January 19, 2010
Dear Members and Friends of Central Square,
It is with deep sadness that we must tell you that on Sunday, January 10th, the church membership voted in a Special Business Meeting, to put the building and property of the church up for sale. As you must be aware, we have been struggling over the last several years to maintain an aging building while faced with a dwindling congregation and subsequently a falling income. We have been forced to draw down our invested funds to the point where they will no longer enable us to keep going. Our fears as a Council have been that the money would run out and we would be left unable to care for the building. Because of these factors, there seemed to be no other course but to sell while we still had enough to maintain it until a sale could be finalized.
The financial reality forced us to give our staff, including Pastor Lavway, notice that, as of the end of 2009, it was unlikely that we could continue paying their salaries. Fortunately, Pastor Lavway found a calling to another church across the country in San Jose, California. So, at this point in time, the only paid staff is our custodian who will be checking on the furnace as well as the general health of the building as part of our security system. He will also clear the sidewalks and steps when there are storms.
Without a Pastor, it is difficult to provide regular church worship services. We didn’t completely close the door to them, allowing the Council to decide if and when they might be held. Of course, we had to notify the Russian congregation that we could no longer provide them space for their services either. And at the Council meeting this last Sunday, we decided to definitely hold an Easter Worship Service on April 4th.
This Council meeting was well attended with many of the congregation there as well as the Council itself. We discussed the implications of the church membership's decision to close as well as the proper ways to proceed with the many things that need to be done to meet this decision. We are doing our best to compassionately meet all the needs of both the people of Central Square as we deal with the closing of our church building.
The next Council meeting is scheduled for Sunday, February 21st at 10 AM at the church. All interested people are invited to attend this meeting. The Council asks for your continuing support with your prayers, your financial help which is still needed to maintain our beautiful building until it finds a new owner. You may contact any of us directly if you have question or ideas either by email or phone. There is still the hope that the sale of the building will allow us to fund the purchase of land and the building of a new, smaller church where we can continue to worship and serve our Lord together.
Michael Johnson, Council Chairman
Mary Lewis, Church Clerk
Stephanie Ross, Church Treasurer
| 