Dear Epiphany Congregational Members,
As an outcome of our meeting with Bishop Strickland in February, the Transition Committee (Phil Goetz, Wally Knight, John Kelyman, Martha Garner, Pastor TroyAnn, and Rev. Patti Axel from Synod) has been considering what to do with our property and how to balance our budget through outreach and growth.
Financially, we are better off than many in this economic downturn. First and foremost, because of everyone’s generosity (even with COVID-19), giving is almost exactly aligned with budget and expenses are down 6.5% compared to budget. Thank you! However, our 2020 plan is not where we hoped to be. Although we did receive a matching grant from the Synod for outreach (thank you again for your generosity!), our plans have been postponed because our targeted venues for advertising (theaters) have been closed. Without the ability to grow, reaching a balanced budget becomes particularly challenging due to our mortgage on the land. Specifically, even with our budget successes, we are still losing approximately $1000 per month (which almost exactly matches our principal and interest monthly payment on the land). Additionally, the CD that held the funds from the capital campaign from several years ago has now been completely depleted. We have been able to add some buffer with the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan, but this will only be beneficial long term if we are successful in getting it converted to a grant.
Therefore, the Transition Committee is recommending, and Council has approved, that we have a Congregational Meeting after service on Sunday August 30 to discuss the future of Home Place. The Committee is recommending that we either:
- Continue as is, which means running a budget deficit which slowly draws down our cash reserves (currently at $54,300 excluding the PPP Loan).
- Put the land up for sale. If a bid is offered and Council approves it, this will not only help balance our budget, but also it will (a) put us in a better position to call a permanent pastor and (b) provide additional funds for identifying a worship location that would provide more room for growth.
We recognize that this is an exceedingly difficult discussion because when the property was purchased, we had hopes for growing and building a church there. Additionally, our Garden Crew has put many, many hours into keeping the property looking nice and growing LOTS of produce for charitable distribution. Because of this, we are offering two discussion meetings before the Congregational Meeting.
- On Wednesday August 26 at 7:00 PM, there will be a Zoom discussion (join here).
- On Thursday August 27 at 7:00 PM, there will be an in-person discussion at the Kelyman’s house (rain date would be Friday August 28). Due to space limitations, we need you to RSVP for the in-person discussion only by e-mailing Chris Kelyman.
If the discussion leans towards option #2, here is the draft motion to be voted on at the Congregational Meeting:
Resolved: The congregation of Epiphany Lutheran Church approves putting the land at Home Place (southwest corner of Wolf River Blvd and Bray Station Rd in Collierville, TN) up for sale with the proceeds to be used for 1) paying off the mortgage; 2) going into the general fund with preference to be used for finding a larger worship location but understanding that it might also be used for general operating needs.
Since our by-laws require a written ballot, we will take attendance at the Congregational Meeting and then send an email to those people in attendance with the ballot as an attachment. Each family will then have to drop off the ballot(s) at the Chapel on Sunday August 30 from 3 - 5 PM. If you do not have a working printer, extra ballots will be available at the Chapel. An announcement with the vote results will be sent on Monday August 31.
