An open letter to the congregation of
Duke Memorial United Methodist Church
20 July 2011
“The times, they are a changing.” And so it is at Duke Memorial. A task force, created by your Church Council is hard at work studying how to make our facilities more economically viable. We have a wonderful plant, valued at approximately $14,000,000, but it is getting along in age, and as such, costs more each year to maintain. Yes, we are blessed to have Memorial Church Funds to assist in that but they have their limits as well, and when an emergency, such as the loss of the Education building air conditioning, comes along, resources are stretched to their limits. Also, reserves for pending needs (the 100 year old roof, for example) need to be provided. Accordingly, Council commissioned a task force to investigate and prioritize ways to make the facilities more self-sustaining, thus freeing pledged funds for the programs and missions of the church.
The task force will be considering expanding existing programs and uses as well as new and imaginative uses of the facilities. We solicit your thoughts and ideas as well. Please feel free to contact any of the members of the task force with possible solutions to our challenge. No idea is too outrageous for our consideration. We also solicit your support and prayers for our efforts. As our work progresses, we will keep you advised of possibilities and progress.
While I appreciate the many ministries and programs of our church I am very concerned about the care and maintenance of our historic buildings. I would be more inclined to give of my time, talent and treasure if the Memorial Church Fund was designated a 501c3 public charity and I could donate and write off gifts to the fund.
I believe that for every attempt to make the facility self sustaining, we need to make an attempt to increase our “endowment,” the Memorial Church Fund.
Who are the members of the task force? I guess we need to know who we should contact!
Leta
Please email dukememorial@dukememorial.org to request the Facilities Usage Task Force member’s list.