Today
Curtis and I want to talk a little about the property …
Let’s review
…
The mission
of the United Methodist Church is transformation … it is our very why … we
exist so that we can help transform the world … ourselves, our neighborhood,
our world …
Transformation
of the world begins with the individual … (repeat that)
Our property
is a very important element of that transformation …
Let’s start
with Hilltop House
Curtis: The
Hilltop House provides housing for twelve families a year through Family
Promise. That is 48 people who
experience shelter and food who would otherwise be homeless. Further, the United Methodist Committee on
Relief Depot in Salt Lake profits from Hilltop House in teams from across the
country stay here while working at UMCOR.
What about
the main building?
Curtis: Three
quick examples:
Alcoholics Anonymous uses the building once a week … fifty women
and men are transformed by a doctrine of personal accountability within a
framework of a supportive community.
Boy and Girl
Scouts use the building extensively during the week … over one hundred and
thirty boys and girls are transformed in a community of loving adults.
Hilltop Christian
School uses a significant portion of our building and eighty children are transformed
in a loving atmosphere …
If I can offer one additional point, there are over six
thousand entrances into this building in the course of an average month … six
…. Thousand … some of them several times
… and many of them are subtly but profoundly changed by their experience …
And those three examples says nothing about
consignment sales which generates funding for missions and clothing for those
in need, Christian Education during the week, and other activities …the list of
things that go on in the building is incredible …
Our
predecessors at Hilltop made a conscious decision for this building to be used
as a community resource. This is not an
expensive car parked in a garage and only taken out for a Sunday morning only spin. It is taken out for of the garage every day
of the week. It is a sturdy, well built
facility that is carefully used daily ….
Drive around Salt Lake and look at most church parking lots Monday
through Friday and compare those lots with Hilltop during the same time. We ARE a community resource, and that leads
to wear and tear, and additional expense …
But the
fundamental question – is does the world need more or less of the buildings
contribution to a message of God’s free and unconditional grace? Thank you …
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