Pastor Cara Scriven
In an effort to keep our members informed about the work that is happening in our congregation, below you will find a few updates on our biggest projects.
Finances
We are so grateful for all of the faithful givers in our congregation. Because of your continued gifts, we have been able to pay our staff, keep ministry going, and not worry about paying our obligations. In the month of July 2020, our income was slightly down from what we budgeted but our expenses were lower than we anticipated as well. Thus, we ended the month and year-to-date (7 months in) with a surplus.
Our Church Home Capital Campaign
In March, we begin our capital campaign to raise funds for several projects we had already begun including the sanctuary, flat roof, steeple and the back parking lot repairs, waterproofing of the outside brick, and abatement work in the Playcare and Education Wing classrooms. To date we have received $67,417.90 ($59,337.90 pledged and $8,080 unpledged) towards our $200,000 goal. There is another $37,838 that members have pledged making our total amount raised $97,176 or almost half of our goal. Our leadership team is so grateful for these gifts that allow us to continue to care for our building. If you have not yet pledged, it’s not too late!
Currently, the sanctuary and flat roofs have been repaired and a few of the classrooms have been remodeled (7, 9, & 10). The other items are still in process partly due to issues arising because of the pandemic. The Trustees continue to work hard to complete these much needed projects.
Pastor Melinda’s office with new paint and carpet (the old Conference Room).
Merger Team
The Merger Team has completed much of the formal merging work that needs to happen such as closing bank accounts and transferring funds. We are currently focused on packing items and cleaning out areas of the Summit church building. Due to COVID-19 and the need to limit interaction between members, we are discussing hiring movers to move larger items from Summit to Puyallup. In addition, we are working with our piano person to move the two pianos from the Summit church building.
We anticipate we will likely be asking for additional help in September to finish the work. If you are willing to help in anyway, I encourage you to connect with Pastor Melinda when she returns from vacation or watch the newsletter for an invitation to volunteer.
Sale of the Summit Building
Soon after our All Church Conference on Sunday, July 26th, the combined Trustees entered into a contract with a church, to purchase the Summit Church building. We anticipate that the closing date of this contract will be October 1, 2020. The inspection and appraisal took place yesterday, August 11, and all went well.
Reopening
Both Pierce County and Bishop Elaine Stanovsky have our congregation in Phase 2 of our reopening plan. In this Phase, our building remains closed and our staff are working from home. The Reopening Subcommittee of the Church Council is developing a reopening plan for when we are allowed to move into Phase 3. In this phase, worship will continue to be online, the building will remain closed, and a few, but limited number of in-person ministry may happen with pastoral approval.
The Church Council reviewed the team’s Phase 3 plan at their last meeting. A few questions arose that the subcommittee will address and bring back to the Church Council in September. Once the Council recommends the plan, we will send it on to the District Superintendent for her approval. Our hope is to have the plan approved in the near future so that we can enact it as soon as the Bishop AND Pierce County have moved us into Phase 3.
Puyallup UMC’s reopening plan has us returning to in-person worship when Bishop Stanovsky AND Pierce County move us into Phase 4. Because of this, we, Pastor Melinda and I, believe it is unlikely that this will happen in 2020. Thus, we highly encourage all of our members to prepare themselves to not to meet in person till at least the Spring of 2021, if not later. Our staff are working hard to create digital programing and socially distanced mission opportunities for the Fall of 2020. Please watch for updates and opportunities across our communication platforms.
If you were looking for an update that is not here, please email Pastor Cara or call the church office so she can provide you with the information you were looking for.