We certainly have missed you during this unusual time in history. There will likely be many stories to tell in the future. “Remember when we were not able to have church because of a virus that affected the world?”
Although our contact has been very limited, the church has not been idol during this time. Aside from the regular effort to provide a service, classes and prayer times, we have been busy serving as the focal point of a food distribution to meet needs throughout the community. A number of you have been actively involved by contributing food or funds to keep this vital ministry going. Others have helped put boxes of groceries together and many have delivered those food boxes to the homes around town. As of this writing God has given us the opportunity to serve more than 90 people. We average 18-22 boxes each Monday and Friday.
This letter is not about the food bank, however. We mention it only to draw your attention to the wondrous work God is doing amidst a difficult time.
We have also been working on details pertaining to the reopening of our economy and church. There have been some nice improvements made to the property. Charlie Ferguson has worked diligently on both the inside and outside – leading a group of others who have been painting the inside trim, taking up old plants and putting new ones in, and generally working to improve the look of our facility. Thank you, Charlie, for leading this effort. Thanks to all who have been helping and serving in this regard! Our audio visual team has also been working hard to improve the quality of our online services. Jeff Sak and Mark and Katie Sowa have been real troopers as they have studied best practices to improve the live streaming of our adult class and the service. They have worked many hours beyond the Sunday morning time to bring improvements to this important part of our ministry.
The purpose of this letter is to address a need that has been present for over a year and has become more pronounced as the weeks pass. Our facility technically has only one classroom designated for the children. As our church has grown, the largest growth we have witnessed has been in the number of children we serve. We typically have around 20 children on any given Sunday. However, over Easter weekend, Lisa provided special Easter packets for 54 kids!
The need for more classroom space is obvious.
What has not been so obvious is how to resolve this need.
Recently, Pastor Bill Griggs located a 24 foot by 64 foot modular building that has been sitting For Sale in Milton-Freewater. A couple of weeks ago 4 of us went to see the building and that was followed by a building inspection of this structure.
The building is not new. It was manufactured in 1989. It was used as an educational annex in the St. Helens school district. There is work needed on it. The draw to us has been the price. They are asking $25,000 which includes bringing it to the church and doing the tie-down (securing the structure to the ground). A new structure of this size goes for around $100,000. Even used ones are usually in the range of $75,000 to 80,000.
The Building and Facilities Committee believes this to be the best short-term option for our church. It would allow us to quickly have the classroom space we need. It should meet our needs for several years. In addition, it will have value when we are finished with it, so that we can recover some of our investment should we decide to sell it.
The committee believes it would take approximately $10,000 more to put on new siding, repair some of the sub-floor, build out the inside walls to allow for 4-5 rooms, and provide a stair and deck for the two doors on the side of the structure.
The plan would be to place the structure south of the playground. We would then tie the fencing to the side of the modular so as to enclose the whole space with the play area.
The church Board has approved this plan and the expenditure. A portion of the funds would come from the $20,000 that we have in the Northwest Baptist Foundation and the rest would come from our current General Fund which presently has a balance over $45,000.
An expenditure of this size needs the approval of the congregation membership.
Since we are not able to meet together as a group of that size, we are setting up three ways for you to vote on this matter. You can respond by mailing in your vote, dropping your vote ballot in our outdoor mailbox, or by voting online on our website.
You simply need to vote Aye or Nay to the motion before us. However, if you are opposed to this motion, we would like to hear from you regarding your reasons and whether you see a better alternative. We are open to other ideas but at this point we have not heard of any that meet the immediate need for the kind of expense that we are incurring. Other alternatives we have examined would require more time to implement and a much larger investment of funds.
You must be a covenant member for 2020 to vote. If you are not a member but would like to be, we have set up a place on our website to allow you to look at what membership means and to sign the covenant agreement.
We want our congregation to be comfortable with this decision and to work together to see it implemented. We have people already lined up to lead the effort to make the improvements that will be needed. Now we want the congregation to line up behind this decision so that we are moving forward, united. We want to be in step with what God has in mind for our congregation and the ministry we provide to the Boardman community.
In order to proceed on this matter in a timely manner, we need to set a deadline for voting. We are asking that you send in your vote or vote online by Friday, May 1. This will give you about ten days to review the issue, ask questions, and submit your vote. If you have questions, we have a place on the website where this letter has been posted. Simply write your question on the form below this text on the site. The question will not be made public.
Please pray about your decision. We want, first and foremost, to be directed by God and to move forward only in accordance to His will.
The Board of First Baptist Church of Boardman
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