Questions and Answers about becoming a Union 
What follows are questions that leadership have received from members of the Community
and the answers that have been provided.
​
Question: Each congregation brings a major asset (other than the people, of course) to the Union:
Redeemer has the building and grounds; Intercession has a large-ish Diocesan Trust Fund (with the majority of funds coming from the proceeds from the sale of the building).  Together, through the budget and the savings we give toward future larger projects, we provide funds for the maintenance and upkeep of the building and grounds.  While we hope and plan that this Union will last forever, if we were to choose to separate,  the building and grounds will be returned to Lutheran Church members and the Diocesan Trust Fund will be returned to the Episcopal Church members. How can we insure that we do not simply drain the Trust Fund to fill any deficit gaps so that if we do have to walk down the path of separation, both congregations would be leaving with "healthy" assets?

Thank you for sharing this concern.  Moving forward as a Union, both congregations---as they become one---will need to continue to care for and manage our shared assets. The care of the building and property asset is somewhat "baked in" to our way of being with our budget that includes $ for maintenance and upkeep---as well as our ongoing savings for larger projects.

What we will also need to do collectively is to maintain and upkeep our Trust Funds. This will now be a shared responsibility of the entire community. This work will now become the work of all the Beloved Community, and we will acknowledge and call people to do the important work of investing and maintaining both of the tremendous assets the two congregations bring to the Union.
This will mean that as a community we are mindful to elect leaders who understand this and that we call them to this work and support them in this work.

Another note is that in the past 7 years our Trust Funds---while they have been used at times for deficit----have remained pretty stable.  Part of this is due to a return to a "healthy" stock market, but also part of this is because that----while we do have a deficit most years when the budget is presented (and have for many years)--- we do not always have to use the Trust Funds to fill in the gap. As you know, there are years when the answer to the gap comes in different forms.

Also, we know that "being church" is changing, and we don't know what that will mean for us and our way of being, we should not assume that our way of being will be: Every year we will have a deficit and just drain the Trust Fund.  Note from Jane: We haven't done that in the past 13 years since I have been with Intercession.  We are always mindful of not simply draining the Trust Fund to stay alive---even though we do use it strategically and mindfully.  I do not expect us to suddenly change our ways and use the Trust Fund as a "life support" mechanism. But, ultimately, it is up to the people of the congregation to make sure we do not do this by staying informed, electing good leaders, and investing in our assets to help our ministries thrive.

Question: Since we would be going from two entities to one, who will decide how the Trust Fund is used? In the past, there has been a provision calling for a special congregational meeting to approve spend Trust Fund monies, depending on the amount and the balance of Trust Fund. How will becoming a Union affect this?
Not at all, actually. The Diocesan CommonTrust Fund will continue with the provisions that are already in place. The Beloved Community will be an Episcopal Church (as well as an ELCA Lutheran one), and the Trust Fund is managed by the Diocese; therefore, all resolutions and provisions in place about the Diocesan Common Trust Fund remain in place. There would have to be a resolution made by leadership to change any provisions or ways of handling the Trust Fund on a congregational level. The congregation would be involved in any decision or changes made.