Report From the Board of Trustees- July 2017
Your board has been working creatively and effectively to accomplish an amazing number of improvements in our building and on our property.
We want to acknowledge Tim Gorsky, who has donated his skill and talent in space use and design for three projects: the sound booth , the coffee bar schematic and a third possible small project with making the front platform more accessible.
Thanks also to Sean Fulton, Bill Davidson, and Gayle Hoffman for their assistance in making the sound room change happen.
As there are several changes underway and under consideration, we wanted to report to you the improvements we are making and considering.
1. As you will have noticed, the sound booth is nearly finished. We believe this new arrangement will enable us to get a clearer sound and enable the PowerPoint slides to work a bit better, as both of the will be in the room and will be able to see over the heads of people standing up! We consulted with a highly-respected church sound technician who verified some problems we already knew, such as the reason we have problems with feedback is because of speaker location. It has been several years since we have made any changes in our sound and we are still operating with an analog system which is slower. The newer digital equipment delivers a much cleaner sound. That consultant is currently giving us an estimate for that upgrade. It is possible that we will make a request for some substantial gifts to go toward completing that project. This is work that needs to be done if we are to branch in to live streaming. We will keep you posted.
2. A new smoking policy on the Unity campus will go into effect on July 15. You will see signs beginning to go up to that effect and the formal notice will be emailed to the congregation, and letters will go out to the various groups and tenants who use the building. We have been in discussion with them over the past 3 months and they are aware of and in favor of the change. The designated outside smoking area will be on the south side of the garage, which is the right side if you are looking at the garage doors.
3. With the old sound room space now available, a team has started to brainstorm ideas for the best use of that space, as well as the current use of space in the bookstore, the youth room, and the lobby area. They will be exploring ways to make our lobby more welcoming to visitors, as well as using the available area to provide a friendly place for people to gather before and after the service. This plan includes adding a coffee bar and tables in the lobby. The team will also be taking into consideration the space needed for the following: increase area available for classes and small group gatherings; storage area for our Pac-A-Sak outreach program; appropriate space allocation for our future Youth Program; and space for a selection of Unity books and other resources to support for spiritual growth.
4. We would like to add a step so that the front platform can be more safely and easily accessed from the front rather than having to go all the way around to the side.
5. We are currently seeking bids on repairing the chapel floor at the back entrance, as well as possibly replacing the center aisle strip of carpet. You are likely to see those changes over the next few months
6. We are increasing our visibility to the LGBT community by placing the rainbow insignia on all our signage, web-site and social media platforms.
7. Outreach through Facebook book has proven to reach a surprising number of people. With very little cost, we have increased the numbers who click on the various videos and postings that are done more than once a week. This has proven to be a very successful avenue of advertising for the smallest investment by a large number of churches. We encourage you to include our Facebook page in your social media practices and repost those things you think your friends might enjoy.
8. We are exploring an outreach campaign using yard signs…yes, just like campaign signs we can stick into our front yards at home. If we do this, we will have a slogan, or branded saying and our web-site on the sign. Apparently, a large church here in town does this, and the signs are fairly prolific. While we are not as large as they are, we are thinking it might be a very inexpensive and friendly way to increase interest in our positive spiritual path.
9. Signs saying “No parking; Driveway” have been erected on the south end of our cleared property between the two manufactured buildings that belong to the school. You may park on both sides of the white poles, and over along the tree line. There is room for about 25 cars and if you park in the area inside the poles, you will be able to drive out when you want to leave.
Additional parking for Sunday is also available along the right side of the driveway on the west side of the property. A walkway is available from that driveway to an entrance to the cafe’.
10.Changes will be made in some of the pew locations, as we start by creating wheel chair space along the center aisle.