Build a new building?

They said it couldn't be done. We weren't big enough. We weren't wealthy enough. Nobody cared enough.

But we had a vision to be:

•  a community of caring and committed individuals diverse in identity and theology;
•  a haven for those seeking a positive spiritual experience;
• a positive force in the community for justice and equality;
• a center for liberal religious education for people of all ages.

And to fulfill that vision, we needed more space: space for us to grow and stretch our wings, space for our children to grow and stretch their wings, space for groups small and large to gather together in their mutual interests, to be "One Place, All Faiths: Creating a caring, justice-seeking community."

It couldn't be done, they said again and again, year after year.

In the year 2000 the UUCT congregation developed a plan for a campus of buildings with classrooms, offices and a fellowship hall. Nothing came of it.

It couldn't be done, they said.

UNTIL . . . 

Let's let Ara Rogers tell the story:

In May 2006, the UUCT congregation voted to adopt our current vision and mission statements cited above. Through an appreciative inquiry process among the congregants, we found that the last vision item, "a center for liberal religious education for people of all ages," shone through as our top priority.

The obstacle, of course, was lack of meeting space. The solution: implement the 2000 plan, with classroom space as its first phase. In May, 2008, the congregation voted to hold a capital campaign and move forward with the building project.

The Board of Trustees as the campaign got under way included:

PRESIDENT: Ed Benedict

VICE PRESIDENT: Tempie Taudte

SECRETARY: Mary Francis

TREASURER: Bill Blymiller

MEMBERS: Rom Delacroix, Kathy Hunter, Ralph Lehman, Russ Patterson and Diana Stevens

. . . And so the Journey began . . .

Few of us possess expertise in these sorts of matters -- building design, construction, even, really, finance -- but there were enough of us that we all went in with an "I'll do it if you will" pledge. We formed committees under the umbrella title of "Capital Campaign Steering Committee," I as general chair and Pat Benedict as associate chair.

Other committee members were:

ARCHITECTURE SELECTION: Fran Davin and Ralph Lehman

BUILDING DESIGN: Ronnie Kirchheimer, Rod Martin, Diana Stevens, and Tom Turke

FINANCIAL: Ed Benedict and Bill Blymiller

HOSPITALITY: Judy Lehman and Grant Wilson

PUBLICITY & EDUCATION: Fran Davin, Beverly Bethune and Jo-Ann Johnston

It was really a team effort. We tried to involve as many members as possible in the project.

We have always considered ourselves a fairly middle-class church. We had no deep pockets to tap, we were a church that had for several decades struggled with raising funds for operations. The presumption was that we couldn't afford a capital campaign. And of course, we got really rolling on this just at the worst possible time -- when the market went bust and the great recession got underway. So there were a lot of fears about members losing their jobs and the campaign failing.

In spite of the tremendous efforts of our Canvassing Committee, we didn't make our fundraising goal. We had hired a consultant who conducted research into our community's ability to raise funds for a capital project. He confidently told us that we could raise a half million dollars.

We raised about 65% of that, even after going back to our largest donors a second time and expanding our fundraising beyond, well beyond, our current membership.

But the economy turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because builders of all kinds were very interested in our little project. When we failed to reach our fundraising goal, we began to look for less expensive alternatives.

In the end, though, we have built exactly the building we had hoped for and pretty much as first conceptualized by the architect. It is a 3,755 square foot building, with classrooms and meeting spaces for our children on Sunday, adults the rest of the week.

We pledged to build "as green as we can afford." And "green" buildings are green for a variety of reasons, such as use of local materials (concrete block) and insulation (icynene foam fills the concrete blocks). It is a fully-accessible building. It is tucked away in our woods, yet the rooms are filled with light. Even the windowless rooms are bright, thanks to the two solar tube skylights. The windows are double-paned, low-e.

