Resurrection Updates

Over this past fall through our Connect Bible study I have been swimming in the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5. Although there is similar list of blessings in Luke, Matthew’s list is a bit more comforting, which is something that we all need. Matthew gives us a list of things that point to our reality and the hope that is still present. However, Matthew also includes ideals that we should pursue, to chase after with the intent of catching… like peace, righteousness, and mercy. It is in pursuing these things that we wear God’s name… we are called children of God. Part of that pursuit includes care for the health of our worshipping community, our kids, and our wider community.

That is why we have decided to continue our online only worship. Jesus does not include a “blessed are the stubborn” in the list. At times I wish he did though, because the stubbornness in me longs to return to in person worship. This summer outdoors was life-giving to us all. However, we do know what scripture says about stubbornness – ³⁵ The wise will inherit honor, but stubborn fools, disgrace. (Pro 3:35) Sounds a bit like the beatitudes listed in Luke. A bit harsher than Matthew. Now you know why I like the Matthew list a bit more.

We will continue to develop creative ways to be community with and for one another and we will keep you up to date each week. We continue to be guided by Minnesota Department of Health, the CDC, and our local schools. We are also guided by research and education around this pandemic. We have included a link to a presentation that was recently given at St. Olaf College in Northfield MN. (Where my son attends.) Take a look.

https://institute.stolaf.edu/public-programs/2020-2021/public-policy-and-covid-19/

 

Blessings to you all.

Pastor Paul Dean

As we move toward indoor worship and ministry activities, we are seeking your feedback. Please complete this survey with several questions regarding your current feelings and returning to church activities by September 24.

What a year. We’ve probably all said this in multiple ways, and we will probably say some version of that for years to come. For me and my family 2020 is a year of major transition as my son heads off to college and my daughter is now driving with a permit. I imagine that all of us have had and will continue to experience lots disruptions.

Our church has experienced disruptions. Our spiritual lives have not been bolstered by in person gatherings. We have had to learn new ways of being together and while that has been wonderful for part of our community… to be honest… not all of us find that to be accessible or life giving. However, we are continuing to work out plans to gather in smaller groups and to find our way back to indoor worship at some point this fall.

While our normal practices have been disrupted, the leadership of Resurrection has been solid. Rock solid. Our Mission Leadership Team along with our Finance Team, Property Image Team, Land and Building Team, Stewardship Team and our staff and ministry teams have worked incredibly hard to make the necessary adjustments and corrections when needed. I will outline several of those in this letter.

The first is our current financial health. Please review the included note from our Treasurer Brian Tri. He outlines our current financial position and some steps we felt we needed to take to respond to the pandemic. We know each summer historically we do have a dip in giving but the dip in giving started earlier in April and may continue later in the fall, longer than usual. These are uncertain times for sure and we are still moving into our mission and vision which means we are continuing to seek solid financial footing. I encourage all of us to consider our giving.

The second is some exciting news about our land and building. For years Resurrection has been deferring maintenance on its property due to financial constraints. We have had to put off maintaining our parking surface, our rooftop heating and cooling units and our roof. Our building is simply getting to the point of its life cycle where things are failing, cracking, and leaking but now we are in a financial position to fix those areas and here are the reasons why.

First is that your giving over the past three years has been steady and responsive to the God’s mission, leadership and needs of Resurrection Lutheran Church. Your generosity combined with brilliant financial planning from our MLT, Finance Team and the Treasurer, we were able to pay off the assessment for the roundabout and then include that same amount we were saving each month towards maintenance projects in our 2020 budget. That savings will pay for the parking lot maintenance and the rooftop unit replacement without adding any additional increase to the 2020 budget. Thank you for your continued generosity!

Now we come to the leaky roof. That is a bit more of a heavy financial lift, but Resurrection has been blessed by our relationship with Inez Oehlke and her family. The Oehlke trust has gifted Resurrection just under $750,000. Yes… not a typo and utterly amazing. However, those funds are protected and restricted per an agreement with her and Resurrection before she passed.  A letter of understanding drawn up by Resurrection’s leadership on June 14, 2016 outlines the agreement.

“As per your wishes, your gift will be spent on capital improvements to the property. Specifically, we will use these funds for demolition of those buildings that do not fit into the ministry plan of Resurrection, as well as upgrading and adding to existing buildings on our property. This gift will not be placed in the general fund for regular operational expenses.”

In that spirit, and with that guidance, the Mission Leadership Team has cautiously but unanimously decided to use some of that gift to upgrade the leaky roof with a new roof. This is a gift that is being carefully curated. With these projects, timing is also an issue as we save on costs if the new roof and the new rooftop units are replaced at the same time. Also, as the building is at low usage, we can complete all these tasks before any possible fall ministries take place.

I have included the financial breakdown for these projects along with a report from Brian Tri our treasurer. Resurrection leadership does its best to be transparent and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out. Yes, things are a quite different right now, but God still meets us with hope and blessing!

Peace,

Pastor Paul Dean

 

 

 

Resurrection Lutheran Church

2^nd Quarter Financial Update

Resurrection entered 2020 on solid financial footing.  We operated a near-balanced budget in 2019, have not had to draw on our line of credit since 2018, and we have received designated and estate gifts that will serve future needs of Resurrection well.  These are wonderful financial blessings but cannot be relied upon for day-to-day operating needs.

