THIS IS CHURCH: A 3-Week Sermon Series

The Sundays after Pentecost, stretching from May through summer and into the fall, is the season of the Church year when there is emphasis on what it means to be Christ’s Church.

Over the next three Sundays, we are pleased to present a sermon series titled “This is Church.” Each week, each preacher will explore what it means to be the Church from a different direction. This Sunday, August 4, Pastor Ben will kick off the series with a focus on INWARD, emphasizing the importance of our connectedness to one another within a family of faith. Ephesians 4 :16 says, “From Christ, the whole body [the Church], joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” 

Next Sunday, August 11, our focus will shift to facing OUTWARD as a church – being the hands and feet of Jesus together. Christa Schmeelk will be preaching on 1 Peter 4: 8-10, and we’ll even be invited to a practical application of the OUTWARD facing love right during the service. Bring your phone or tablet if you have one!

Finally, on Sunday, August 18, we will look ONWARD as a church. Ezrah Schmeelk will be preaching on Matthew 5:13-16, 43-48; what does it mean to be the Church as we move forward into the future? How could that look, practically speaking?

We invite you to join us for this transformative series and to bring friends and family along. This is Church, and we are excited to walk this path together with you.

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Coming Events | August 4 – 24, 2024

Monday, August 5, at 6:30PM – Centering Prayer

The Centering Prayer group will meet in the Chapel on the first Monday of each month at 6:30 PM for two 20 minute “sits.” For those who want to “learn by doing,” please come at 6 PM to get oriented. For questions, please contact Judy Fitzgerald.

Saturday, August 10, at 10AM and Monday, August 12 at 6:30PM –
FPC Care for the Caregivers Support Group

Sometimes we need someone to walk with us, someone who is experiencing the same path of caregiving. Someone to share ups and downs with, and possibly offer advice.

Are you or were you a caregiver? Let’s lean on each other and learn from each other as a group of Christians.  Our FPC group is small but mighty, always welcoming any newcomers. The group is offered once a month.  Stop in when you can, you choose to share or listen, it’s up to you. We meet in the Chapel, once on the second Monday of the month at 6:30pm, and once on the second Saturday of the month at 10:00am. The discussions held in the meetings are confidential, people can speak freely.

Attendee Lori Phelps has said, “This is my therapy and is so helpful for my mental health as I care for my parents! I walk away with a clearer mind and fresh ideas (an indoor garden kit for my dad! I didn’t know these existed! And a binder for my mom titled, When I start feeling bored, I can…).  I’m so grateful for Marcia creating and conducting this group! She is a great listener, and she cares. She’s been through the same experiences so we can talk, laugh, or cry through the ups and downs. I feel like this group is so beneficial but seems to be the best kept secret.  We should spread the word for others to benefit too!”

Caregivers (current or previous) – join us any month you can!  If you have questions, or if these dates and times won’t work for you, please contact Marcia Chase, marchase@icloud.com or call 849-5683 and leave a message during work hours.

Sunday, August 18, at 3PM – Theology on Tap

Friday, August 23, from Noon-5PM – Red Cross Blood Drive

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Save the Date | More Info to come

Monday, September 2 – FPC Church office will be closed

The FPC Church office will be closed Monday, September 2 in observation of Labor Day.

Sunday, September 8 – Fall Kick Off & Welcome Pastor Will!

Friday, September 27, from 12:30PM-5:30PM – Red Cross Blood Drive

October 18-20 – Women’s Retreat

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Opportunities to Serve

We’re Hiring: Nursery Coordinator

FPC of Waunakee has a part-time position available Sunday mornings 9:30am-11:30am (job sharing considered). Main responsibilities include love and care for our littlest ones, absolute compliance with safety policies and cleanliness, and supervision of Nursery assistants. Additional fun may include Bible stories, activities, music, and crafts. With assistant, oversee 2-10 children ranging from ages newborn-2 years. Pay is competitive, and you can bring your own children or grandchildren with you to play on Sunday mornings! Christian faith, self- motivation, love of children, and warm teaching spirit essential!

Apply soon by emailing resume and cover letter to info@myfpc.org or to request an application.

