First of all, the Building Vision Group has filed an application with the state to become a 501(c)3 with the name the Town Clock Community Development Corporation. We chose to be a community development corporation because we do not want to exclusively be a building/housing development corporation. Rather, our vision is to include programming as other forms of ministry to the community. These visions will require time to develop, but we are looking into new things. Also, we added two persons to the board of the 501(c)3 who live with the need for supportive housing.

Second, we have met with two architectural firms, representatives from the NJ Housing Mortgage Financing Agency (HMFA), two development companies, two supportive services agencies, and the New Brunswick Housing Authority, as well as with Mayor Jim Cahill, who also took the time to do a site visit. Needless to say, there is a lot of support and excitement about the proposed project.

Third, along with all of this, we have worked on a budget for the upcoming year. With this budget, we begin to realize the need for funding a “building director”, or, better, an “executive director” for the project. This will have to be worked on and a job description developed. We are still in the preliminary stages of this.

Finally, our next steps will be: to agree upon an architectural firm, to look at design plans for the living units and the sanctuary, to bring those plans to a small group of the congregation for further discussion, to get commitments on funding, to visit several locations which have developed such housing and see how the program partners are working together.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me or anyone else on the team. We would really enjoy speaking to you about this project.

Another new member of the Core Committee is Janet Waanders, who chairs the “Mother Committee” but who has also agreed to be involved with the Core Committee. Other members of the committee are, former member Sean Kath, Gary Bernhofer, Liz Hance, Greg Ritter (owner of George Street Camera) and Pastor Hartmut.

One very well received email that Ezra sent to the committee challenged them to start thinking about the following:

An “official” plan of attack, that includes

1. Time table

a. When to make phone calls
i. Businesses during week and daytime. Personal calls in evenings
ii. Any issues with summer fund-raising due to vacations, etc.?

b. Over what period of time

2. Finalization of lists
a. By category
b. By target(s)
c. By caller(s)

3. Proposed script

4. Identification of individuals available to make calls

5. Agreed-upon follow-up procedure(s)

Thanks to Brittany Aran and Core Committee members, the first list, NJ Fortune 500 top companies, has been researched with 10 companies (of the 42) showing some willingness to support funding projects like the preservation project. More follow up is needed.

The Core Committee is still looking for volunteers to compile list of possible supporters. These lists will include local banks, lawyers, accountants etc. If you think you can help, please contact Sherri Novack at kvak@optonline.net.

1. Form a 501(c)3.
2. Meet with HMFA (Housing Mortgage Financing Agency) to determine viability of project from their end, including funding.
3. Meet with Monarch Housing Associates, Inc. to see what support of this project they may provide.
4. Meet with possible Program Partners to determine a “homeless population”.
5. Continue to meet with Coming Home of Middlesex County, Developers from the Highland Park Affordable Housing Corp to plan funding and the next steps.
6. Meet with the New Brunswick City official, for instance: Glenn Patterson, Director of Planning, Community & Economic Development.
7. Eventually come up with further plans for the design of the housing (size of rooms), as well as the Sanctuary, including the location of the Library and the design of the worship space: chancel area and pews.
8. Continue to inform consistory and the congregation through newsletter articles.
9. Plan for another congregational event, providing further design plans.

We thank all of you who participated in the discussion. It was very lively and provided the group with some guidance for our future visits with the various organizations, which are mentioned above.

The Building Vision Group has since met with: HMFA; John Clark – Exececutive Director Of New Brunswick Housing & Redevelopment Authority; and architects from Kitchen and Associates – a firm experienced in providing plans for such projects. All of these meetings have provided us with suggestions and good ideas about how this building project may unfold.

Regarding our application for a 501(c)3, we hope to have it sent off by the end of the month.

On May 2nd from 11:45 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., the Building Vision Ad-hoc Committee is presenting the feasibility study of the sanctuary redesign to the entire congregation, as well as the next steps to be taken if we decided to continue with this project. We hope that many –if not all of you — stay after worship to participate in the discussion and vote.

This ad-hoc committee needs to receive support from the congregation in order to continue to meet with housing authorities and other funding sources for this project. In truth, there is much support coming from various organizations which are encouraging us to pursue this vision, however, in order for us to move forward, we need to have your approval.

This redesign, as you will come to know during the presentation, holds many ramifications — structural changes, further ministry outreach, and even income resource. We hope that you are willing to listen to the vision of the work and to provide some thoughtful reflection on how this is expressing the love of God to our surrounding community.

During the month of May, we will begin construction on the outside: church roof and steeple will be our primary projects. And then there is our feasibility study on reshaping the interior of our sanctuary. First results will be presented during coffee hour on May 2nd.

