Greetings UCT!

This is the second of a new series on activities of the Board of Trustees. One theme I have personally heard since being elected to the Board over two years ago has been the lack of communication between the board and congregation. This short article—written by the board president each month—will let you know the main issues the board is working on and invite you to comment or ask questions using our interactive web site.

Five-year lease signed. There’s a 1981 song by The Clash, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” and that has been our question for the past three and a half years with respect to Longview. We have been leasing Longview since late 2006 when we moved from our Whitaker Mill facility (which we still own and have been leasing continuously, earning a nice return). We liked Longview so much that the board established a Facilities Committee two years ago to explore the cost and feasibility of purchasing all or part of the facility. In March 2009 we really thought we were close to a purchase. We had performed a cost analysis, had an architect intimately familiar with the facility draw up plans to remodel part of the building, and we presented the plans to the congregation. Then the owner’s company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and everything came to a screeching halt.

Since that time we have been looking at alternatives. The Facilities Committee (see below) explored various options for purchasing the facility. Each option was explored, looked promising, then either evaporated in the dealings with the bankruptcy representatives or was not feasible financially for UCT.

It was only four months ago that it became obvious that, until the bankruptcy issue was resolved, it was not in the cards for us to buy Longview. Of course that was too late to realistically examine alternatives—although the Facilities Committee did present us with some attractive “flexible use” space options we might have converted into a church. Each one was examined and rejected for various good reasons.

We asked for, and received, a longer-term lease from the landlord. For the past four months we have been negotiating the price, terms and conditions—and that process was finally completed last week when we signed a five-year lease. The new lease enables us to take a deep breath, complete our current long-term planning process to more clearly define who we are and how we are going to manifest our new vision and mission. Very soon we will be launching a new search committee to look at options for either buying land and building a church, or for buying a facility and upgrading it to meet our needs. Either way, we have time to envision exactly what we want and to raise the funds to own our perfect church home.

Thank You Facilities Committee! Before the Facilities Committee “stands down,” let us all take a moment to thank and honor these individuals who have worked tirelessly to secure the Longview Center for our use. As described above, the committee explored every option for buying Longview and when the bankruptcy situation made that infeasible, negotiated a very favorable lease. The new lease is at below-market rates, enables us to earn income from the use of the facility (for example we can do weddings and other events), and provides us with a fair deal. Please join me in thanking these dedicated UCT members for their service: Jim Buck, Carl Goode, George Smith, Ralph McLester, Steve Baker, Andrew Weiss, Neusom Holmes and Aida Havel.

Long-Term Plan. Here is a brief update on the new long-term plan. The first of two teams—the Core Values Team—is meeting regularly, defining our five core values and the behaviors we would manifest as a church and individually when we are living those values. The CV Team is using the list we produced at the Friday-night session about a month ago attended by nearly 70 people, facilitated by Rev. Therese Lee. Once the CV Team finishes its work a second team will be established—this one named the Planning Team—to define our four broad intentions and two or three objectives under each intention that will guide our efforts over the next five to ten years. Stay tuned!

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