Hammers with Halos

We’re Hiring: Children’s Ministry Director

We are hiring a Director of Children’s Ministry!  We are seeking a 3/4 time (30 hours/week) professional who is eager to create, manage, and administer our successful children’s Christian programs. The position offers flexible scheduling and a hybrid work model with a blend of onsite and work-from-home. If you or someone you know is interested in learning more or applying (candidates don’t have to be a member of the church), please check out the full job description here.

To apply, please click the button below to complete the job application (fillable pdf) and email the completed application along with your resume to the Church Business Administrator Kristina Maher.

Sunday Worship House Manager

Sound Desk Assistant Needed

Agrace Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are needed to assist customers and operate the cash register at the Doc Rock Café located inside the Agrace Madison campus or make companionship visits to local Agrace hospice patients in patients’ homes, nursing homes or assisted living centers. 

Schedules are flexible, and free training is provided. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Agrace at (608) 327-7163 or visit Agrace.org/Volunteer to apply online.

Last Wednesday of each month – 4-6pm – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

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News and Announcements

July 25, 2024 Informational Meeting Notes

Note to readers: These are quickly written, rough notes from the informational meeting on July 25. Excuse the informal tone, but the clerk wanted to get the information out prior to the meeting on Sunday. The audio recording of the meeting will also be posted on the website.   Lolly Lawrence — Clerk of Session

The meeting opened at 7 p.m. 

Pastor Ben opened the meeting in prayer and Christa Schmeelk reviewed ground rules.

Alan Roberts reviewed the purpose of the meeting. He mentioned the relationship with Tierney and our need to balance what is in the church’s best interest with Don‘s offer. He also mentioned that the Session had a fiduciary responsibility to the church to let them know that there is an offer on the table that we might not want to miss out on. He covered the fact that when the land swap occurred in 2015, giving for that year was $812,664. This year, planned giving is $536,878. That is down 34% from 2016. If we work in an inflation factor, we’re down 50% from 2016. We need to acknowledge that we’re a much smaller church than eight years ago, although hoping to grow back. 

Alan Roberts also briefly discussed the endowment fund. He said that the four trustees of the fund are accountable to Session. The current balance in the endowment fund is around $18,000. The Session may override any decision by the trustees. Some churches have very large endowment funds, which may be seen as hoarding money, because they’re concerned about the investment return more than spending the money on valuable church projects. That is not the case with our church. 

Question: Could the congregational meeting be pushed out one week? 

Answer: The offer from Don Tierney expires on July 29. Tierney needs his information by the morning of July 29, to prepare for upcoming meetings on Monday evening. He’s already moved the expiration date of his offer from July 21 to July 29 to give us more time to get the survey and appraisal.

Question: Would it be possible to keep the north side and sell only the land to the west of the church?

Answer: The current offer from Don Tierney is an all-or-nothing offer. It’s probably not worth it to him to do the infrastructure needed for only two lots at the end of our property on the west. He’s going to need to submit to get approvals for many items to Westport, Waunakee and Madison.

Note: Remember that we initiated the conversation with Don Tierney. This did not start with him coming to us with a request to buy the land.

Question: Can we just let the weeds grow? Have we received a nuisance order from the town of Westport?

Answer: We have not received any kind of nuisance order. We haven’t reviewed options for the weedy land in great detail. The hurry to respond to business matters precluded looking at many other options. It will become more untenable for the farmer to farm the land, given the development that is going to be coming in around the land. We will likely lose the real estate tax exemption for farmland, for the portion that was being farmed. 

Question: Did we consider a prairie restoration or community garden?

Answer: Even those things would require maintenance. Prairie has to be burned every couple of years. Community gardens can get messy if people are not tending to them.

Note: The land swap of 2015 gave us 80 feet to the north of our property. In exchange, we gave Herb Statz land to the west. We built in this buffer, because in 2015 a dentist office was put in across the street right next to the church. Bob Somermeyer and Sheldon Schall executed the land swap to keep the buffer on the north side, primarily because we didn’t want commercial development going in there.

Question: Will we keep our access from Highway Q?

Answer: We have a signed agreement with Herb Statz and the church to retain the access easement. Both parties must agree, if we were to change this easement agreement. This has been filed with both Dane county and the Village of Waunakee and has been verified. The agreement also states that it could be Herb Statz or their successors as the other party. So once again, both parties, FPC and eventually Don Tierney, would both have to agree to change the easement. Tierney will be developing the current Statz driveway into a road to get access to the property that he already owns, so a new road is coming, regardless.

