MESSIAH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
BUILDING COMMITTEE
MEETING NOTES April 9, 2008
OPENING &
DEVOTION
Howard opened the meeting with prayer at 7:05.
Committee=
Members
Attending: Howard Albr=
echt,
BJ Wyrick, Kevin Plasterer, DeAnn Pugh, Joe Hockersmith and Kevin Hughes; <=
u>Excused:
Heather Deutsch and Rod Shaffer
Guests At=
tending: Brenda Gabler, Don Morton, and Dan Tu=
rner
PUBLIC/CONGRE=
GATION
COMMENTS
&nbs= p; Summary of Oral Comments – Provided during discussion
&nbs= p; Summary of Written Comments – None received
&=
nbsp; The notes from the March=
26,
2008 Meeting were accepted with the notation that the age range of informal
survey participants be modified to read “30 through over 70s”.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> With that modification, Joe motion=
ed to
accept the notes, BJ seconded - all were in favor.
= ;
NEW BUSINESS<= o:p>
Update on B& H Design - Howard updated the
Committee that while he has not heard from Brechbill & Helman that our
project is complete, there has been progress. The architectural and related stud=
y work
has been completed and the options are currently under study for pricing.
&=
nbsp; Sharing Survey Results follow-up – Joe shared with the Committee t=
he
results of the people he surveyed.
He noted that he randomly selected names from the church directory a=
nd
made telephone calls. He surv=
eyed
people ranging in age from early 30s through late 70s, most of whom have ei=
ther
been long time members of or raised in Messiah Church.
Generally Joe found that the people he spoke with indicated a level of
overall satisfaction and were pleased with the decision to stay at the pres=
ent
location. While they felt the=
y had
been provided information openly, even if they did not actively seek
information, they knew information was available. One person surveyed expressed conc=
ern
that people who were not regular church attenders might not be getting enou=
gh
information. Two persons surv=
eyed indicated
concern on fund-raising expectations for people on fixed incomes as well as=
young
families.
BJ noted that the people she approached were all very willing and exc=
ited
to talk about Messiah’s plans and overall very positive about what had
been done so far. She spoke w=
ith
people in their 30s and 50s. =
The
general concerns raised by the people she spoke with were: concern that whi=
le
the congregation were all talking about doing something, that nothing would=
get
done; that we might be at a stand-still and not moving ahead; and that prog=
ress
seems very slow. The
recommendations she received was that Messiah should start with something s=
mall
as quickly as possible. The o=
nly
other concerns they told her were concerns with possibly wasted space and
location for the children and nursery during the renovation and construction
process.
Preliminary Brainstorming Session - Next steps/assimilating feedback – Discus= sion ensued regarding the informal surveys.&nbs= p; It was noted that while this was not a scientific survey, there were similarities that should be recognized:
It was noted=
that
these findings are consistent with those shared at the last meeting, and al=
so
overall appear to be consistent with the informal survey findings of the
Capital Campaign Committee. I=
t was
agreed that informal surveys like this should be conducted from time to
time. Howard reminded the gro=
up
that the idea of informal surveys came from the Capital Campaign Committee;=
and
in future our survey efforts should continue to be coordinated with theirs.=
&nbs= p;
OPEN DISCUSSI=
ON
Howard opene=
d the
meeting for general discussion.
Kevin Plasterer brought up his concern that during the open discussio=
n at
the last meeting concern had been expressed regarding the exact number of c=
lass
and meeting rooms delineated on the Master Plan sketches. Discussion followed regarding the
purpose of the Master Plan - not as a strict building “blue printR=
21;
but rather as a conceptual vision of what could be. Follow-up discussion centered on t=
he
need for flexible building space in order to accommodate the needs of the m=
any
community groups that Messiah Church sponsors and supports (scouts, youth
groups, etc.). It was determi=
ned
that this might be a topic requiring clarification and that the Committee
provide additional information in the form of a reminder to the
congregation.
Follow-up discussion acknowledged numerous small projects that could =
be
done, or should be done including some things that might need to be examined
again. There was discussion regarding the church’s need for a more
accessible and welcoming front entrance, as well as the pressing need for
adequate storage for all classes, groups, and ministries Messiah supports.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Discussion returned to the possibi=
lity
of considering alternatives other than the one suggested by the Master
Plan. As much of this had been
discussed at the March Committee meeting, it was very clear that the topic =
of
the relationship between the Master Plan, fund raising, project planning, a=
nd
work start-up be a focus for an information-sharing and reminder opportunity
with the congregation.
The Committee agreed to draft an article for the May Church Newslette=
r to
address these topics as well as provide a general update.
REMINDERS
&nbs= p; Next meeting – 5/14/2008
ADJOURN
Kevin Hughes closed the mee= ting with prayer at 8:00
DRAFT MEETI= NG NOTES - NOT ACCEPTED BY COMMITTEE