THANK YOUS:

The Board of Trustees:

Departing:

Past President and Stewardship Wiz: Dori Wolfe

Trustee and ESL Champion: Ian Sachs

Trustee and Communications Champion: Greg Hunt

Staying:

New President: Bradley Smith

Vice President: Hilary Ritz

Trustee and Social Action Champion: Ellen Norton

Trustee: Allan Brain

Secretary: Leah Olive

Treasurer: Scot Steib

Minister and Staff:

Rev. Ed, Ale Gonzalez, and Cheryl Rivers (our part time bookkeeper)

Long Range Planning Task Force:

Troy Rockett, Ann May, Trish Hinojosa, Linda Lord, and Nancy Lipp

Accessibility Task Force:

April Smith, Michael Ho, Craig Bertuglia, Pati Bertuglia, and Carla Saunders

The Entire Congregation

 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Please see the annual report for the details.

 

REMARKS

I believe that everyone here wants Emerson to be happier, healthier, stronger, and to continue to work for a better world far into the future.  We all want to see Emerson continue.

But there are challenges to achieve this vision of the future.

The long-range planning task force has been working for a year on a proposed plan to achieve this vision of the future. Their planning effort includes everyone and is scheduled to wrap up in late June of this year.  They completed a draft plan in January, and they will be presenting their draft to the congregation after one of our February services. I encourage everyone to get involved in the planning work and provide input to the members of this task force: Troy Rockett, Ann May, Trish Hinojosa, Linda Lord, and Nancy Lipp.

The plan will recommend actions we should take to reduce expenses and increase revenues so that we can achieve the vision of a happier, healthier, stronger congregation.  The Board of Trustees will need to take action to implement many, perhaps all, of the plan recommendations.  The entire congregation will need to vote to approve of some recommended actions.  The plan won’t be “done” in June.  The work to implement the plan will just be starting then.  It will influence the development of the 2025 budget, finance committee, and investment committee decisions, use of the Endowment, hiring decisions, social action, communications, membership, property use, any many other things.

I want to address one of the elephants in the room.

Some passionately believe the long-range plan should recommend relocating to a smaller campus and selling our property.  That we will be happier, healthier, stronger, and will continue to work for a better world far into the future with the lower operational expenses of a smaller campus.

Others, particularly those who donated and helped plan, design, and build this wonderful campus, passionately believe that the long-range plan should not recommend relocation. Some believe that we must stay in this building to be happier, healthier, stronger, and to continue to work for a better world far into the future.  Some of these members believe that Emersion will not survive if we move.

Obviously, these two visions are incompatible, so discussion, debate, and conflict resolution work is required in order to make long term plan recommendations, make decisions, and take action.  My fear is that we just won’t make a decision or take action.

I think if we don’t take action, our expenses will continue to exceed our revenue and we will (perhaps slowly) consume our operating funds, cash reserves, special funds, and our Endowment.  Our lack of action will result in our community fading away.

I think if we do take action, we will control our future.  We need passionate people to describe their vision of the future of Emersion that is financially realistic.

Those who support moving, imagine a transition period during which we engage with real estate consultants, brokers, banks, and developers to leverage the large value of our campus to finance the work to plan, design, build, and relocate to a new campus, while still using our current campus for worship.

Those who support staying in our campus, imagine successful investments in communications, programs, and advertising that generate sufficient revenue to cover the investment costs and current budget deficits.  They imagine we will generate sufficient new revenue through rentals of our property, increasing membership, increasing pledge income, and other sources.

What is your vision of the future?  What actions should we take?  How will Emerson become happier, healthier, stronger? How will Emerson continue to work for a better world far into the future?

Please get engaged in the long range planning effort. Please talk to each other about this stuff.

If we all lean in and do the work to figure this out, I know we will succeed.

Thank you.

Michael Bloom