Question: The diagram shown in the emails and on the slide tonight seems somewhat inaccurate, the scale seems to be off. 

Answer: Yes, see the stakes that have been placed on the north side of the property. The property does not get as close to our parking lot on the north side as it appears in the diagram.

Question: Will our playground need a fence around it for liability reasons?

Answer: We’re going to have to post a sign or something like that saying “Play at Your Own Risk.” This would have to happen, regardless of the sale of the property.

Note: Don at one time did ask if he could extend a street from the west into our upper parking lot. We did not agree to that.

Question: Has the appraisal been received?

Answer : The appraisal was received at 4 PM this afternoon. The appraisal came in at $240,000. This is higher than Don‘s offer. The assessor stated that the value is higher because it is adjoining property to the Tierney subdivision. Otherwise the value would be less. The only value of this property is to us or Don Tierney. If we don’t sell now, there will probably not be an opportunity to do so in the future.

Question: Couldn’t we just let Tierney plant the proposed covered crop?

Answer: Tierney is going to do this, regardless, but that only works for this year. If it’s a prairie, or cover crop, these are not “forever” solutions, all will need maintenance in the future. Not certain of who would be be responsible for doing that maintenance and at what cost to the church.

Question: Do we have a real estate attorney?

Answer: Yes, we do. They have reviewed the offer to purchase. RJ Binau is meeting with them tomorrow, July 26.

Question: Do we have exact verbiage of the easement?

Answer: We have perpetual access to the church from Highway Q. There is a registered document with the courts and Dane County. 

Note: Can’t land-lock a parcel of the land. The church rejected this in the past.

Note: If a third wing that ever needs to be built, we have plenty of land and space to use. This has the potential to be a $5+ million addition to the church and would require much growth to justify this kind of expansion and financial commitment.

Note: It is believed that the offer of $85,000 per acre is a fair offer. $5000 per acre was invested. It will take millions of dollars to develop this small parcel later. The money from the sale could be used to alleviate some debt we have now. 

Question: Will the village force us to hook up to Waunakee utilities?

Answer: If the septic or drain field fails, we have nothing else to hook up to. We will not be forced to hook up to Waunakee. Note that we are likely to have development all around us, to the south as well. In the future, we may be able to hook up to Waunakee utilities. Sewer is Madison.

Question: What is owed on the parking lot loan?

Answer: We currently owe around $180,000. We have $37,000 pledged, that leaves us with about $143,000. Potential five-year rollover. The interest rate is 5.38% 

Question: Will development to the north disrupt the TDS line to the north of our property? 

Answer: There is a risk that would happen, but likely that it would be resolved quickly.

Question: What costs are remaining to finish the parking lot?

Answer: In 2021, the estimate was about $100,000. With inflation, it is likely to cost $125-150,000 to finish. We do not have phase 2 in the budget, we are still trying to pay off the loan from phase 1.

Question: Did anyone ask about Tierney about giving us the driveway?

Answer: While the Statzes retain possession of their home, the driveway and their access to Hwy. Q remain. 

Note: We are unsure what is going to happen with the Statz house in the future. Current understanding is it will stay as is.

Question: Is our well and water table in jeopardy? Will the planned development affect our water table?

Answer: There is certainly the possibility that all of the development going on around the church this year and into the future is going to affect our water table. It’s unlikely that the proposed small addition of lots is going to have more impact than the whole development being planned.

Question: Can we change the time of the meeting? Can we take a vote at the beginning of the meeting?

Answer: The meeting time has been set by Session at 11 AM. Changing the time of the meeting requires at least two separate notifications to the church, both from the pulpit and at least one written notification, so we can’t quickly change to shorten the service to start the meeting sooner to avoid the Waunafest parade. We also can’t take a vote at the beginning of the meeting because all of the information has not been shared at that point.  People at the meeting need to hear the full contents of the meeting before voting.

Note: Consider paper ballots. Ensure that only one ballot is taken per member. 

Note: Don still has to get approval from many sources before the sale goes through, so the sale could fall through in the future. The village could turn him down. Earthmovers are moving right now and Don is going to be incurring many engineering costs. Infrastructure has to be placed, and it’s not as simple as him shifting his date out by a couple of months. He wants to start his approval process in August, and it could take him up to November to get all that completed.

Note: The local farmer didn’t farm the land this year, but still paid us rent.

