Greetings, and welcome to a new periodic feature you will see on our presbytery website: Property Corner.
Grace Presbytery established a new role – Director of Property Management in early 2019 – when Karen Ebling joined the staff. Property Corner is penned by her.
My responsibility is two-fold: (1) overseeing properties owned and managed by the Presbytery Corporation (Grace Presbytery, Inc.), including real estate transactions, and (2) serving as a resource for property-related issues and transactions with the local congregations.
I enjoy our many dialogues about selling and leasing church property, financing capital improvements through church mortgages, and insuring and protecting your property.
A notable change in how we operate regarding property matters took place at the beginning of 2020 with the dissolution of the Administrative Commission on Property (ACP). This long-standing commission formerly was delegated by the presbytery the authority to review and approve property transactions as stated in our Book of Order.
Now, the continuing members of the former ACP have merged into the Board of Trustees. The newly elected 2020 trustees have the broader responsibility for all presbytery assets, including investment funds and real estate property. With changes to our Standing Rules approved at the December 2019 Presbytery meeting, we transferred all of the responsibilities delegated to ACP to the trustees. Through this change, we will improve and streamline our policies and processes as we seek to be good stewards of all that is entrusted to us.
Property is a vital part of the ministry of the Church. We think more and more these days about the “Ministry of Place,” how we creatively utilize the land and dwelling places that we share together in community.
Continue to watch the website, and our semi-monthly newsletter, for on-going updates and insights into property matters.