Cornerstone Fund

One option for funding advice and assistance is the Cornerstone Fund. Information about this UCC investment and loan operation can be obtained from their website at www.cornerstonefund.org. The staff there is willing to give advice to UCC congregations who are planning to renovate or build as well as to loan money for these purposes.
They have a brochure in pdf format that can be downloaded from their site.

On-Line Survey

    Wayside Capital Improvement Survey

In response to the focus groups that were held over the summer, the church council is considering improving our facility (excluding the chapel). In order obtain a greater representation of your opinion, we are asking that each church member complete this survey and email it to:dennishl@waysideucc.org
OR return it to the church by December 31,2007. A box will be provided in the foyer. PLEASE NOTE THAT NO DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. This is simply a way the church council can determine what direction you the church body would have us take.

 

Name ( optional)
Item/Issue	Strongly Agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
The fellowship hall and adjoining areas are sufficient for the church at this time.
I would support a capital fund drive for this project.
The funding for this project should be raised by the congregation prior to starting the project.
The funding for this project could come from partially the congregation and partially through a long term loan.
The funding for this project could be partially financed from a short term loan using pledges from the congregation as collateral.
We need to seek fund raising advice from the conference and other organizations who are experienced.
We need to engage an architect to assist with a long term plan which may involve different stages to the project.

Rank the items below in order of priority that you feel need to be addressed. Use 1 as the highest priority with 8 as the lowest priority.

 

Rank	Item
	Remodel and enlarge men's and ladies' restrooms.
	Increase the size of fellowship hall.
	Improve the acoustics of fellowship hall.
	Remodel the education wing including the nursery.
	Enlarge and reorganize office space including storage areas.
	The portico, which would be more functional if it were extended out to actually let a car drive through (and let out passengers). Particularly good with the amount of rain we have.
	Remodel kitchen
	Enclose outdoor entrances to Sunday School rooms.

Additional Comments. (List any other items/issues that have not been mentioned)

 

 

Survey is Out

Dear Readers,
The "Wayside Capital Improvement Survey" is getting into the hands of our members and friends. It was sent as an attachment with my weekly email up-date and a hard copy was included with the Newsletter. The Newsletter should reach people's homes by the weekend or early next week.
I am in the process of trying to figure out how to post the survey to this blog. Wish me luck.
-Dennis H-L

Three Principles

When Gerry Wieder worked with focus groups during the summer, he talked about three principles from a book by Ray Bowman & Eddy Hall:

1. Principle of Focus (Motivation):

"A church should only build when it can do so without shifting its focus from ministering to people to building a building."

2. Principle of Use (Need/Necessity):

"A church needs more space only when it is fully using the space it already has."

3. Principle of Provision (Financing):

"A church should build only when it can do so within the income God has provided and without

using funds needed for the church's present and future ministries to people."



Although there is some "building" in our suggestions, many of the things you will notice have more to to with bringing our facility up-to-date so we can more efficiently use the space we have. With the three principles in mind, people from the focus groups came up with the following list of concerns about our facility. At this point, these items have not been prioritized:

>Women's and men's restrooms

>The acoustics and decor of Fellowship Hall

>The Nursery and Sunday School rooms

>The need for "more space" generally

>Expanded office space

>Storage space (or lack thereof)



A survey will soon be circulated to the members and friends of Wayside, to help the Church Council prioritize our needs/wants and to give people an opportunity to weigh in on how we would finance these plans. The intention is to have the survey available in hard copy and electronically.

The results of the survey should be known by mid-January.

Gerry's Results

By next Monday, November 26th, I hope to have the results of Gerry Wieder's work posted on this site. Out of the focus groups that Gerry led, several suggestions were made. We are not at a concensus yet as to what needs to be done first, but we are working on that process. At the September forum, it was decided that a survey would go out to the congregation. The committee is in place and that will happen. We are not trying to re-do everything Gerry has already done, but rather reach a wider audience with his results.

What do you think?

In the spring of 2007, the Wayside Church Council asked Gerry Wieder to help the congregation take a look at our facilities and explore ideas of what we need/want as we move into the future. Over the summer, Gerry offered three after-church opportunities for people to come together and talk about these matters. On September 30th, an after-church informational meeting was held to hear the results of Gerry's findings. About 15 people stayed to hear his report. Since 15 represents only about 10% of Wayside's membership, the suggestion was made to put this issue on a blog where our members and friends can cyber-communicate with one another.
This is the first posting and my first blog, so bear with me. I will be asking Gerry to post his findings on the blog so people will have some background on his findings. Your comments will be appreciated and taken seriously. The Church Council wants to have a comprehensive plan to bring to the congregation which will include what we hope to do, how we will get the resources to do it and a time-line of when we can expect to get things done.
Enough for now. My intention is to keep this blog an "invitation only" site, so we are not getting outside advice. Simply send me an email and let me know that you want access to blog and you will be added to the list.