With so much brick-and-mortar work going on, it is important that we always know why we are doing this. It would be too little, if our response were a simple reference to the need of an updated bathroom, a renovated steeple, and a flawless roof. I don’t think that remodeling in churches can be an end in itself.

What then is behind all our remodeling? Peter Drucker, the famous business thinker and doyen of modern management, provides some valuable insight. I encountered his work through a newsletter article by Rev. Tim Halverson. Halverson is pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral, FL, where my father-in-law worships.

Pondering the burden of yet another building project, Pastor Halverson remembered one of Drucker’s main insights:

“I thought to myself, ‘Do we really want to go through another major building project?’ Then I remembered that one of Drucker’s guiding principles for modern business management is that an organization begins to die the day it is run for the benefit of the insiders and not for the benefit of the outsiders. Think about this in terms of the church – once we become self-absorbed we lose our vision. In the end, Pastor Halverson summarized, ‘The church that exists only for its members has lost touch with Jesus.’

In a way, we Christians have known this all along. Jesus, himself, said, according to John, “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25) Drucker’s insights seem to be nothing but a modern application of this principle. From this vantage point it is important to maintain that we have not remodeled our bathroom just for ourselves. Rather, we wanted it functional and inviting for the large number of people who use it every day: The guests of House of Manna, the members of the various community groups that meet under our roof, as well as the partner churches that worship in our halls.

The same can be said about the steeple and the architecture to which our preservation project is devoted. We take the efforts upon us, because we believe that an aspiring city like New Brunswick needs the reminder of our steeple in its skyline. As responsible Christians, we cannot turn our back on this city and the powerful corporations that shape so much of its life. We want to be visible present with our heritage that spans centuries.

We also want to be present for those in need of shelter. Add the enormous space of our sanctuary to Pastor Halverson’s reflections, and you will quickly see one major reason why our Consistory and its Building Vision Team wanted to explore the possibility of reconfiguring the sanctuary. It was their way of taking the benefit of the outsider into account. Ultimately this is why we are a serving church.

Mr. Kruhly’s lecture gave the many gathered in Fellowship Hall an historic perspective of the development of architecture on this continent, beginning with the meeting house style, which was added on to with a foyer and eventually a steeple. Furthermore, the last fifty years has shown an ever increasing preference for the less ornate — almost barn-like — extroverted structures which are more and more open to the natural world.

Mr. Kruhly also touched on the subject of our own considerations regarding a remodeling of the sanctuary interior, for which we have employed him to provide us with a feasibility study. He briefly showed the slides of what such a change could look like.

Sometime in April, the Building Vision Group plans to invite the congregation to hear more about these ideas and to respond with their own thoughts, hopes and dreams.

This month, Westfield Architects collected pre-qualification forms from the potential contractors involved with Phase I of our project. Following this, Westfield Architects called for references and sent them for approval by the New Jersey Historic Trust (NJHT).

As soon as the NJHT approves the bidder’s list, the bidding documents will be distributed. The bids are due in the second half of March. If all goes according to plan, our Consistory will vote on particular contractors in April. At the same time, our Preservation Team will want to coordinate our choice of contractors with neighboring Christ Episcopal Church. Cooperating in this way, we hope to be economically more efficient. Phase I construction is scheduled to begin during the second half of May. This is when the public will notice progress.

Since our grants from NJHT and from the City of New Brunswick will be paid by reimbursement, there will not be much news prior to the beginning of the construction. The exception is, of course, our reimbursement for previous construction under the NJHT grant. This depends now on recording an easement on our buildings with Middlesex County. NJHT is currently drafting this document, but Consistory will have to approve it before we can bring it to the county office.

There is some development regarding the state grant covering the cost of remediation for our former underground oil tank. The grant has been set aside by the Department of Environmental Protection, but requires review by the NJ Economic Development Authority who will have the final decision.

For those of you who need some more planning, we provide the following calendar in this month’s newsletter.

Along these lines, the Consistory agreed to hire an architect for a feasibility study of the sanctuary building. Mr. James Oleg Kruhly of Kruhly Architects was approved. While his firm will be writing up the feasibility study, Mr. Kruhly has also offered to provide a lecture to our congregation, since this “investigation” of a possible re-molding of the worship space, et. al. is happening more often than we might think in many congregations.

Mr. Kruhly has given this lecture while in London, since his expertise is well-known in the area of historic churches. We are very grateful for his generous offer (He will not be charging us an extra fee for the lecture.), and the Task Force is quite sure that the lecture will be eye-opening.

So please plan to remain a bit longer at coffee hour on Sunday, Feb 21st. Mr. Kruhly’s PowerPoint lecture is titled: The Changing Nature of Places of Worship. This should increase our understanding and sense of meaning for such an interior remodeling.