Note: If zoning changes our limit is 10 acres. We currently have like 10.6 acres. This will be a nominal tax issue for the .6 acres that Session can deal with next spring.

Note: For Tierney neighborhoods there are strict rules and covenants on how the property is used, e.g. no above-ground swimming pools, strict rules on outbuildings and play equipment, etc. We can expect it to be a nice neighborhood with consistent-looking homes.

Meeting wrapped up at 8:15 for a walk around of the land proposed for sale. 

July 28, 2024 Congregational Meeting

First Presbyterian Church Waunakee
Congregational Meeting
July 28, 2024

The special called Congregational meeting was called to order by Reverend David Butler at 11:07 a.m. on July 28, 2024.

Agenda:

Introduction of Rev. David Butler, Lolly Lawrence

Call to Order & Opening Prayer, Rev. David Butler

Declaration of Quorum, Lolly Lawrence

Statement of Purpose, Rev. David Butler

Proposed Motion, RJ Binau, Building and Grounds Elder

Ground Rules, Lolly Lawrence and Christa Schmeelk 

Background Information, R.J. Binau, Building and Grounds Elder, Building and Grounds team and Alan Roberts, Finance Elder

Questions for Clarification, Congregation & Session Team 

Debate – Congregation, Rev. David Butler 

     Note: Typical meeting order requires taking alternating for and against comments from the floor.

Congregational Vote

Adjournment & Closing Prayer, Rev. David Butler

Lolly Lawrence, Clerk of Session, introduced the guest moderator:

Please welcome Rev David Butler, who will be the moderator for our meeting this morning.

Rev Butler is honorably retired from full time ministry in the PCUSA, having served in three churches over 35 years.

He was last in John Knox Presbytery in the early 1980s as an associate pastor at Westminster Church in Iowa, where he served for six and a half years.

Rev Butler left there to become the pastor at United Presbyterian Church in Rice Lake, WI in the Presbytery of Northern Waters. Although he does a lot of things now, his primary vocation is as a spiritual director. He also moonlights as a semiprofessional grandfather. David and his wife Elaine live on a farm outside Montello, in Marquette County.

Reverend Butler opened in prayer.

Session Clerk, Lolly Lawrence, declared a quorum.

Meeting purpose:

The purpose of the meeting is to bring the congregation an offer to sell 2.64 acres to Donald C. Tierney and take a vote on said sale. Also, to provide information to the congregation before taking the vote.

Proposed Motion:

Approve the sale of FPC land to Donald C. Tierney, for a minimum price of $225,000.  Legal description of the FPC land proposed for sale:

Legal Description of Lands to be Conveyed:

Part of Lot 1, Certified Survey Map Number 14048, as recorded in Volume 94 of Certified Survey Maps, on pages 122-127, as Document Number 5177982, Dane County Registry and located in the SE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 18, Township 08 North, Range 09 East, Village of Waunakee, Dane County, Wisconsin, more fully described as follows:

Commencing at the East quarter corner of said Section 18; thence N89°38’13”W, along the south line of said NE ¼ of Section 18, a distance of 87.92 feet to the southeast corner of said Lot 1; thence continuing N89°38’13”W, along said south line of the NE ¼ and the south line of said Lot 1, a distance of 830.00 feet to the point of beginning; thence continuing N89°38’13”W, along said south line, 120.00 feet to the southwest corner of said Lot 1; thence N00°39’03”E, along the west line of said Lot 1, a distance of 480.00 feet to the northwest corner of said Lot 1; thence S89°37’31”E, along the north line of said Lot 1, a distance of 840.00 feet; thence S00°39’03”W, 80.00 feet; thence N89°37’31”W, 720.00 feet; thence S00°39’03”W, 399.98 feet to the point of beginning. This description contains approximately 115,198 square feet or 2.644 acres.

