news article

Trustees to pursue purchase of Liverpool building as Conference Center

October 23, 2014 / By

Read the version published Oct. 18, 2014 

Members of the Upper New York Annual Conference have approved a recommendation from the Trustees to purchase a new Conference Center. The vote took place during a special session on Oct. 18, 2014.

As a result, the Trustees will pursue the purchase of a one-story, 33,000-square-foot building at 7481 Henry Clay Blvd. in Liverpool.

The Trustees have signed a letter of intent with the sellers to pay $895,000 for the property, and renovations are expected to cost between $2 million and $2.5 million. The vote authorized spending up to $3.4 million on the purchase and renovations; that total includes a cushion for unanticipated expenses, but cannot be exceeded without further approval.

"I believe this facility will be a firm foundation to support our mission and enhance our ministry – both in the near future and over the long-term," said Bishop Mark J. Webb. "I want to express my deep gratitude to members for the spirit of the conversation on Saturday; I also thank the Trustees, the Headquarters Task Force, staff, and so many others for all of their work guiding us to this pivotal moment. As you know, there is much work ahead, and your prayers will be needed and most welcome."

The timeframe to complete the purchase is not certain, but it is expected to take place between Jan. 1 and March 1, 2015. It is estimated that renovations will take six months. The recommendation also includes an option to consider other properties should this purchase not come to fruition.

Special session

Approximately 750 voting members attended the special session at the OnCenter in Syracuse and another 217, including some from outside the country, followed the proceedings via the live stream.
Northern Flow District Superintendent the Rev. Rebekah Sweet and Niagara Frontier District Superintendent the Rev. Wayne Butler led the worship service.

Rev. Butler gave a short sermon based on John 15:1-8, the vine and the branches. Rev. Butler acknowledged the passage is a familiar one, but urged members to hear it "with new ears."

"What we really need is to be grafted back onto the vine again," Rev. Butler said. "Instead of trying to produce fruit on our own, we need to rediscover – as a Church, as an Annual Conference, as individuals – what are our real core values, the things that make a difference. We need to learn to let go of the things that don’t, and prune away all that’s sapping our strength – the things that might actually be keeping us from being effective and productive in our ministry.

"Instead of clinging to our treasured traditions, our pet projects, our personal preferences, maybe we ought to cling more closely to the vine, cling to Jesus, until all our clinging to 'me' and 'mine' gives way 'ours,' 'yours,' 'God’s.'"

Trustees' recommendation

A presentation regarding the rationale and specifics of the Trustees' recommendation followed.

The Rev. Bill Gottschalk-Fielding, Director of Connectional Ministries, and member of the Headquarters Task Force led off the presentation talking about the importance of the Conference Center to ministry.
"One of the most important tools a Conference can have is a Conference Center," he said."If it’s the right tool – an excellent and effective tool – a Conference Center helps leaders and local churches enhance, expand and extend their ministry into the lives of their neighbors and neighborhoods by providing a place of hospitality, collaboration and identity."
Rev. Gottschalk-Fielding thanked the congregation of Syracuse’s University UMC, current home of the Conference, Episcopal and Crossroads District offices, saying "Let’s be clear: University UMC ... has been good to Upper New York. We needed a temporary place to set up basic operations while we evaluated our longer-term needs. University UMC has been such a place. We owe the good people of this congregation a debt of gratitude."

Conference Lay Leader Scott Johnson outlined some of the challenges of the current location, including accessibility for those with disabilities. He also said the Liverpool facility will offer accessibility and the ability to offer 'radical hospitality,' more space for large meetings and for collaboration both among Conference staff and with others and allow the Conference to have a single, strong identity.

Blenda Smith, who said she had been skeptical about the recommendation at first, said her concerns came from "a place of fear and perhaps even a lack of trust," but having seen the "countless hours of research and work" on the part of the Headquarters Task Force, had become "very supportive" of the proposal.

