2004 Annual Report

In Memorium: We mourn the loss of our friend and fellow committee member Don Lynch.

This committee of session was born out of the work completed through the leadership of Dave Costain and the participants of the Building Needs Feasibility Committee, with tremendous support provided by David Pease and Louis Kilgore. The prior 3 years of interviews, surveys, planning, trails & errors and many discussions of the Building Needs Feasibility Committee provided the foundation upon which this effort began. This committee was commissioned by session in January 2004 with elder Betsy Kamienowski as chair, and elders Beth Bowlby, John Casale, Bill Dettelback, Ray Ferreira, and Carol Wilson as committee members. Meetings promptly began, and the following stated purpose and committee structure was developed and then approved by session in March.

MISSION STATEMENT:
As we are compelled by God to move forward with our call to carry out God’s love in word and deed; we will preserve, prepare,and build the whole church in its ministry in the greater Raritan Valley over the next two decades. With this clarity of mission, we will utilize the talents and technologies of this age to equip current and future generations to build up the body of Christ. In service to our Lord Jesus Christ, we seek to continue the church’s mission of welcoming, worshiping, caring and learning. In gratitude to God for the pioneering heritage of our forebears, we rededicate ourselves with the words of the Reverend Titus Davis in 1898; “My children, go on. There is still greater work for you to do.”

COMMITTEE STRUCTURE:
Architect Search – develop strategies and processes to select and award design of site to firm, liaison with Construction team, Capital Campaign team, Finance Commission, and legal counsel. The entire committee was involved in the interview, ranking, and selection process.
Congregational Awareness – develop plan and processes to keep session and congregation aware of our work and enable congregational input, liaison with Stewardship and Communications.
Construction Coordination – develop a strategy for construction management as part of the bid package following the capital campaign.
Capital Campaign – develop strategies and processes to select method(s) for fund raising and contractor as determined, liaison with Architect on cost estimates, and the Stewardship, Finance, and Communication Commissions.

Work quickly began on development of an informational brochure, which was made available in the fall congregational meeting. Updates on architectural plans and budgetary construction costs will be made available with the launch of the capital campaign. Research also began on architects to consider for the interview process, along with a bid package that included the results of the Building Needs Feasibility Study, the prioritization of needs to be addressed as part of this committee’s work, a floor plan outline of the sanctuary, CAVE, and choir rehearsal levels, and an evaluation rubric which provided an orderly method to compare both intrinsic offerings and numerical data (dollars, time, percentages) among bidding architects. DRG Associates, with David Pease as the architect, was awarded the $ 15,000 contract to deliver all plans and estimates needed to develop a construction bid package, with approval from session.

Evaluation was also done on capital campaign options: grass roots, use of CFCS: a fund-raising service which supports also PC-USA, or use of an independent fund-raising service. With approval from session CFCS was awarded the contract ($18,909) to assist in the development of a capital campaign and to assist in presentation of this campaign to the congregation, with consideration also to the needs of the annual giving campaign.

In November, the congregation was presented a summary of the plan of the committee. Motion was made and enthusiastically approved to proceed with a capital campaign in the first quarter of 2005 to gather subscriptions to complete the prioritized needs identified, and to carry a component of mission. By end of year, plans were confirmed to gather in celebration of our ministry with a congregational dinner 2/25/05 and to launch the campaign 2/27/05.
It is with deep respect and high regards for the intelligence, commitment, and talent of all those who have participated in the work of this committee this year that I offer my thanks. We are grateful for the vision, the leadership, and the dedication in his ministry - our pastor and friend, Rev. Lou Kilgore.

Current Members: Beth Bowlby, John Casale, Lester Erich, Ray Ferreira, Betsy Kamienowski (chair), Carol Wilson
Past Members: Bill Dettelback, Mark Huddell, Leslie Wilson
Staff Support: Martha Costain, Lou Kilgore, Linda Owens, Tom Rodgers, Peg Sutherland