A note from Pastor Jay.
Take a Journey with Me
How is your Lenten Journey? I hope it is leading you closer to God, to God’s people, and to God’s purpose for your life in Christ.
I want you to take another journey with me over the next two weeks. Please pause for a few seconds and clear your mind to open your imagination. Are you there?
Now I want you to picture the Green Street side of our church facility. If you look hard enough, you can see Susan’s Garden or maybe the windows to the Heritage Room. Perhaps you have enough focus to see the amazing part of our facility that is the Faith Center and how it is used in
so many ways for the glory of God and the ministry of our church.
If you look through the eyes of countless people who are unaware of what we know is there…if you look at our facility with fresh, open eyes…you will see an ugly lot where the old Lively Auto Dealership used to be located…the fence is falling down, a dilapidated dumpster area is evident, an aging gravel/asphalt lot with pipe running around it and covered with weeds is uneven with the adjacent concrete lot, the heaviest door known to humankind is located there
with little identification to an accessibility entrance and elevator bank, there is a mosquito pit with standing water just outside the Heritage Room with an ugly brick retaining wall. Have you got that picture?
Now picture a multi-purpose outdoor pavilion with a basketball court, volleyball, and pickleball capability. Picture a beautiful, well lit, parking lot with a covered drop-off area identical to the one outside the offices on the Fredonia side of the building. Imagine a truly accessible entrance with ample parking for the handicapped and seniors with accessibility limitations. Imagine a beautiful church sign, inviting landscaping, and attractive fencing. Imagine the possibility of a
columbarium in Susan’s Garden. No more pipe barriers! No more mosquito pits with standing water! No more dangerous impediments to hinder activity! No more eye sores!
This is what our Facilities Team has been working on for the past year! We have brought this before Trustees and the Administrative Council and soon will have Finance bless it as the next major effort for our church facility. Our Trustees, with the approval of Finance and the Administrative Council, will bring this before the congregation in a called Church Conference on March 29th at 5:30 PM with Dr. Dick White, our current District Superintendent, presiding. We will be seeking to approve the authorization of up to $100,000 for detailed engineering and the establishment of a Capital Campaign process to fund this exciting vision for Green Street and FUMC! I hope you will mark your calendars and plan to attend.
If you would like to see a rendering and a basic layout for the project, you can access them below.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jay