Trustee Vice President the Rev. Dr. Wendy Deichmann, who chairs the Headquarters Task Force (see the list of members below), offered further insight into that work, recounting some of the history and details of the search for a new location.

The Conference Finance team discussed the financial aspects of the recommendation, including comparing four alternatives: keeping things as they are, expanding to a larger space within University UMC, leasing a property on Electronics Parkway and purchasing the Liverpool building. (Details of the comparison are in the pre-conference materials).

Trustee President John A. Jackson summed up the recommendation, and the floor was then opened for deliberation.

Discussion

Discussion during the 2.5-hour session centered primarily around questions about the specifics of the recommendation's costs and procedures.

Speaking against the recommendation, the Rev. Wilfredo Baez, pastor of the Tabernacle UMC in Binghamton, questioned leaving the city of Syracuse for the suburbs.
"As members of the Upper New York Conference, we not only want to make disciples, we want to be God's love to our neighbors ... people living in our urban areas are our neighbors, part of our Church family – they are the least and last of our brothers and sisters, oftentimes," he said. "It seems important to have in our urban areas a demonstration of our commitment and solidarity with those living in urban areas, who are often our poor and ethnic constituencies."

Pastor Viki Andrews, who serves Berkshire, East Berkshireand Jenksville UMCs, said the Conference cannot abandon the rural churches either.
"The Conference Center has to be acceptable for all our churches," she said. "The churches should be the ones taking care of our neighbors ... if we want that to happen, it's up to us, up to each and every church ...”
Pastor Matthew Kofahl, of the Hope UMC of Niagara County in Sanborn, was among those who raised concerns about whether the new space would be suitable in the future.
"As a young clergyperson, this is not an asset I want to inherit in 20 years ... whether we are larger or smaller in the future, we need to be more efficient," he said. "... We need to learn what corporate America already knows ... the way to connect over a large geographic area is with technology, not a building."

Pastor Kofahl suggested that renting might offer more flexibility in responding to change. "Forty years ago, you could not have predicted where we stand today," he said. "We can only see the near future; the thing about the future is (that) it will be different than what you expect."

The Rev. John Martin, pastor at the Adirondack Community Church in Lake Placid, speaking in favor of the recommendation, also talked about the efficacy of a brick and mortar space. He raised the question with the Rev. Adam Hamilton and the Rev. Mike Slaughter, who both lead large United Methodist churches. Rev. Slaughter urges putting money into "mission not mortar" and Rev. Hamilton is in the midst of a $90 million building campaign.

"(They) came to the same agreement: that buildings are a tool," he said. "The question in my mind is 'what kind of tool will the Conference Center at Liverpool be?' About the existing space I hear a lot of 'it's good enough.' ... we should not be looking for good enough, but for what isbest."

The Rev. Stephen Deckard, pastor at the New Hartford UMC, suggested that the body pray and called the question at 3:20 p.m.

Bishop Webb told members they would have to vote before the prayer, since once the question is called there can be no further action until a vote is taken.

"Those are Roberts' Rules," the bishop said with a smile, "not God's rules."

The required two-thirds supported the call for the question, and Rev. Deckard led a prayer. The vote was taken by show of hands; the session was finished at 3:25 p.m.

"May God send us forth in a spirit of courage, boldness and love as we live the gospel of Jesus Christ and be God's love with our neighbors in all places," the bishop said in benediction.

Headquarters Task Force
The Headquarters Task Force spent two years looking at some 30 properties in and around the city of Syracuse before proposing the Liverpool facility.
Task force members are: Trustee Vice President the Rev. Dr. Wendy Deichmann, chair; Deborah Byers, Trustee and former board president; John Jackson, current president of the Trustees; the Rev. Bill Gottschalk‐Fielding, Director of Connectional Ministries; Brooke Conklin, former Trustee; Paul Wiley, Trustee; the Rev. Thomas A. Clemow, property management consultant to the Trustees; Mike Huber, Director of Camping and Retreat Ministries; Christine Doran, Executive Assistant to the Bishop, and the Rev. Patricia Brown, Trustee.