Enter COVID-19.  For our safety and those we interact with, we stopped in-person services and turned to online services in March.  The Finance Team and Mission Leadership Team met shortly thereafter to plan for challenges that may be ahead.  While we closed March with normal giving, April giving was noticeably down.

With April’s results in hand, we opted to apply for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan through the Small Business Administration.  We were approved and received $60,000 to assist with payroll, mortgage interest, and utilities.  The loan is fully forgiven if we use it for those purposes over a 24-week period.  We have already met those obligations in full and will apply for full forgiveness, essentially turning the loan into a grant.

May and June giving has remained at April’s level, creating operating shortfalls each month.  Thankfully, the PPP loan has provided a financial backstop and our operating balances are good as we continue through the main summer months.  As with most churches, Resurrection expenses run higher than giving over the summer by about $10,000 per month.  But that could be amplified this year by COVID-19 if lower giving levels continue.  We need giving to return to normal levels soon to maintain a balanced budget.

The combined leadership of Resurrection will continue to closely evaluate necessary expenses, while monitoring giving levels so that we can best support our ministry now and into the future.

God Bless,

Brian Tri, RLC Treasurer

 

 

Maintenance Plan and Costs

1) Flat Roof Replacement – $143,000

• To be paid out of the Oehlke gift
• Identified in the bid as middle option
• Upgrade from the current roof design, with a longer expected life span. 20+ years

2) RTU Replacement – $133,773 total

• Financing by St. Paul Port Authority PACE program and repay loan paid out of accrued funds moving forward in general budget for the life of the loan.

3) Seal-coating and Striping the Parking Lot – $15,560

• To be paid out of accrued funds for maintenance ($2100/mo since Nov. 2019)

Well we have been on a journey these past months and we have found ourselves on this journey separated from one another. However hard the physical separation has been, and it continues to be, it is for the right reasons. Resurrection has been gifted with a wonderful option though. We have a beautiful outdoor worship setting that we will begin using for worship on Sunday mornings at 10am starting July 12^th and will continue each week weather permitting and following MN state guidelines.

After many steps and a lot of conversations we do believe we can both hold your health and safety as top priority and appropriately gather for outdoor worship. I have included in this mailing our guidelines and a map of the outdoor worship space to help you navigate. We are prepared and we can do this if we all do it together.

Resurrection will continue to produce our online worship experiences for the foreseeable future as well. Our online worship has been a major gift to so many and we see our outdoor worship and our online worship as incredibly important to our spiritual lives.  Watch online here.

We also acknowledge that we are not experts in social distance worshiping. We have listened to the experts closely, which is why we have taken our time to do due diligence. But we expect to be experts soon as we will learn from week to week. We will be taking baby steps with your health in the forefront of all our plans. We will also continue to respond and follow our states guidelines moving forward. As you know some states may have opened too soon and some people have not been taking this situation as seriously as they should. I say again… we are prepared, and we can do this if we do it together. Please read through the guidelines and follow the seating guide. As always there is no pressure to come. Per our survey there are those who are not comfortable with outdoor worship even if we were not in a pandemic. We get that. We understand. Our online worship will continue and we are working on future plans for indoor worship sometime this fall.

 

Blessings to you all!

Pastor Paul Dean

 

 

As we open for Outdoor Worship: Additional protections and protocols

Other conditions and circumstances addressed in this plan that are specific to our church include:

• per Industry Guidance for Safely Reopening: Places of Worship we will not be able to gather outside in groups larger than 250. If we find that our outdoor worship begins to lean in that direction, we will act to either add an additional outdoor worship or institute a reservation system (which is not favorable).
• as of this summer of 2020, in person communion will be suspended until further notice… we will still celebrate communion during our online worship.
• even though we are outside COVID-19 is commonly spread through aerosol which means we will ask each worship attendee to wear a mask. Being outside means the wind comes into the picture. Please read further information from the CDC here.
• we will not have handouts, but you will be able to download a worship handout to your phone that includes an order of worship and the lyrics of songs.
• the building will be closed which means that the bathroom facilities will not be accessible… please use your home facilities before attending worship.
• at this time, we will be also suspending in person children messages, however they will continue during online worship.
• as you come to worship please follow social distancing when you are parking and walking to the outdoor worship area.
• the outdoor worship space will be clearly marked for 6 feet of social distancing… families are encouraged to sit together…
• please bring your own chair or blanket to sit on… chairs will not be provided…
• weather – please check our website 30 minutes prior to worship to see if our wonderful Minnesota weather cooperates for outdoor worship!
• please see the map of our campus that is included for more direction.
• in order to help with contact tracing we will be taking attendance through our website and sign in sheets with clean pens and hand sanitizer.
• if you have a fever or are ill please refrain from attending and seek medical help.

 

Members and Regular Attenders are asked to complete our What’s Next Survey.  This survey includes several questions about your current feelings about returning to regular church activities as we continue to plan for in person worship.   Thank you for your participation.

Click here to take the survey.