Allan’s sermon on Sunday, March 22nd will be devoted to the Journey of Faith and its impacts on each of us and this church as a whole.
 
Special Newsletter
A special newsletter will be provided in April summarizing the first year’s efforts to carry forward the building program. It will include updates on the financial commitments provided over the past economically difficult year; the efforts of your Board of Trustees to develop detailed costs and financial plans; and an explanation of why we have delayed construction. Although we don’t like to see delays in the seriously needed building facilities, recent financial conditions dictate that a prudent approach is in order.
 
Over the next three weeks additional Bulletin inserts will be provided to bring you updates on the building program and the scheduled events.
 
Your BRIDGE Team

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BUILDING UPDATE OCTOBER 2008

The Board of Trustees is continuing to work on the building program. The latest include;

 ·         The Architectural Review Committee of the Rancho Sahuarita Commercial Association has given preliminary approval to our building design. This sets the outside appearance of the building.

·         The Board continues to work with the Town of Sahuarita on the designs of the Sahuarita Road Improvement, which will include a right turn lane on La Villita Road. This will require the Town’s acquisition of a strip of land along our east boundary for the turning lane. Our purpose is to ensure satisfactory access to the church’s property from both Sahuarita Road and La Villita Road.

·         The Board has initiated discussions with Ziegler Capital Markets, a bond underwriting company that has financed churches and other nonprofit entities since 1913. Ziegler helps prepare and market church bonds on the national market. The bonding route has both advantages and disadvantages as a financing tool. A Ziegler representative will be meeting with the Board after the first of the year, once our 2008 Journey of Faith contributions are known and hopefully, the economic conditions are more stabilized.

·         As of October 14^th the Journey of Faith land/building contributions are $117,044 or 72 percent of that anticipated in 2008.

As noted elsewhere those 70 1/2 or older can transfer funds directly   to the church from an IRA or 401K account without tax    considerations.

If you have questions on any of the above please see me or any one of the Trustees.

Vern W Butler, Chair, Board of Trustees 

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 BUILDING UPDATE AUGUST 2008

Your Board of Trustees is continuing to work on the building plans. As announced in church on Sunday, August 24, the church has been forced to accept a delay in starting construction due to financing issues.
 
Upon completion of the building plans, cost estimates for the site development and building design were prepared by our Architect, Mr. Kim Acorn. Additional cost estimates for permits, bonds, furnishings and other details were prepared after talking to a number of vendors. Three estimates were made. One was for the basic building large enough for a gymnasium. The second was for the basic building with a classroom/office wing added and the third for a slightly smaller building (8000 vs.10,000 sq ft) with a lowered roof/ceiling. The basic building project totaled about $2.2 million, with the added classroom/office wing about $2.6 million and the smaller building at $1.9 million. These cost estimates included the land cost.
 
With these cost estimates in hand and the Journey of Faith building commitments from the congregation we approached three banks. We also reviewed the United Methodist Development Fund with the District Superintendent who had served on the Development Fund Board and was familiar with their lending polices and criteria. All three banks essentially turned us down at this time. The major reasons being;
 -Lack of having 25% of the project costs on hand or invested in land and planning for the “down payment” of a loan.
 -A limited history of contributions to assure sufficient funding to pay the annual loan payments.
 -A limited number of consistent adult attendees which should be in the neighborhood of 300 rather than the 200 we now have.
 
Although not admitted by the banks it was my impression the recent concerns with credit availability for home mortgages and similar loans was a major factor. According to newspaper reports banks and other lending agencies are tightening loan criteria significantly.
 
The Trustees will continue to work on the building program. We have directed our Architect not to prepare detailed construction plans and documents until financing issues can be resolved. The Architect does have a proposal before the developer to get preliminary approval of a building design that is acceptable so that we know what will be required.
 
The Trustees goals are to (1) minimize building fund expenditures for the time being, (2) continue to urge building commitment payments and (3) grow the church with increased attendance.  With your help, your faith and your prayers we can reach these goals.
 
If you have any further questions please contact me or one of the other Trustees.
 
Vern W. Butler
Chairman, Board of Trustees. 

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