Twenty Questions (and answers)
1)
What is Grace Presbyterian Church attempting to do?
Grace believes that God has opened the door for us to enter the next chapter of our ministry in Utah. We wish to expand the methods by which we serve the local community, to engage in a period
of long term service, and to increase both our church health and local impact.
2)
How would all that happen?
We have entered into an agreement that could enable us to purchase existing church buildings and surrounding
property from Trinity Lutheran Church. This arrangement will benefit both churches greatly. Grace
will have a base of operations from which to conduct new ministries and expand our reach and impact for God’s kingdom. The Lutherans will gain sorely needed seed capital to enable them to establish a healthy,
re-planted church nearby.
3)
What can I do to help?
The primary thing is for everyone interested in this situation to pray for BOTH churches. It is our desire that two churches will benefit - that both Grace Presbyterian
and Trinity Lutheran will flourish in their new environments. Naturally we are engaging
in a fund raising program, also. See Questions 18 and 19 below for the details. For those who want the short version
- Quick donations may be made using credit card or PayPal account by clicking the Donate button. This transaction costs
you nothing in fees, but Grace will pay a nominal amount to PayPal for this service. Or you can mail a contribution
to:
Grace
Presbyterian Church of Utah
Facility
Investment
PO Box 1063
Layton, UT 84041
4)
If Grace gets this property, who would own the building, and what changes for its members?
Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) , does NOT own local church facilites. So the church buildings would be owned entirely by the congregation of Grace
Presbyterian Church in Layton, Utah. As to changes for our members, they will continue the good stewardship they now
demonstrate at Castlebrook in keeping the facility neat, clean, and up-to-date. New
opportunities arise where volunteers are needed for lawn mowing, landscaping, painting, janitorial (including cleaning the
restrooms, etc.), snow removal, vacuuming, kitchen duty, etc. As we do now, we will
still use volunteers for Nursery, Sunday School, Children’s Church, Snacks and greeters.
And the membership will be deeply involved in all of the new ministries in which the church will engage over the coming
years. Under no circumstances can we view this as just a new place to sit each Sunday!
5)
Where is this church and property?
Trinity Lutheran is in Layton, just south of Layton Hills mall
on the East side of Interstate 15. Their address is 385 W. Golden Avenue,
where Golden intersects the access road along I-15, just south of Red Lobster and the Comfort Inn. See picture below:
6)
Why
are the Lutherans selling the property?
Their congregation has been slowly decreasing in size, and their youngest members are in their early 60s. They believe they need to take the money out of their property and re-start in another,
smaller place, with less need for facility maintenance and upkeep. Cash flow has also
been an issue in the short term.
7)
What does the property and facility look like?
It’s on a triangular-shaped lot of 2.62 acres. There are two
lots cut out of two of the corners, and both have houses on them. One is neatly kept,
and the other is a rental, in poor condition, and offered for sale for a laughably unrealistic amount ($700K). The church building has an oval sanctuary with very high ceilings and a “modern” architecture in
white brick and white concrete block. There are offices and classrooms attached, as
well as a kitchen and good sized social hall. Total for the main facility is approx.
9000 square feet. There is also a large, detached garage/storage space and paved parking
lot with 94 spaces marked out (including 4 handicap spaces). See rough floor plan and
dimensions below:
8)
How old is this building?
The sanctuary and central offices are the oldest part. They were
built in the late 1940s, and they are consequently the sturdiest of the structures. The
south side classrooms were added in the 1960s, and the north side fellowship hall was added in the 1980s.
9)
How long would the building last?
With proper maintenance the building can last another 40-50 years or more, providing plenty of time to
raise funds for replacement buildings. You can see from the close-up overhead photo
below that the property has plenty of room for expansion, especially to the south.
10)
How much are you paying for the property?
We currently have an “Option to Purchase” for $425,000 that expires on July 15. Before that date we need to have a contract of sale for the stated price. We
paid $6000 for the option, which applies to the purchase price. If we don’t enter
into a purchase agreement, the $6000 is forfeited.
11)
How much is the property worth?
Valuing buildings of varying age is difficult. And the existing
buildings would be nearly useless to any organization except another church. Our consultant has estimated
that to purchase this land in a similar quality site and location, develop with landscaping and parking, construct new buildings,
and pay all associated fees, the cost would be $2.7M.