Christa Schmeelk reviewed the Ground Rules (FPC Family Discussion Agreements):

1. This is a Christ-centered discussion: We are encouraged to share and ask questions without judgement. Avoid assumptions. Assume positive intent in others. We are all here for the success and love of FPC, our church family.
   1. Time efficient:To be respectful of people’s time, questions shouldn’t take more than a minute to ask. (No pontificating preambles please.) Also please be respectful of people’s time by hearing the answers given and refrain asking again in hopes of a different answer.
   1. All share: Discussion involves everyone, no dominating the floor. We want to give space for everyone including introverts to share and ask questions.
   1. Respect everyone: Truly listen… seek first to understand. Talk to each other not about each other.
   1. Hard on systems soft on people: Ok to disagree, but respectfully. Personal attacks have no place here.
   1. Pause, Paraphrase, Inquire: Remember to breathe- take a deep breath and pause before speaking. Use active listening skills – paraphrase what you think you heard and inquire about what you don’t understand.
   1. Keep an open mind: For both Session members and congregation members – stay open. Be willing to change your mind based on the greater good of FPC, not just your personal preference.

Background Information:

Alan Roberts provided a finance update. He said that the Session has a fiduciary responsibility to the church to let them know that there is an offer on the table that we might not want to miss out on. He covered the fact that when the land swap occurred in 2015, giving for that year was $812,664. This year, planned giving is $536,878. That is down 34% from 2016. If we work in an inflation factor, we’re down 50% from 2016. We need to acknowledge that we’re a much smaller church than eight years ago, although hoping to grow back. If we don’t approve the sale, the rough cost of maintenance of the parcel will be about $10,000/year. This is “all-in” with taxes, mowing, etc. This does not include capital costs to potentially seed the land, or do other plantings and improvements.

Alan said that if Session had not brought this offer forward and let it expire, the church would be displeased if Session came with a campaign in the fall to raise money to meet expenses.

Alan Roberts also briefly discussed the endowment fund. He said that the four trustees of the fund are accountable to Session. The current balance in the endowment fund is around $18,000. The Session may override any decision by the trustees. Some churches have very large endowment funds (in the millions).

Our current parking lot loan balance is around $180K, 5.38% interest rate, 5-year rollover. We have around $37K pledged against the loan that should be coming in over the next three years. The money from the sale of land could potentially be used to service the interest or pay down principal on the parking lot loan.

Questions for Clarification/Debate:

Reverend Butler took the lead of the discussion. His approach is to first, have all questions come forward, then allow for statement of concerns, and then come to a solution. We did not follow the “one for, one against” debate method. As the moderator, Reverend Butler wanted all to have an opportunity to get questions answered and speak their opinion.

Q: Will it really take $10K to maintain?

A: This was an all-in rough estimate. If we need to maintain, we’ll take a closer look at alternatives and budget for them in the fall. This is the first year that the field has not been planted in corn. If we hold on to the land, what do we do next summer?

Q: If we aren’t sure of what we could use the land for, how do we know we might not need it?

A: What to do with the land hasn’t been discussed in depth. We can’t predict the future; we don’t know if there’ll be exponential growth. We do know that we don’t need more to take care of.

The previously discussed expansion was envisioned to be a community and gymnasium building, which was targeted for the area to the west, in the picnic area. There would still be room there for that expansion, and an expanded parking lot to the south, even if we were to sell the 2.64 acres.

Q: How much land would we own after the sale?

A: We currently own 10.46 acres and are considering selling 2.64.

Note: The land sold would have single-family detached homes built on it.

Note: When we did the land swap in 2015-16, it was done primarily to ensure that we wouldn’t have commercial development on the strip of land to the north of church, between FPC and the Herb Statz property. (The proximity of the dental office to the church across the street motivated us to make the swap.)

Q: How do we know it’ll stay single-family?

A: We can’t guarantee. Don Tierney could petition the village to amend the plan. That would have to be discussed in an open meeting where members could dispute and provide rationale against allowing anything other than single-family homes to be built.

Q: Could we put a restrictive covenant in the deed?

A: We can set anything we want as a condition of the sale.

Note: We have hired a lawyer and presented some of the lawyer’s recommendations back to Don Tierney.

Q: Will we retain our access to Hwy. Q? Do we have a permanent easement? How will homeowners get to their homes on the north side of the church?

A: The Statz property, to be owned by Don Tierney, includes a driveway to the front of his properties. This will not be a through road and has limited access from Hwy. Q. We have a permanent easement to Hwy. Q that will not be impacted by the potential sale of the land.

Q: Is it conceivable that if one of our new neighbors to the west and north might use our parking lot if they have party or another event?

A: Yes, although it might not be an easy hill to climb. Like it or not, a Tierney development is in the neighborhood and the community will continue to grow. There is also some potential liability with our play equipment and other outdoor areas. We’ll need to post signs to limit our liability exposure. We do want to be seen as open and welcoming and a beacon to the community.

