Update from Council after Jan 7th Meeting

An Update from Council After the January 7th MeetingPlease continue to plan and prepare for the congregational meeting on January 25 after worship. All materials for the meeting will be available on Sunday, January 18 in the church narthex. If you will not be in worship on the 18^th you may notify Claire in the office and she can mail the materials to you (office@stlukesls.org) or 773-235-5420.As directed by the congregation, the council has been exploring options for selling our property. The congregation will vote on whether or not to authorize the sale of the building at the January meeting. If you would like more background and context leading up to this important vote, the council is hosting discussion sessions after worship Jan 11 and Jan 18. Stop by the Lesher Lounge on either of these Sundays to find out what preparation has gone into this resolution and consider our options.Three working groups continue to consider transition needs pending a potential building sale:The “interim worship space” working group has met to discuss their scope and what they can decide or take action on, versus what the congregation will need to decide as a whole. They are just beginning to explore options and are starting to contact people who may be resources down the road. This group is going to tour the neighborhood together on Saturday, January 17. Meet at the church at 1:30 to join them. They are also going to attend a Saturday evening worship service at Holy Trinity in the South Loop that day. Contact Justine Bandstra for more information about the 17^th or to join the working group at other times (jbandstra@gmail.com).The “building sale and transfer” group is laying the groundwork to respond to the congregation’s vote after January 25 by securing our building title. If you would like to join this group’s efforts, contact Jessica Schimpff (jschimpff1@gmail.com)The “communications” working group is meeting before worship on Sunday, January 11. They will continue to work to keep the congregation abreast of happenings. This group has sent letters about the congregation’s upcoming vote to ecumenical church partners, neighborhood associations, and elected officials to ensure that our friends and partners are aware. If you would like more information, have suggestions for this group, or would like to join, contact Katie Baxter (katie.b.baxter@gmail.com)As you might suspect, now that our process is semi-public, news of our upcoming vote has generated interest across the community and the church office has received a range of calls and emails from local churches, community groups, developers, and others with a variety of interests. We are responding to calls and emails, of course, but staff and others have been consistent in communicating that there is no action to be taken until after Jan 25.