May 31^st 2007 - LOTI Resource Team Meeting Minutes

Present: Judyth Bigelow, Amy Hasbargen, Denise Wilkens, Susanne Haas, Ross Bartels, Jeff Hickstein, John Bergford, Steve Maurelli

(absent Kermit Kramer, Michelle McCreery)

Ross Bartels called the meeting to order at 7:00pm and offered a prayer.

Ross Bartels was elected as the leader of the team.

Jeff Hickstein made the Parsonage task team's report available to Ross Bartels and gave some background to the group on previous discussions.

A discussion of the team's purpose followed: We believe we are charged with making an inventory of the resources the church has at its disposal, which includes human resources, time and talent, financial resources and capital assets

We agreed that one of the discussions we should have is what we should do with the parsonage, what it would cost to fix it, and for what it could be used as well as what it would mean to sell it. It was also mentioned that the church itself is empty much of the week and whether we could do more with the space in the church.

A question was raised whether the purpose of the team was all about social outreach or whether we should talk more generally about the mission of our church. We discussed the fact that all issues are connected and that growth (of the church), youth ministry and stewardship as well as attracting congregation members from the neighborhood (Kenwood/Isles, Lowry Hill and other surrounding neighborhoods) were all important goals.

The team is looking at a timeline of roughly 2 months - until July 29^th, at which time a congregational meeting will be held and factual findings will be presented to allow the congregation to make an informed decision about outreach projects as well as what should be done with the parsonage. We will meet every other week until July 29^th.

We discussed what the team's deliverable really is - whether we are to provide information on available resources to the Mission Project team or whether we are to provide information to the congregation.

It was decided that our deliverable is: Facts about all resources, including the parsonage and with respect to the latter, the cost of fixing it, the cost of keeping it, the possible uses (including renting it), permitted uses, land banking, potential future use for a pastor (as a parsonage), use as collateral, the value of the property (with and without the building), including offers which may already have been made to the congregation.

Action: Ross will find out from Mark Duff whether such offers exist and what the $ amount is.

Action: John will find out the potential property tax for parsonage, if we were to rent it.

A brainstorming session about LOTI's resources followed. We listed the following:

Action: Judy will find out more about parsonage use

Church building and land:

Kitchen

Sanctuary

Fellowship Hall (including stage)

Christy Room

Class rooms (8)

Nursery

Library

Music Room

Meditation Room

Organist Room

Two offices

Organ

Pianos

Parsonage property

(We believe the mortgage of $220,000 is on the parsonage - to be confirmed)

Intangible resources

Giving potential of the congregation ( based on estimated collective annual income of $20M +, 3% average giving by all members would result in potential $600,000 annual budget)

Planned giving potential

Note: Our capital fund drives and fundraising for Habitat project prove that there are untapped resources.

Action: Denise will get information on current giving trends

Human resources (Time and talent, people, faith and spirituality - for social outreach, evangelism) - Is there an underutilization of our human resources?

Action: Amy will find out what percentage of the congregation is currently involved in church activities and obtain a list of time and talent resources

Action: Ross and Jeff will talk to Mary Sabatke from the Mission Project team about conducting a survey (online) - what amount of time would people be willing to spend on church activities

External resources - such as Thrivent, neighbors (who are not members) - other?

We briefly discussed the impact of what we might do with the parsonage on immediate neighbors.

Action: Jeff and Denise will talk to our immediate neighbors to find out what their thoughts are

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm.

Next meeting is set for Tuesday, June 12^th, 2007, 7:00 pm

Respectfully submitted, Susanne Haas