Families are Stronger than Messes

Love is patient.  1 Corinthians 13

Last weekend Pastor Tim messages in the “Not A Fan” series reminded us that in God’s way of ordering things, our relationships are much more valuable than any material thing -- Our relationship with Christ and our relationship with one another.  The importance of that fact became even more apparent as Pastor Tim went on to announce that we had come to the point in our negotiations with our lenders that they were leaving us no other option than to sell our properties and buildings.

  The official statement from the church is: “Washington Cathedral is being forced by our lenders to sell our property.  The good news is the church is not now nor ever has been the buildings.  And our property is worth significantly more than we owe.  So we are headed on a new messy adventure.  However, we know that all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.  This is Christ’s church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.”  The Pastoral Staff

At first this was shocking news to many of members of the Washington Cathedral family, but after learning more of the facts, most have come to understand that this is not a set-back of any kind, but rather a new opportunity for us to grow and strengthen the ministries of Washington Cathedral.  The church is not the buildings, the church is a family and families are made up of people.  It is the people who Christ gave his life for.  And we were reminded that “Families are Stronger than Messes.”

The facts are that the church currently owes $14.6 million on this property.  The payments are about $70,000 per month and that is way above our capacity to pay at this time.  We have been working with our lenders for over a year now to try to renegotiate the terms of our loans to reduce those payments.  After many meetings, phone conversations and written correspondence, it became clear that the only option that was acceptable to our lenders was to sell our property and pay them off.  The good news is that our property is much more valuable than the amount we owe and when we sell the property we should be able to pay off all our loans and still have a good nest-egg to reinvest in relocating.  God has been so good to us and I feel he will help us find the right buyer for this property.  With the current zoning it will more than likely be some kind of non-profit or a school.

Pastor Tim reminded us Sunday at the Town Hall Meeting that we are never going to give up.  All the ministries of Washington Cathedral will continue on for generations because that is the kind of commitment that we have from the church family of Washington Cathedral.

The response from our church family has been amazing.  I can’t tell you how many people have talked to me and said “Pastor Tim is right.  The church is not the building it is the people and this is our church no matter where we meet.”  Others have told me how excited they are to see how God works this all out. 

You could sense a new powerful closeness among our church in every one of our worship services.  We don't know exactly what is going to happen this year but it is going to be a year of adventure when we see God work in powerful - powerful ways.

If you have question about any of this, please let us know and one of the pastoral staff would be happy to meet with you.