Dear U Park Family,
After six Sundays, here we are: Holy Week is underway! I love to that we can offer the full schedule of Holy Week worship: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil on Saturday, and then services on Sunday. Partly, this is self-indulgent on my part. For me, this week is the pinnacle of the Christian year and I always find the classic “Triduum” (the three days of Holy Week leading up to Sunday) meaningful and powerful. But participating in the full Holy Week Triduum is about more than my own spiritual inclinations. It’s a way of inhabiting the story and finding new meaning in it each year. So I hope you’ll join us this week. On Thursday, we’ll gather in Wasser chapel at 7:30 P.M. to remember Jesus’s last meal with his disciples. Friday, we’ll be in Wasser again at 7:30 to hear the story of Jesus’s crucifixion and death from the Gospel of Matthew. Then on Saturday at 7:30 P.M. we’ll host a shortened version of the traditional Easter vigil service, beginning around a fire bowl in the courtyard and then moving into the Sanctuary to finish the worship. Traditionally, the Saturday vigil is the first celebration of Easter; it starts at Sundown, which in Jewish tradition is the beginning of the new day.
Also remember our Easter Egg hunt, which takes place on Saturday. The party starts at 11:00 A.M. at the church with a food truck, games, and crafts for children. Then at 11:30, we’ll launch our annual egg hunt as Easter eggs filled with candy will be hidden on the church grounds. This year, Bethany Hader Crabbs, our Children’s ministry Director, has set up two areas for egg hunting: the courtyard area will be for younger children, while the lawn on the Wasser Street side of the church will be open to older kids.
I have one other important piece of news to share. If you’re a church member, please mark your calendar for a Church Conference to be held the afternoon of April 30 (time is yet to be finalized, but it will be after 2:00). After months of working this process through the leadership of both Free Spiritual Community and our congregation, we will be holding a Church Conference to vote on the sale of the Evanston Center building and grounds to the Free Spiritual Community. Because we have settled on a specific price and terms through the committee approval process of both congregations and worked with leaders at the Annual Conference level, we’ll be asking the Congregation for a simple Yes/No vote on the proposal, rather than amending it.
I’ll provide more details and answer questions throughout this month. But here’s the basic framework of the proposed sale: University Park United Methodist Church would receive $1,150,000 for the Evanston Center. If Free were to sell the property at a profit within five years after the closing date, we would split that profit with Free. (They have no intent of selling the property; I’ll explain this provision further in future letters.) The United Methodist Book of Discipline requires that proceeds from the sale of church property be devoted to capital improvements or the purchase of additional church property, so the money we receive from the sale would be devoted to projects to improve or restore the University Park UMC building and grounds. We are still developing the list of uses for the funds, but obvious possibilities are improvements in energy efficiency such as our HVAC system, solar panels, insulation, lighting, or new windows; resurfacing our parking lot; or improvements to make the building more attractive and welcoming. While our Trustees have yet to suggest an allocation of the funds, our finance committee has also discussed putting aside some of the proceeds from the sale to cover emergency capital needs that may arise (for example, a water heater might need replacement).
More details to follow, but please feel free to get in touch if you have questions. More importantly for now, I hope that your Holy Week and Easter celebrations are rich, meaningful, and joyous!