Congregational Meeting Agenda
July 10, 2022
Call to Order in Prayer (Matt Odum, Moderator)
Appoint Clerk of Meeting (TBD)
Presentation of Nominees for Office of Elder (Matt Odum on behalf of the session)
After having gone through the examination process as summarized in BCO 24-1a-e, we the session of Redeemer present Jason Morehead, Yinka Akinyemi, and Tyler Martin before the congregation on July 10th as eligible for election to the office of ruling elder (BCO 24-1e).
Members of Redeemer will have at least 30 days to examine these nominees prior to a congregational meeting, at a date to be determined (in August) to vote.
Please be in prayer for them and for Redeemer on this decision and reach out to any and all of these nominees with any questions you may have about their desire to serve in this role.
CityLight Property Discussion (Moderated and led by Matt Odum, Troy Power, and Phil Erdman)
Thank you for your willingness to consider the opportunity that has been presented to Redeemer to prayerfully consider purchasing the CityLight Church Building and property on 29th and O Street.
For some of you this seems quick and for others this day couldn’t have come soon enough.
Following our meeting on June 12, 2022, we offered additional opportunities for you to offer questions to the session as well as to tour the church building.
Many of you have asked questions in meetings as well as privately and we have attempted to capture that information for you at https://www.welcometoredeemer.com/citylight-building.
As members of Redeemer, we have shared vows and commitments to one another. We also have a shared responsibility to make decisions for the good of the church that God has established and especially in the areas of buying property. Today, we as elders want to hear from you and understand more clearly what thoughts you have today and what additional questions you have for us. If you are willing to share your current thoughts on if we should purchase the CityLight property, we would welcome that feedback. We do have additional information to share and will do that either within the questions you have or in the event you don’t ask them directly, we will share that info with you all today so you all have that information to consider.
What do the elders think of moving/purchasing this property?
We appreciate that question and want to share that with you but if we do that before others share their opinions, it will likely affect the opinions of others. The blessing of being a Presbyterian Church in America is we are part of a larger community within our city and that not only provides accountability but also encouragement to us individually and corporately. In addition to the meetings we have had as Redeemer, we are also scheduled to meet with the session from Grace Chapel this week regarding their potential collaboration. We will have a recommendation that will be shared with all of you once we have completed these meetings.
Redeemer has always measured growth not in the number of people in the pews but in the impact outside of its walls as well as in equipping the gathered community. That said, there is always room for intrinsic growth within our gathered body regardless of a person’s role. We all need the gospel as much as those outside our worshiping community.
We long to see more of a commitment to Lord’s day worship, responsive volunteers, and future leaders but we are overall encouraged by the sheer amount of people added to Redeemer over the past 3 years and their/our continual maturing in the gospel.
We are encouraged by the possible addition of new elders and deacons (later this year/early next) at Redeemer but we can definitely see the extension of that impact increasing in either the possibility of this new space on 28th & O or in our current location. We see both options as a win/win. (We also plan to do more regular elder/deacon training in the coming years, which will encourage and bolster our church and future plants.)
The money we currently have in reserves would be a joy to use to further another plant in Lincoln, whether lead by Redeemer or Grace or Zion, if we choose not to move forward with this CityLight opportunity. It would also be great to move and open up our current location in the north bottoms to a future plant if we choose to move.
The risk of moving to a new and bigger space would be an act of faith, but so is staying here and seeking God’s blessing to achieve a higher potential of our facilities and people at our current location.
That said, we are content no matter what the future holds and will still look to help (fiscally and with members) with a future plant originated by the two 2 other PCA churches or ourselves sometime within the 2030 timeframe.
Are the other PCA churches helping financially?
Zion is not in a position to help at this time.
Grace could be a possibility and we are planning to meet with their session on Monday, July 11 to discuss where we have shared vision and goals.
Regardless of any financial participation both are supportive.
What are our other options? (Warehouses, churches, etc.)
