A special meeting of the congregation will take place on Sunday, October 4, 2026 after morning worship (approximate time: 12:15 pm) to discuss financing of the ongoing building repairs. Please join us in person or via Zoom.
Note: full-time students and their spouses are eligible to vote, regardless of whether they have formally joined the congregation.
Context
We have some big bills coming due for the essential building repairs authorized at the November 2, 2025, special meeting of the congregation. While the capital campaign has done well and we have more than enough money pledged to cover the cost of the roof, we do not have all of that money today. Thus, in order to pay our contractors on time, we have brought the motions below.
To summarize motion 1: We will borrow from members of the congregation first, the building repair reserve second, and the endowment third. We do not believe that we will need to borrow from the endowment, but it will be close. And if we need to, we want to have that language already approved because it will need to be done quickly.
With regard to motion 2: We also have an issue with our title that is preventing us from getting a traditional mortgage. There is a lien left over from a 2000 mortgage that was not released when that mortgage was paid off by refinancing in 2003. We do not believe that we will need to secure a mortgage for the repair work, but we want to be able to should the need arise later. In general, life is also easier with a clean title. We want to hire an attorney to look into this.
Motion 1
The congregation authorizes the following:
- The treasurer or assistant treasurer to sign documents for loans from congregation members at 3% or lower interest with due dates keyed to either the start of additional work beyond the essential repairs or completion of the additional work. The sources of these loans will be confidential as the source of donations is also confidential.
- Temporary (borrowed) use of the building repair reserve for building repair program payments.
- Temporary borrowing from the congregation’s ELCA endowment principal of up to $300,000 to fund repair work. These loans are to be the highest priority for repayment as funds beyond costs become available. The congregation will be notified if any of the following occur:
- The first dollar is borrowed from the endowment
- $100k is borrowed from the endowment
- $200k is borrowed from the endowment
- $300k is borrowed from the endowment
Borrowing will be prioritized such that money is borrowed from the members of the congregation first, the building repair reserve second, and the endowment only if the other two options are not sufficient.
The total amount of borrowing authorized by this motion will not exceed outstanding commitments to the capital campaign.
Motion 2
The congregation authorizes an aggressive effort to engage real estate attorneys to clear the congregation’s real estate title of the 2000 mortgage lien.