Here are some quick updates from our most recent Parish Council meeting.

Response to this challenge has been fantastic. We’re just over halfway to our goal and we’ve seen a notable increase in the number of people who have signed-up for auto-giving. Thank you!

One reason auto-giving is so important is that it gives us insight into what giving will be in a predictable way. This helps us manage the finances of the church and forecast our financial needs more effectively. Your auto-giving helps in more ways than you may realize.

If anything, our work to get a new lift installed so our sanctuary is more accessible for everyone has provided opportunities for spiritual lessons in patience and perseverance. That’s my positive spin on things.

After more back-and-forth with the City of Atlanta than you care to know about, we hope (pray) that we have submitted all the required documents, engineering plans, and drawings to meet current building codes. Once we have the official permits from the city, construction work will begin right away. Anticipate that work will take at least two weeks, and there will be minor inconveniences for us to navigate entering the building during this time. Our hope is that this work will be completed this summer and that, by Labor Day, we will enjoy a new way to “widen the welcome” for everyone.

We appreciate your patience with this. Please also take a moment to thank Gary Montgomery, who has been handling all the back-and-forth with the city and the contractors on this important project.

• We’ve started planning ahead for the likely replacement of the heating/cooling units which service the back portion of our building. The current units are, to put it kindly, out-of-date. One example – parts are no longer manufactured for key components of our units. We are developing a plan of action so we are ready when the time comes to replace these units. This will be a major undertaking as some units are located on the roof of the building.
• We are in discussions with two different parties who are looking to rent space within our building. Rental income from currently unused portions of our building are a secondary source of income that helps enable our ministry, so keeping renters is important.
• Members of the congregation has suggested that our church have a more formal presence at the Atlanta LGBT Pride events in October. This is something our staff will take the lead on, with support from the council. If you have ideas or thoughts on this topic, please reach out to any staff member or council member. Underscoring part of what I love so much about our church – many of the people advocating for this are straight and feel strongly that we need to get our affirming message out to the attendees of this event.

The goal of these updates is to keep you informed. Thank you for all you do to make our church such a welcoming and exciting place for everyone.