On Sunday, July 17, we held a "Town Hall" meeting to discuss the Trustees' plans for allocating the proceeds from the property sales of various non-strategic parts of our campus. As a reminder, our church voted in September 2015 to sell the Heritage Campus (with one-third of the proceeds to be held for a new church/ministry start), the Heritage parsonage, two houses on Ball Street and two houses on College Street (Forbes House and Thrift Shop). The plan was to work toward a new location for the ministries in the Forbes House and Thrift Shop, and better utilize the value held on those properties to further our ministries in our community.



Pastor John Mollet recapped the recent city council meeting where they approved leasing to us the former Senior Activities Center. We plan to move the Thrift Shop, Justice For Our Neighbors, Sunday School classes, Boy Scout Troop 4, and other mission related activities to that building later this summer. The lease is for five years with an option to renew and a right to potentially purchase the property at the end of the lease. Part of the negotiations with the city included trading the house at 427 Ball Street for a reduction in the monthly rent on the new space. The church continues to own and control that Ball Street house over the next five years.



We are in the process of preparing new plats for the houses on College Street (Forbes House and Thrift Shop). That needs to be completed with the city before we can list the houses for sale and return them to private residences in the historic district.



We completed the sales of the Heritage parsonage, one of the houses on Ball Street and the Heritage Campus. The Grapevine-Colleyville school district purchased the Heritage Campus with the intent to use the space for additional offices until long-range plans are completed.



Ralph Pettingell, chair of the Trustees, outlined the Trustees' allocation of the estimated total proceeds from all of these property sales (remember we have not yet sold the two houses on College Street). The allocation of the estimated total $2.8 million is summarized as follows:

Debt reduction (a tithe)	$300,000
Endowment (to bring up to $1 million)	127,000
New Church/Ministry start	658,000
Future Capital Expenditures	400,000
Preparation costs for College Street houses	100,000
New A/C for Founders Chapel	250,000
Founders Chapel Renovations	1,000,000

 

Work is underway to plan what will be done with the Founders Chapel renovation. The Trustees are working with an architect to develop concepts and budgets. We intend to hold additional Town Hall meetings to share these ideas with the congregation in advance of a church conference on this matter. We are working on a timeline to start renovations this fall.



Please address any questions or comments to our clergy members, our Trustees or our lay leader, Ed Crater.