Concern: It is most concerning that the only thing we’re considering is timeline constraints. The lawn is good-looking and we don’t really need to expand maintenance. We haven’t considered other low- or no-cost options like prairie or wildflowers. Once the land is sold, we can’t get it back. Considering the sale is short-sighted. We don’t seem to be hearing huge concerns about our financial situation, so why sell?

Concern: We should stick to our beliefs of 30 year ago. If the sale does go through, we should give 10% of the money to missions and get back to mission giving. We have to be good stewards of the land. 80 families gave up a great deal to acquire the land 30 years ago, and saw it as a gift from God. We need to be more outward with our ministry.

Q: Is this an all-or-nothing proposition?

A: Yes, it is all-or-nothing. It would not be worth it to Mr. Tierney to buy and develop the piece on the west side, only. It was Tierney’s decision to make it an all-or-nothing offer.

Q: Did we receive the appraisal?
A: Yes, the appraisal was $240K. The appraiser noted that the land only has this value if appended onto the planned development. If that was not the case, the value would be much less. The current motion is for $225K, that could be amended from the floor.

Comment: At one time in the past, the developer asked if could build a road into our west parking lot. We did not approve that.

Q: Are we short on funds for improvements/maintenance that need to be done to the church? The roof is getting old. The stucco needs cleaning and whitewashing.

A: Our only current debt is the parking lot debt. We are placing $2,500 a month into the capital improvement fund.

Q: Why the short/rushed timeline?

A: The offer from Don Tierney expires on July 29. He set that deadline. We have not had time to look extensively at other options.

Concern: Not sure why we want to proceed with the sale, with a new pastor coming on, and low summer giving contributing to our expenses being higher than our income. Not seeing a compelling reason to sell.

Q: Has Pastor Will been consulted?

A: He did contact Alan Roberts with questions about the general fund. Pastor Will has been apprised of the sale offer. He is not yet in the pastor seat and the session and congregation have to deal with this before his arrival.

Comment (moderator): Typically, in churches that change pastors, it takes about 18 months to “recover.” We could lose about 18 months of giving and growth. It might be ambitious to believe that Pastor Will’s arrival will make an immediate positive impact.

Q: What is the building set-back covenant?

A: For Waunakee, 10 feet from the property line.

Q: Does Session have a preference in the outcome?
A: Session vote 10-1 in favor of the sale.

Q: Do we have a plan for maintenance if the sale doesn’t go through?

A: No, we’d need to put a plan together and bring it for budget approval in the fall. Don Tierney originally offered to mow the weeds and seed winter wheat. This is a cover crop that only carries us through for a year.

Q: Is the slope on the west included?
A: Yes, everything past where we now mow to the west is included.

Q: If we don’t sell now, can we in the future?
A: There is a slim-to-none chance of selling in the future. This is really a one-time opportunity. If we don’t sell now, the developer will have already established the plan. Given the shape and layout of our property, and how it’s situated, it would be very difficult and costly to re-engineer the plan in the future.

Q: If we build later, how far back on the west side can we go?
A: Not sure of our setback requirements, but would easily fit in the size of the previously discussed third wing without being close to the property line.

Q: On the north side, could we make this a productive area for the church? Possibly an orchard.

A: The GROW team has been trying to engage the congregation in maintaining the land we have, for the uses we have. It has been very difficult to engage new volunteers. We continue to rely on a small group of faithful volunteers who have been carrying the weight of the maintenance work. It would be unwise to add more maintenance work, when we are barely keeping up with what we have now.

Concern: Towns have ordinances, we can’t allow weeds to grown unchecked. The neighbors will complain.

Concern: This seems to be short-term focused and not good for the church’s future. We have no crystal ball to see the future. We may need more parking lot and building space. We have to think of future generations. There is no chance of getting this land back if we sell. Unfair of Don Tierney to lock us down. We need to hold onto the land and think about how we will maintain, and maybe add on, in the future.

Concern: Think about where we, as a congregation, are going in the next 10-20 years. The  membership of our church is aging. At 40 years old, [this commenter is] one of the “young” members.  We can attract new members and continue to thrive. Covid hurt us, but we are still a far cry away from even needing 2 services. The north side is really useless to FPC. Selling won’t hurt our future.

