Posted June 13, 2011

The Need for a Building Committee

Over the course of the last year, members of the finance committee have been working with our banker to establish a plan to eliminate our church’s indebtedness, which currently is $8 million.  While this is not an unusual amount of debt for a church our size, we believe that it has the potential to prevent us from accomplishing some of the mission and ministry opportunities we see on the horizon.  Therefore, we have been pro-actively talking with our banker about a five-year financial campaign to eliminate the debt.

At the beginning of the year, as we were preparing to bring this to the congregation for consideration, members of the Program Council asked, “What is the next major capital campaign that we anticipate undertaking and when would that campaign take place?” Well, the church’s long-range planning committee, chaired by Carroll O’Brien four years ago, recommended a new youth facility as our next project.  Logically, if we move forward with a debt-retirement campaign this year and carry it forward for the coming five years, the youth facility would be a part of the next campaign six or seven years from now and would come online just about the time the third graders who received their Bibles last fall are preparing for their senior year in high school.  Obviously, that answer was disconcerting to the members of our Program Council.

Peachtree Road is blessed with a growing ministry with middle school and high school students.  Those who have attended Youth Sunday over the last few years can testify to the visible growth in that ministry – both in number and in spirit.  You have heard them share their faith in word and deed, and you know of their participation in mission outreach projects at home and abroad.  You may not know that they meet in cramped space on the third floor of the Rollins building.  Also, the reality is that we have over one thousand children on roll in the elementary department (kindergarten through fifth grade), and there is no way we are going to be able to retain them due to our lack of space in the youth department unless we do something.

Therefore, at the recommendation of the Program Council, we initiated informal conversations with groups throughout the church concerning the possibility of combining a capital campaign to construct a youth facility with the planned debt-retirement campaign.  And the response from all quarters has been most enthusiastic – from Sunday school classes to Disciple Bible Study groups to the past Administrative Board chairs to the Staff-Parish Relations Committee to the Trustees to the Finance Committee to the Program Council.  In fact, many believe that we will be more successful in this dual campaign than we would be attempting a debt-campaign alone.  Last month, the Administrative Board voted unanimously to go forward with the exploration of this dual-purpose campaign.

So, today, in a first step, we meet as a church conference for the purpose of electing a building committee.  This is the first of three church conferences we anticipate having.  The second will probably occur in the fall when the building committee presents preliminary drawings of a youth facility and cost estimates, and the third would occur when we have final drawing, costs, and a financial plan to underwrite the scope of the entire project.  Thank you for your presence here today and your support of the ministry of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church.

Nominees to Serve on the Building Committee

Andy Been -- Andy has been a member of PRUMC for twenty years.  He is a real estate developer in the Atlanta area and has been in the business since 1983.  Andy has served the church in various capacities including being on the Administrative Board, the Finance Committee, the Real Estate Committee and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees.  Andy also was on the Board of the PRUMC Preschool.  He is married to Leah and has two daughters who are active at PRUMC - Sara Lynn and Hanna.

Merritt Bond - Merritt has been a PRUMC member since 1964 and has chaired the Administrative Board.  He was actively involved in the church's campaigns to fund the new sanctuary, the Rollins Administrative Building, and the Gordy Children’s Building. Merritt retired from a 40-year banking career as an Executive Vice President with Bank of America.  He is currently a Board Member of Wesley Woods.  He and his wife Suzanne are the parents of Meadow Smith and Elizabeth Glass and the grandparents of 5 granddaughters - all active at PRUMC.

Reid Freeman - Reid and his wife Stacy have been members of PRUMC for 6 years.  Reid has been active with the Friday Men’s Bible Study, Great Day of Service, Christmas Kindness, and served as an Usher and on the Administration Board.  Reid is the President of Regent Partners, a 23 year old Real Estate Development Company.  Regent Partners has developed office, hotels and residential projects all over the Eastern United States.  Regent Partners recently developed The Sovereign, a 50-story mixed use project here in Buckhead.