We felt proud that we were putting local people to work and pumping money into our local economy. Our general contractor was Bill Reites. Construction Committee Chair Fran Davin acted as church liaison with him.

Others on her committee were:

Pat Benedict

Earl Harvey

Don Hunter

Rod Martin

Roger Polcyn

Tom Raffel

Gardens, Inc. were the landscapers.

In the end we didn't even need a bank loan. Members were generous and conscientious about paying their pledges. We started collecting pledges in January of 2010, although it was November before we broke ground. We borrowed from our own endowment and from an endowed scholarship fund that is administered by a church member. So we're also proud that every penny of interest we pay will be essentially paid to ourselves.

We built a building. We built it without any major drama and without losing a single member. We changed our perception of ourselves as a community and how we think about finances. We did our small part to help the local economy. We are realizing our vision.

----Ara Rogers

We did it! We did it!

They said it couldn't be done, but we did it!

And what a wonderful building it is! From the extra-large classroom/meeting room that can be divided into two separate, soundproofed spaces to the smaller classrooms for children, there's room for all. Full-length storefront windows bring sunlight and views of the church's lovely wooded grounds into each area.

"It takes a congregation..." says Rom Delacroix, President of the Board of Trustees during the actual construction of the building, "The Multi-Purpose Building is an expression of the remarkable commitment of members and friends of our congregation to our Unitarian Universalist values. Our new edifice actualizes our vision and mission to become a place of learning, exchange, and possibilities.

"Religious exploration is a lifelong journey. Our new facility will allow more children, youth, and adults to engage in their unique spiritual journey. The Multi-Purpose Building offers us incredible opportunities to assist each other in nurturing our Unitarian Universalist identity and faith development. This is truly an exciting time for our church community."

Serving with Rom on the Board as the building went up were:

VICE PRESIDENT: Russell Kirby

SECRETARY: Diana Stevens

TREASURER: Ronnie Kirchheimer

MEMBERS: Nicole Drelles, Mary Francis, Marla Frazer, Kathy Hunter and Tom Raffel

   Following the Sunday service on September 18, we will dedicate our beautiful Multi-Purpose Building in a ceremony on the church grounds. All members and friends are invited to attend this long-anticipated event. Former Board of Trustees president Ed Benedict will host a short program of dedication that will include choir music and a blessing by the Rev. Dr. Sara Zimmerman
 and Ollis Hughes.  The church will provide light refreshments after the ceremony.

You're invited, so mark your calendars! Come and help us complete the journey!

Grateful

The opening of the new building is another major milestone in the almost 55-year history of the UU Church of Tampa. Someday someone will put together a history of the Church (as we are wont to do periodically), and this new building will be one of the turning points that will be proudly noted.

The history of how this building came into being 28 years after the completion of the large dome is an interesting one and will, no doubt, be told. But elsewhere and some other time. Today is time to luxuriate in gratitude. It is a time to be thankful for what will be because of this effort.

For example:

For the positive first impression made when visitors or new prospective members come to our church and take their children into this wonderful new building, we are thankful.

For the nights (and afternoons) when we have church meetings in rooms where we can see and be heard, we are thankful.

For the new sense of the beauty and possibility of our wonderful grounds made possible by the building and the work that went along with it, we are thankful.

For the renewed sense of partnership with one another made possible by this project, we are thankful.

For the hours, days, weeks, months and years of effort by so many people and for the joyous understanding that the work was done for the love of the church, for the love of the community, we are thankful.

For the financial support provided during the Capital Campaign, which continues until next year -- for the big pledges from people who diverted money from retirement accounts or savings, for the pledges that stretched the household budget, whether it was for $10 or $100 per month, we are thankful.

The new building stands as stone and wood, representing the best of our congregation. It is an objectification of trust in one another, trust in our abilities, trust in our resourcefulness. Every time we glance at that new building, it should remind us of the love of community that made it possible. It speaks to us. It says, "Look what we did!"

---- Bill Blymiller