Southern Connecticut Church of Christ building fund plan
Read 3/28/2010
Five years ago a proposal was made for us as a church to consider the idea of purchasing a building. At the time, we were meeting for Sunday services at the Stamford Marriott, midweek services at the Wooster middle school in Stratford and bible talk leader’s meetings here at the Calvin United church. The combined rent for all 3 of these spaces was quite high and we began to consider other options including that of a building purchase. A committee was formed and some basic feasibility studies were conducted including the cost of commercial real estate in our area, the size of the space we would need including parking, the cost of renovation, the cost of maintenance, upkeep insurance and utilities, financing options, our contribution and our rate of growth, and the logistics of where the building would need to be located in relationship to the geography of our membership.
We set in motion a 5 yr. Plan to collect funds and begin a search. We are now at the 5 yr. Mark and after careful consideration, the Board of Directors has concluded that it is in the best interest of the church that we suspend the building plan for now and return the funds to you. There are several factors that have brought us to this decision. I’ll share some of them with you:
- To date we have collected $26,588, far short of anything we would need as a down payment given the cost of commercial real estate in this area.
- Our membership is too small right now to sustain the expenses of renovating and maintaining a building. The rent we now pay is considerably less than the combined rents of 3 spaces in the past.
- Over the past few years we’ve had increasing benevolent needs within out congregation which may be an indicator of some needs that may become more apparent in the near future.
The building option is by no means a dead issue but rather one we can revisit in the future as we grow as a congregation. Until that time, we are required by law to return those funds to you. If you would like, the money can be returned to you, or any part or all of your fund can be rolled over as
- special missions contribution
- benevolence
- contribution to the general operating fund of the church
Please see Vikki Sebourne for more information.
If you have any questions, please feel free to speak with any of the board members or arrange to meet with the board at one of our future meetings.