Some have been prayerfully looking for other properties in Lincoln for some time. There have not been any properties that would be worth presenting yet. We have asked those in real estate in Lincoln (both inside and outside of Redeemer) for any possible opportunities and they don’t have any other properties that fit either the model of a church building available nor a commercial property that could be remodeled for the space and cost that CityLight offers.
That doesn’t mean we have to move, but it means we have an actual opportunity to consider and that is why this one is different than other properties.
It also doesn’t mean that staying at this location does not have its own risks for the long term growth of Redeemer, it just means we don’t move to that location and continue to prayerfully call on the Lord to provide what we need here or elsewhere.
What is the timeline for a decision?
At the June 12 dialogue we had no deadline from CityLight. Since then we have learned they have placed an offer on another property that they would remodel and they would need to know from us a decision by the end of July at the latest to help them understand their options and risks in regards to their offer on that other property. Our expectation is to schedule a congregational meeting on July 24 for a formal vote on this opportunity.
Have inspections been done?
Yes and No.
We have not hired an official property inspector and will if we proceed further but we have asked those trained and responsible for maintenance of commercial and church properties to look at the property and to provide an initial assessment for further inspection and due diligence. Here are their findings:
General:
The building appears to be well built and in pretty good condition. We didn't see any obvious issues with the very expensive to replace items.
Things that were good:
The roof on the sanctuary is fairly new and in good shape. The flat roof over the addition is in good shape.
The 3 HVAC units on the roof appear to be in decent shape and they all function. Two of the three are newer. One is quite old (but a good brand). They would all need to be inspected by an HVAC person. One of the newer units looked like it had been worked on recently and not entirely put back together correctly.
The 2 AC units for the sanctuary need to be cleaned but are recent and appear to be working.
The boiler for the baseboard heat in the sanctuary and sanctuary basement is recent and in good shape.
The parking lot is in good shape.
The exterior of the building is in good shape.
Things that we noticed that would need to be addressed:
Drainage on the front and East sides needs to be improved. It appears that water has the potential to fill up areas near the front lower windows. We did NOT see significant indications of water damage on the inside of the building.
Back steps/entryway needs concrete work.
Birds getting into the Sanctuary attic.
Water heaters were all old. Expect to replace them soon.
The electrical boxes in the basement need some clean up work. An electrician's opinion on that would be wise.
Kitchen needs remodeling. It is very small for the size of the building.
The bathroom situation needs careful consideration. For the size of the building, there aren't very many fixtures. If you make the downstairs “kids” bathrooms off limits to adults during church that limits things further. We would want to know what type of remodeling we could get permitted by the city given rules on accessibility that kick in once you change anything. For instance could we expand the bathrooms in the sanctuary basement or would that force us to do a bunch of code updates to the rest of the building?
Other observations:
Standing room before/after services seems to be an issue. The entryway is not very large compared to the seating in the sanctuary. People don't have a great place to stand and talk before/after service.
Things I didn’t look very carefully at:
Windows. They seemed OK but I didn’t look at them very carefully. The windows in the older part of the building appear to have been replaced sometime after the addition was added.
Church offices. I didn't go in there.
What is the “map” of the 2030 plan? Is there one?
Yes. Maps are a result of a path once traveled and documented for others. Our map is no different. It is full of starts and stops and turns, but it is fundamentally about being a community that is being fundamentally changed by the Gospel. Because of that, our map forward recognizes there is a path we have planned but the Lord directs our steps. We want to be a church-planting church. We want to plant a church or help plant a church that’s healthy enough to plant another church by 2030. Why? So more people come to believe in Jesus and are saved by the gospel through Redeemer and/or sister churches.
Recall that in the Fall of 2021, Matt taught through the Vision, Culture and Growth of Redeemer and provided handouts that outline many aspects of the map ahead.
Notice of Congregational Meeting on July 24, 2022 at Redeemer Church to vote on the possible acquisition of CityLight on 29th and O Street.
Adjourn - Close in Prayer (Matt Odum)
Reference: Previous Meeting Questions: 20220612 City Light Dialogue