Janie French -- Janie is a rising junior at The Westminster Schools.  She has been involved in our youth ministry for many years.  She is very involved in the church youth program and has participated in a number of mission trips including three to Nicaragua, three Appalachia in North Carolina, and one to Kenya.  She hopes to participate in a second mission trip to Kenya in the fall.  Janie is an active member of the Wednesday night youth Bible study, and attends Sunday School and MYF regularly.  She is the daughter of Anne and Wes French and the granddaughter of Helen and Ted French.

Brooke Greer - Brooke is a life-long member of the church.  She was an active participant in the youth programs and mission trips from 1998-2004.  She is a founding member of the Cornerstone Sunday School class and completed Disciple I this spring.  Brooke currently serves as a youth leader and is on the Middle School Ministry Committee.  She works for the Georgia State University Football Team as an administrative assistant.

Becky Matherne – Becky joined Peachtree Road in 1997.  She and her husband Rich have two sons - John (12) and Robert (10).  She retired from Bank of America’s private banking sector as a Senior Vice-President.  She serves on the Staff Parish Committee, Long Range Planning, the Intercessory Prayer Ministry, is a member of the Faith & Fellowship Sunday School Class and the John Wesley Society.  She has previously chaired the Administrative Board, the Program Council and the Evangelism Team and has served on Staff Parish, the Finance Committee, the Planned Giving Committee and the Nominations Committee.

Holly Moffett -- Holly has been a member of Peachtree Road since 1994.  She and her husband David have three children: Emmala (17,) Hughes (15) and John (13.) All three were baptized and confirmed at Peachtree Road and are currently active in the Student Ministry.  Holly has taught Worship Education Sunday School, served on the Family Ministry Council and the Parent Volunteer Council.  Holly attended Tulane University and received a BA in Art History and Spanish.  She then attended Parsons School of Design in New York City and received an Associates Degree of Applied Science in Interior Design.  She is an NCIDQ certified Interior Designer and runs her own firm, Moffett Design, specializing in residential and healthcare design.

Bob Nelson – Bob is a registered architect with degrees in both architecture and construction.  He worked in the design and construction of a number of office buildings in Atlanta including the Atlanta Financial Center, the Melia Hotel downtown, and six of the Piedmont Center office buildings.  He and his wife Jeanna Brannon have been members of Peachtree Road for 12 years, and they are very involved in the church’s outreach ministries.  They also are members of the New Beginnings Sunday School Class.

Carroll O’Brien – Carroll has been a member of PRUMC for 22 years.  She and her husband Kerry have two sons and are members of the New Beginnings Sunday School Class.  Carroll served on the Youth Parent Council, taught the 6th grade Confirmation Sunday school class, served on the two previous Building Committees, served on the Building and Grounds Committee, was Administrative Board Chair, was Chair of the previous Long-Range Planning Committee, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees.  Carroll is a Vice President and Principal at Taylor & Mathis, a commercial real estate development company, where she has worked for the past 32 years.

Tripp Rackley – Tripp and his wife Blair have been members of PRUMC since 2002.  They have three children, ages 7, 10 and 11.  He has been a Disciple teacher for many years, was Finance Committee Chair for two terms, has been the church Treasurer, has served on the Board of Trustees and is a member of The John Wesley Society.  He is currently Chair of Program Council.  Tripp is a very accomplished entrepreneur, having founded several Atlanta-based technology companies that have been extremely successful.

Meghan Shannon -- Meghan has been a member of Peachtree Road for a year and a half and in that time has taken on leadership within the church as Chair of the Single Adult Ministry and Co-Chair of Curriculum for the Young Professionals Sunday School Class.  She has over five years of architectural design experience, including being a part of the project team for the Activities Building at Transfiguration Catholic Church in Marietta, GA.  Her specialty is in sustainable architecture, and she is currently employed at The Epsten Group where she works closely with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system.

Bill Simmons – Bill joined PRUMC in 2001.  He has served on several committees and currently serves as Church Treasurer and as a delegate to Annual Conference.  He additionally serves on the Executive, Finance and Staff Parish Committees.  He is a retired Executive Vice President of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
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