12)
So who is this consultant?
Dan Cook is the founder and president of Building God’s Way, a company that plans and facilitates
building projects for churches (over 700 of them) and schools all over the country, and some internationally. Local projects include Christian Heritage
School, Wasatch Christian
School, Washington Heights
Baptist Church, and Alpine Church in Riverdale. You can read more about his company on their website: http://www.bgwservices.com/overview/bgw.htm Building God’s Way primarily deals with new construction, and they do not offer
consulting for procurement situations such as ours. So Dan Cook is consulting for us
privately, and we benefit from his knowledge of exactly what needs to be done to repair and maintain the building, what it’s
worth, and what things cost to do.
13)
How much are you paying the consultant?
Dan has worked with our Future Facilities Committee for several years, and so far he has refused payment
of any kind. Since our recent efforts have far exceeded what should reasonably be expected
for free, we approached Dan and insisted he arrange some sort of fee. His final word
was that he would be glad to continue to offer his services for free, but if we wanted to, Grace could provide a donation
of ($1000 - $2000) to Wasatch Christian School
in Ogden on his behalf. We have not made
any payment or donation as of yet.
14)
Where will the money come from?
God will have to provide the needed funds. We have organized a Facility
Investment Committee to handle communication and organize fundraising. More details
are forthcoming. Dan Cook is advising us for the fund-raising program. He has done this many times for churches and schools, and has the benefit of experience as to what is effective
and what does not work. Whatever approach we take, we expect that most of the funds will have to come from outside the congregation,
and a substantial part of that from outside of Utah. God may or may not provide the funds. What funds do come in will take
essentially one of three forms:
1) Cash or cash-equivalents (e.g. stocks, bonds, special savings plans like LCA used, etc.)
2) Funds pledged to be delivered before closing. This approach protects
the donors if the sale is cancelled.
3) Funds pledged over time (e.g. monthly, quarterly, etc. for 3 years or more)
Clearly only our current cash in the building fund plus items in the first two categories above could be
counted as cash available to purchase.
15)
Could Grace even get a loan in this economy?
While we believe we could easily get a commercial loan at attractive rates, we have ruled out a bank or credit union commercial loan. If necessary,
we would seek private lenders within our congregation to cover any gap. Such loans
will be paid entirely from the 3 year pledged amounts and not from current operations, so there will be NO NET BORROWING.
16)
If God provides the building/renovation/improvement funds, could you afford to run it?
Yes. The total cost of the bills Trinity has been paying is in the
ball park of what we currently pay for rent at Castlebrook. With volunteer help for
such things as lawn care, snow removal, and general housekeeping, the monthly costs should be LESS than we currently pay in
rent. And Dan Cook suggests that good stewardship and refurbishment would lead to even
lower utility costs than Trinity now pays.
17)
After closing, what happens?
We would make landscape, paint, roof, parking lot, flooring, and décor improvements as quickly as possible
while continuing to meet at Castlebrook. Once the facility was in first class condition,
we would move in and invite our friends to attend.
18)
What are the specific fund-raising needs?
In addition to the purchase price, we are also seeking support for specific repair and improvements
as outlined in the table below:
19) What are the fund-raising details?
The primary thing is for everyone associated with this effort to pray for BOTH churches. Since we are resting in God’s providence rather than our own strength, we don’t expect most of the
funds to come from the congregation. Even so, the members are not relieved of the obligation
to give sacrificially as they are able – by cash or by pledge. We are seeking
cash (or stocks, bonds, etc.), pledges for cash before closing, and pledges over time. We are soliciting our congregation,
their families and friends, other individuals, sister churches in Utah and the West, and other churches in our denomination
(the Presbyterian Church in America), plus other organizations. Check the links at the top of the column to the left for our:
1-Introductory Letter
2-Property Investment Fact Sheet
3-Ministry Approach
4-Ways to Invest
5-Pledge Form for Individuals/Families
6-Pledge Form for Churches/Organizations
You can mail your contribution to:
Grace
Presbyterian Church of Utah
Building
Investment
PO Box 1063
Layton, UT 84041
Or you can hit the DONATE button below...
20)
What does this place look like?
See photos below…
