October Facilities Report
October 12, 2014
Hello Bethel Friends,
It has been a while since I’ve updated you on our facility but that doesn’t mean we’ve been napping. Quite the opposite, we’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to write. But, before I give you specifics I want to let you know how I view the facilities and grounds at Bethel.
To do that, I want you to check out the attached photo:
Here’s the back story. It was Cupertino High Tournament of Bands on Saturday and one of the volunteers who was managing overflow parking in our lot went to great efforts to rope off our entire property in order to protect it from the thousands of youth and adults that were here yesterday.
As I pulled up to Bethel this morning I was struck by how powerful a message this was to the community.
It also got me thinking about how often we put invisible barriers up around our physical church and our personal walk with Christ.
I have the great privilege of helping organize and manage several teams that are working on making our facility a truly inviting place.
It began with the Welcome Zone over a dozen years ago and continues with our Work Days, Men of Monday, the Torvend TLC Team, our day custodian, the AV Team and dozens of other staff and volunteers who care about our place.
But don’t be mislead, we are not going to these efforts just for the sake of our place being pretty or technologically advanced.
It is all to invite more people to experience the love of Christ anew.
There are people around you everyday that need to hear that news.
It might be a stranger who has never set foot in a church, it might be a co-worker or neighbor who is struggling, or it might be a person who has left the church community for whatever reason.
We have a beautiful facility and an awesome promise of love and acceptance from Christ.
Let’s make sure we share :-)
Ok, here are some facility specifics:
- Torvend Hall Fire Rennovation: Done :-) We have an awesome new preschool/toddler room serving our community in a new way.
Our new ADA bathroom turned out great and the pantry/freezer/washer/dryer room is working out great.
The vinyl floor in Torvend is also new and will serve us well in the years to come.
We also have $ credit to replace the carpet in Torvend as well as address the ceiling tiles.
Make sure to come by and check it out!
- Torvend Hall TLC Team: We are ready to get going again to come up with a plan for a Torvend Face Lift.
This will include the pine trees, kitchen, carpeting, painting, ceiling, windows, the rest of the roof, technology and more.
Our goal is to have a proposal ready for you at the Winter Congregational Meeting.
- BLC Memorial Brick Project: Phase 1 Done :-) Make sure to see the work done by our paver team and the awesome inscriptions.
Don’t worry if you didn’t get in on it this past spring.
You’ll have plenty of chances down the road.
- Parking Lot Project: Done :-) We cut out roots, repaired some of the drainage, re-sealed it all with two + coats and re-striped.
- Green Biz Project: We are close on this one.
As soon as we are done, we’ll have a “Green” party and discuss how you can put some of these steps into practice in your own homes :-)
- We have re-lamped every incandescent/halogen fixture we could with LEDs.
We also replaced the bulk of the ballasts in the Sanctuary, plus upgraded the majority of our exterior lamps and fixtures as well.
- We installed flow restrictors on all of our faucets and continue to work on optimizing our irrigation water usage.
- Our Garbage Company has provided us with three types of bins to collect recyclables, compostable, and trash.
We have also received the signage and are implementing a plan to collect all of these around our proper.
- Our HVAC systems have all been tuned up and adjusted.
We did find a ducting issue that we will eventually still need to address.
- Paper: Oh yes, the never ending use of paper.
Bethel is working hard to reduce the amount we use and is beginning to use recycled products as well.
Ironically, they cost more than new paper. Let’s all use less :-)
- One of the last areas we are working on with our cleaning company is the use of chemicals, cleaners, paper goods, and waste collection bags.
We will be switching over to more environmentally friendly products in the coming weeks and months.
- Narthex Welcome Project: We are hoping to build on the great efforts of Patricia and the ministries to even better highlight and promote our ministries while giving a bit more physical space to share and meet.
Look for more to come in the near future.
- Fireside Room Refresh: We are coming up with a plan to address our Fireside Room.
We really haven’t done anything significant since it was built over 25 years ago.
Should be fun :-)
- Zoar Bathrooms: If you’ve ever been in elementary school (think back), you know what I’m talking about.
We’re on it!
- General Cleanup: We have been working the past several months to clean up junk, trash and scrap metal stowed away on our property (and at Stelling).
Several dump trips and visits by the recycling fairy have us on the way.
- Men of Monday: I need say no more: You rule in my book.
Thanks gents for your hundreds of hours of service and miles of smiles. You’re the best!!
Well, I think that should do it for now. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please get a hold of me.
Once again, we are blessed with an awesome campus and we want it to provide a fertile place to share God’s love with all who come here.
Peace,
Tom Hoegel
Facilities Team Leader
