Conway Village
Congregational Church
February 2024
Click here to view or download the full PDF version of the
Due to the Dec. 18th flood all services of the Brown Church are affected:
- Sunday Worship services, 10 AM, are to be held at the Majestic Theater.
- Food Pantry clients will be serviced by the Vaughan Center in North Conway.
- Dinner Bell community meals are cancelled until further notice.
- Recovery groups and any other meetings or events have been cancelled, changed to Zoom only or moved to other locations, please check with your group members or the Valley Gratitude Group on Facebook for more information.
Annual Meeting & Flood Update
Thank you all for attending the Annual Meeting on January 28th. We appreciate all your questions and comments. In addition to the Annual Report review and discussion, we also presented an update to the flood and cleanup.
Carl presented the Annual Report. The vote was in favor of accepting it as written. There were three vacancies; the Church Clerk, one Web Team member, and one Music Committee member. Debra Arnold volunteered to be on the Music Committee. The other two were not filled. If anyone would like to fill one of these, please let the Moderator know. Until we have a Church Clerk, Melody will pick up some of the duties.
Last year the church voted to suspend the by-laws and replace the Cabinet with a Council. Those attending the Council each month feel it was successful and improved communications amongst the boards. It was agreed to continue with this form of governance for 2024 and the Council will work on revising the by-laws.
Pictures of the damage to the church were shown on the screen. A cost sheet was handed out to all. This included costs incurred to date and estimates. The total is $211,300. Back in 2020, issues with the foundation were identified and these repairs also need to be done. The cost of this was $230,000 which brings a new total to $441,300. We continue to have inspections and assessments to determine work needed.
The church is working with the state of New Hampshire and two companies to clean up the oil spill. The next step is to remove 40 tons of contaminated soil from the crawl space. The church still has a very strong oil smell and it is hoped that it will improve with the removal of the soil. It is expected that the State’s Clean Up Fund will cover all the clean up costs.
A form was handed out to all that listed 5 options for the future of the Brown Church. This list is to get people thinking, as we continue determining costs of repairs. We will have to look at what the town will require, knowing that the lower level sits in the floodplain. The options presented were:
- Continue to meet at the Majestic
- Restore building to pre-flood conditions only (no work to sanctuary or foundation)
- Merge with another church in the valley
- Move to another existing building
- Sell the church and lot and use the proceeds to buy or build another
We are asking all to think about these options and fill out the form, and return it to the church by mail at PO BOX 333, Conway, NH 03818 or email to info@thebrownchurch.org
Worship services will continue at the Majestic every Sunday at 10:00am. We thank them for offering the space to us.
We would like to offer a walk-thru of the church, on February 17th at 10:00. Anyone is welcome.
Anne Getchell
Conway Village Congregational Church
Update Information for Annual Meeting January 28, 2024
132 Main Street Conway, NH 03818
info@thebrownchurch.org
| Oil spill clean-up and recovery costs (covered by State fund for clean-up) except $500 *NOTE – Unknown expense costs to complete work | $ 500 |
| Carpet removal, wet vacuum and drying equipment for floors and walls | $13,030 |
| Cleaning Chairs in Sanctuary | $1,300 |
| Removal of Refrigeration Units | ??? |
| Removal of Oil Tanks | $7,500 |
| Re-establish Water System in the Building (Flushing and reconnecting system) (Consider separating upper floor water connection from lower floor) quote added 1-11-24 | $ 500 |
| Foundation repairs if required for occupancy *NOTE – estimate from 2020 | $230,000 |
| Sealing crawl space | ??? |
| Replace the exit door damaged by flood waters on lower level by walling the opening (Fire dept. approved) | $2,177 |
| Removal of boiler, furnace unit, blower unit (clean-up of unusable mechanical room) | $114,000 |
| Replace 4 humidifiers in crawl space | $8,400 |
| Classroom floor tile removal due to saturated subfloor *NOTE – estimate from 2020 | $7,161 |
| Food Pantry goods and church supplies (includes Mower and Conf. Rm. Bookcase) | $2,450 |
| Loss of food in Pantry | $3,100 |
| Carpeting Replacement | $21,445 |
| Heating/Fuel System Replacement (Replace oil with propane system) | ??? |
| Refrigeration Units | $28,990 |
| Update Total Costs and Estimates as of 1-11-24 (Additional Items Still Pending) | $200,766 |
| Total cost without the Foundation Repairs cost ($230,000) | $211,276 |
| *NOTE – Costs from Bergeron Report 2020 Total with added 2020 estimates & other church supplies/repairs as of 1-23-24 | $441,254 |
Photos from December 18-19, 2023
Options for the Future of the Brown Church
What if we: What are the Consequences?
-
- Continued to meet at the Majestic
- Restored the building to pre-flood conditions—repair/replace needed equipment and furnishings, ignore fixing the foundation and sanctuary
- Merge with another church in the valley
- Moved to another existing building
- Sold the church and the lot
- Used the proceeds from the sale of church and lot to buy property and build a new building
- Continued to meet at the Majestic
From the Deacon’s Bench
Hello from the Diaconate corner. Hope you have been staying cozy and warm during the last couple of our cold winter weeks. For our “Love the snowy cold” outdoors sports and recreation folks, it’s nice to see that the snow has arrived to bring you winter fun and brighten our landscape.
As we are settling into worship at the Majestic Theatre, we are being called to open our hearts and expand our faith and trust in God. John 14:1-3. We are reminded throughout scripture that we are not alone in this. God has promised to always be with us, in our difficult days and in our days of joy.
When we gather together to praise His Name and pray together, encouraging each other, He is with us. Heb.3:5,10:24-25, Psalm 40.
Matthew 19:20 “For where two or three gather together in my name, I am there among them.”
Isaiah 40:29 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. [NKJV]
Adjustments to ways we typically worshipped have been made to adapt to our new worship setting. The bulletin has been expanded to include scripture readings. Communion will be served at the altar table. Similar to the service we had pre-Covid, worshippers will come forward one row at a time to receive the elements, individually, before returning to their seats.
Lent is the forty days (excluding Sundays) before Easter. It is a season of spiritual growth and preparation for Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Ash Wednesday falls on February 14th this year. Rev. Hughes will be doing a pre-recorded Zoom Ash Wednesday service. Additional information will be forthcoming concerning time and other information about the service.
We are Happy to announce the addition of two Deacons to the Diaconate. We welcome back Jill Reynolds and a new Deacon, Charles Monaghan. We are fortunate to have them join us!
Stay Warm & See You in Church!!
Judy Workman, Louise Saxby, Beth Campbell, Jill Reynolds and Charles Monaghan
Tour the Church
There will be a tour of the church building on Saturday, February 17th at 10:00 AM for anyone who is interested.
Office Space Needed
We are in need of office space to operate the church. Preferrably where we could also have small 2 to 4 person meetings, but this is not a necessity. If anyone has available space please call or email the church at 603-447-3851, info@thebrownchurch.org . Thank you.