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For the season of Lent, this column will be co-written by members of the Faithland Team to facilitate communication and make sure that any information about our conversations with Habitat for Humanity SKKC is provided to the entire congregation as it becomes available. As we move toward meetings in small groups to discuss and discern ahead of our 3/29 All Church Conference and vote, it might be helpful to review a brief summary of how we arrived at this point.

 

2020: Leadership Board begins thinking about housing on our site. Pastor Austin puts HLUMC in line for a future Faith Land Initiative training session.

2021: Building & Grounds analysis identifies a 5-year horizon of current property management mode before changes must be made.

2022: HLUMC joins Church Council of Greater Seattle’s Faith Land Initiative, with 10 months of training and establishes Faith Land Initiative (FLI) team.

2023: FLI team interviews many congregation members about meaningful experiences on our site and their vision for the future. Met with small groups and Leadership Board to update. FLI team visits many churches doing residential construction in varying stages of progress.

October: Property Discernment Meeting after church. Received over 80 questions and provided answers online. Top FAQ,s included in newsletter.

December: All-Church Conference votes:

1) Should we proceed toward sale of our Youth Center? (yes: 25, no: 2)

2) Should we proceed toward development of housing on part of our property? (yes: 24, no: 2)

2024: Hired attorney & real estate brokers. Replaced Youth Center roof and other property requirements for sale.

July 14 All-Church Conference vote: to approve sale of Youth Center to LPW (yes: 25, no: 1)

Late July Engaged LPA to assist us in discernment and evaluation of property development

options (funded through an Enterprise grant).

December All Church Conference vote on developing RFI/Q for Potential Development Partner (yes: 33, no: 2)

2025: LPA assists in creating and distributing RFI/Q for developers to work with us under our requirements for housing construction. Habitat for Humanity SKKC responds with strong proposal.

 

That brings us to our process this year, in which we are working to share as much as possible about the proposal from Habitat so we can discern whether this is a project that our church will agree to begin. One of the considerations that we are hearing a lot of feedback about is how a potential sale of property to Habitat might impact our church, financially, in terms of the ways that we use the parking lot and other parts of the campus after construction, and what effects construction may have on church life. Another of the considerations that we know is important to members of our congregation is how this will impact community members beyond our church, including Camp United We Stand residents, P Patch gardeners, parsonage renters, neighbors who live near the church, and those who may become new neighbors in any housing that is constructed. Finally, we understand that whatever we do with our property will not fully address the housing crisis in Seattle and that there will be those who are not helped by our development so who we are not helping is also part of the conversation.

 

This is a brief summary of where we are and how we came to be here. More detailed information about the first parts of this timeline is available on the timeline posted on the bulletin board opposite the name tag rack just outside the sanctuary and downstairs on the bulletin board outside the preschool room. We will be working to update those displays as more information becomes available.