Sale of the WAUCC Building

Dear Members and Friends of Saint Peter's,
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It has been a busy few weeks around Saint Peter's, and there are a few updates I need to share with you at this time. Please feel free to be in touch with me by email at rector@stpeterschicago.com if you have any questions at all.

The Sale of the WAUCC Building

We have been aware that Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ has been looking for a potential buyer for their building for some time, but there has been a new and fast-paced development over the past month. Wellington has voted to sell their building to another organization and they are currently in the process of drafting a Purchase and Sale Agreement.

While we can rejoice with Wellington and give thanks for this development for them, it does mean something unforeseen for us: the new owners may not permit other organizations to rent space when they assume ownership of the building (which may be as soon as September 1). We do have a legally binding lease through the end of this calendar year, so it is still unclear how this could play out--we may very well be permitted to remain in the building until December 31. Nonetheless, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we may have to vacate our space at Wellington by September 1.

I am sure this comes as a shock to many of you. It came as a shock to us (Father Shane and the Vestry) as well. We have had a wonderful two years at Wellington, and it is quite unclear what we can do without this home away from home right now. Still, the Son of Man had "no place to lay his head" (Luke 9:58), and in our Lord's steps we still move forward.

Renovations on Belmont

Molly Ekelof and I had a good meeting with our Architects from Altus Works (along with our Owners Representative, Cary Johnson, and Courtney Reid and Tom Camell from the Diocese) on Wednesday to review the process of our Transformation and to take a look at our Revised Schedule for the rest of the project.

Currently, we are looking at wrapping up design development within the next few weeks and moving into the development of contract documents at the beginning of August. These will then be reviewed by the Building Committee at the beginning of September, after which Bidding and Permitting will begin. Construction is slated to begin toward the end of the calendar year, and tentatively scheduled to be completed in June of 2021. Of course, stuff happens, and delays are inevitable, but for now, this is what the picture looks like. I hope you will join me in giving thanks for the Building Committee's and Altus Works's phenomenal work so far. We still have a ways to go, but we're definitely moving forward.

Bringing These Things Together

First of all, if you have any specific questions about what I've just laid out, please feel free to be in touch with me or to join me after church this Sunday in our virtual coffee hour for discussion.

Specifically, I want to hear your thoughts about what the next year at Saint Peter's is going to look like. Here are some specific questions that are currently up in the air.

• Should we try looking for another space to rent, at least for Sundays? We haven't yet grown confident enough to resume in-person worship services, and this development makes it all the more difficult to figure out what that will look like. A simple option open to us is for me to stream services from my home office with a virtual background, but we would lose the liturgical set up we've gotten used to. I seriously want to hear what you think about this question.
  
  
• What do we do with all of our stuff? We can't put it back at Belmont at this time; we need to find storage. But then we also need to determine how much storage we need, and for how long.
  
  
• This brings us to the task of packing. Luckily, everything we currently have is spread among five rooms and a closet, and a lot of it is already in boxes. But we do need to get started on packing (whether we have to move now or in December). So, we'll need volunteers to help us out. Please be in touch with me if you can assist in this task.
  
  
• What does this mean for our finances? What does this mean for Stewardship? If we want Saint Peter's to keep moving forward, we can't forget that we still need a consistent revenue, and to keep up with our bills. We don't yet know what the possibility of a move may mean for our budget this year, and while the Vestry will do everything in its power to be responsible stewards of our resources, they cannot do it without your ongoing support. I thank each and every one of you who has kept up your pledge or contributed financially to Saint Peter's since the pandemic began. Please help us continue to think through what Stewardship can look like -- and let's live it out together.

There's a lot left to figure out. There are a lot of questions still unanswered. I'll freely admit: I'm a little anxious myself! But that's OK--we're in this together, and I am so grateful to be in this with you.

As I've already said, please feel free to be in touch with me if you have any questions at all. I am here for you and I want to know what's on your mind and heart. Join us on Sunday for worship and conversation. Reach out if you need anything.

As always,
In Christ,
 
Shane Patrick +