A Wish List from 2001—Part I

Not quite seven years ago, in September 2001, our congregation was getting ready to hold a town hall meeting to begin planning the 2002 church budget. Before the meeting, members and friends were asked to suggest possible ways to add to the quality of our church and its programs.

The suggestions that were offered filled two pages in The Builder (9/28/01). Looking at the list now, in retrospect, tells us something about where we were—literally and figuratively—and what our hopes and dreams were in 2001.

At least half of the suggestions related to the maintenance and improvement of our beloved but aging home on Hamilton Street. Now that we’re in a new home, some of those items, such as an elevator, are moot. Pretty much all of the rest (e.g. air conditioning, sprinkler system, roof that doesn’t leak, fresh paint) have been accomplished—although not, of course, in the same way as if we had stayed in the old building.

Refurbishing the organ was also on the list, and that’s been accomplished as well. We can also check off the automated external defibrillator, TV/VCR (we’ve moved on to a DVD player), new tables, and better playground equipment.

That’s not to say that we’ve acquired all of the tangible items from the list. We don’t have a bike rack or a Coke machine, for example. We did get a photo directory (in 2003), but it’s now out of date. And instead of a new, larger sign for displaying sermon titles, we currently don’t have one at all.

What do you think—would any of those items make it onto your own wish list? What other physical items would you add?

In Part II, we’ll look at non-tangible items from the 2001 wish list: personnel, programming, and more.