Concern: The message for this morning was to not worry and trust God. Is God at work by giving us this opportunity?

Concern: Regarding the financial health of the church, we could use the $225-$240K to help with our finances now. Expansion is a far-off idea.

Concern: The money could be used to help with recruitment. We do have concerns about our financial situation. A portion of the funds could go to mission. This is a one-time scenario and Session was unanimous in the recommendation to bring this to the church and Session voted 10-1 to sell.

At this point, there were no more questions, concerns or opinions.

A motion was accepted from the floor to add verbiage to the previous motion to ensure the land is used only for single-family, detached homes, forever.  The motion was approved, seconded and passed (not unanimous).

The final motion approved, was:

Approve the sale of FPC land as described in the legal description to Donald C. Tierney, for a minimum price of $225,000. Include a restrictive covenant, recorded in the deed, that limits use of the property after the sale to prevent the construction of anything other than single-family detached homes, in perpetuity.

Legal description of the FPC land proposed for sale:

Legal Description of Lands to be Conveyed:

Part of Lot 1, Certified Survey Map Number 14048, as recorded in Volume 94 of Certified Survey Maps, on pages 122-127, as Document Number 5177982, Dane County Registry and located in the SE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 18, Township 08 North, Range 09 East, Village of Waunakee, Dane County, Wisconsin, more fully described as follows:

Commencing at the East quarter corner of said Section 18; thence N89°38’13”W, along the south line of said NE ¼ of Section 18, a distance of 87.92 feet to the southeast corner of said Lot 1; thence continuing N89°38’13”W, along said south line of the NE ¼ and the south line of said Lot 1, a distance of 830.00 feet to the point of beginning; thence continuing N89°38’13”W, along said south line, 120.00 feet to the southwest corner of said Lot 1; thence N00°39’03”E, along the west line of said Lot 1, a distance of 480.00 feet to the northwest corner of said Lot 1; thence S89°37’31”E, along the north line of said Lot 1, a distance of 840.00 feet; thence S00°39’03”W, 80.00 feet; thence N89°37’31”W, 720.00 feet; thence S00°39’03”W, 399.98 feet to the point of beginning. This description contains approximately 115,198 square feet or 2.644 acres.

Congregational Vote:

A vote was taken via paper ballot. Votes were counted by Lynda Bennin, Peter Bergmann and Lolly Lawrence. After counting was complete, the clerk announced the results:

No – 32
Yes – 54

Adjournment and Closing Prayer:

A motion was taken and seconded to close the meeting at ~12:35 and passed unanimously.

Reverend Butler closed the meeting in prayer.

Respectfully submitted,
Lolly Lawrence, Clerk of Session
FPC Waunakee

Note: John Knox presbytery has approved the sale as outlined in FPC’s motion. Approval was received at 10:46 a.m. on July 29, 2024. 

Intruder Committee Update

Hello FPC Family! As you may be aware, the FPC Intruder Committee has been making updates, changes and recommendations to Session as part of the church safety plan for over a year. This month, the Session approved the Intruder Committee’s recommendation of not allowing Concealed Carry in our church building.  This is consistent with the PCUSA recommendations from 2010 and means no weapons are allowed. Law enforcement officials are the only exception. We wanted to make sure and communicate this to our whole church family but, in addition, signs will be posted at all church entrances.

​If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Pastor Ben: behrets@myfpc.org

BE SURE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS UPDATED!

FPC will be e-mailing your giving statements for the first half of the year the week of August 12^th.  The message will come from FPC Waunakee- churchwindows@myfpc.org and the subject will be FPC- Waunakee Giving Statement.  

If we have a personal e-mail address on file for the primary person in our records, you can anticipate receiving your giving statement electronically.  To confirm or update your e-mail address for this purpose, please drop a note to info@myfpc.org before August 12^th.  We would like to consider moving to all electronic statements in 2025, but for now, if you don’t have a personal e-mail address on file or your e-mail bounces back, we will mail your statement. 

Need help around the house?

This Week’s Birthdays: August 4 – 10

This Week’s Anniversaries: August 4 – 10

FPC Nursery for Ages 2 and under

Music in Worship

August 4 – Brooksy Beilke-Skoug, pianist & Janson Beilke-Skoug, cellist
August 11 – Mary Kay Burton, guest organist
August 18 – Sonia Driskill, harpist; Ying Wang, pianist

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