UUCA – Report, Priorities Committee Report Jan 31, 1967 – Unitarian Universalist Digital Archives

PRIORITIES COMMITTEE DEPORT January 31st, 1967

The Priorities Committee was asked to consider priorities concerned with varying methods of expansion of the Unitarian Universalist congregation to include a “central city” meeting on a weekly basis. The meeting to consider these facts was held on January 31st, 1967 at the church and was attended by Roy Forehand, Gerald Reed, Ed Mangiafico, Roger Comstock and Robert Wells (who served as Chairman in absence of Ray Young).

The material available for our consideration included:

An estimate of $6,000 to $12,000 for rental of sufficient space to include a meeting room, several rooms for church – school activities, and some office space. This rental would be on a full-time basis and would, therefore, allow use of facilities during the week for other activities including: a) possible subleasing of part of the facility during the week, b) office use during the week end c) an open reading room or other community development activities. It was indicated that perhaps a figure of $6,500 to $7,500 was a realistic one to deal with for this alternative,
A rental figure of approximately $2,000 to involve use on Sunday only of sufficient space to involve a meeting room and several church – school rooms, but with no other use during the week. This estimate was based on a forty-week year.
A third alternative would be the rental of two areas, one on a full-time basis to provide function “c” listed under paragraph (1) above and the other in a different location to provide the type of function listed under paragraph (2) above. Potential rental figures for such a solution were not available for our consideration.
An estimated income and expenditure sheet for the coming fiscal year which had been prepared by the church Finance Director was available also for our use. It was decided by the Committee that we would be unable to fit priorities concerning a “central city” project into this estimated income and expenditure structure since this type of priority listing can only be accomplished in terms of budget preparation (after all program proposals are in and the Every-Member Canvas is completed)

The Priorities Committee feels at the type of proposal listed under paragraph (1) above is very desirable and that efforts should be made to move towards this type of activity as rapidly as the church budget will allow. It was further felt, however, that the church budget during the coming fiscal year will not allow full-time rental as outlined in paragraph (1) above and that, therefore, we recommend that high priority be placed in the 1967-1968 church budget for a central city project as outlined under paragraph (2) above.

It was further recognized that the solution suggested in paragraph (3) above may represent a compromise solution for the coming year. Estimated rental figures on this basis were not available for our consideration, however. It was the opinion of the Priorities Committee that it would be very doubtful that the church budget for 1967-1968 would be able to accommodate more expense than that outlined under paragraph (2), however.