June 2014
Recently, our senior pastor, Dr. Steve Wende, highlighted the financial gap between revenue and expenses required to operate the Westchase campus. Although not a crisis, this situation, if left unchecked, could have a lasting and significant effect on First Methodist's continuing mission to win hearts for Christ. The Ad-hoc Committee, which was formed to review this issue and to make recommendations on a way forward, recommends that a concerted and church-wide action be taken to close the gap. Additionally, although the issue when first presented was a financial issue, the committee believes that there is also a need to strengthen the ties between campuses. So what does the church need to do? Although many alternatives were considered by the committee, including: (a) the separation of the two campuses into separate churches; (b) the merger of the Westchase campus with another Methodist congregation; and (c) the sale of the Westchase campus properties to another congregation, none of these alternatives are thought to be in the best interests of the church at the present time. The committee recommends that instead: (a) a plan be designed and implemented to strengthen (i) the unity of the two campuses, and (ii) their single identity as one church with multiple sites; (b) a Pastor Parish Relations Committee led task force work with Dr. Wende and Dr. Clines to strengthen coordination and communication between the campuses; (c) a special "disciple making" campaign be conducted in conjunction with the upcoming annual pledge drive that includes coordinated, but campus-specific plans, for funding and encouraging active participation in growth strategies at both campuses; (d) a task force be organized to investigate opportunities to increase Westchase campus facilities' usage and revenues; and (e) the congregation be called to a special time of prayer and preparation seeking God's guidance. One goal of these recommendations is for the Westchase campus' financial gap, which was approximately $800,000 in 2013, to be eliminated by the end of 2017. To achieve this goal, the committee believes the financial gap needs to be reduced by approximately $200,000 per year. Our progress in achieving this goal shall be reviewed annually, with the understanding that a more frequent review will be undertaken by the appropriate, constituted Church committee. In the absence of sufficient progress towards reducing the gap, this review will include reconsidering the prudence of any of the alternatives listed above but tabled for now. In addition to the annual review described above, these recommendations, if implemented, should be reviewed at least quarterly and, if necessary be modified, recognizing that at every step along our path, we should be humbly seeking God’s guidance. Respectfully submitted, Lynne L. Hackedorn, Chair Ad-hoc Committee
Ad-hoc Committee Members: Jay Aldis, Kurt Andreason, Mary Daffin, John Esquivel, Mark Harwell, Chris Hysinger, Lynne Hackedorn, Kurt Nondorf, Ruth Palmer, Tim Simmons and Eric Viehman