Dear Members and Friends of Church on the Hill,
I have been asked by the Partnership Committee to send a “Partnership Update” to all of the members and friends of COH.
More than two years ago (on April 24, 2016) the membership of Church on the Hill voted to enter into the process of seeking partners within the Berkshire non-profit community to share the use of our two historic buildings. We have completed the tasks of Asset Mapping, New Dollars/New Partners training, assessing our Public Value, and writing our Case Statement. On November 27th we sent out the first letters seeking potential partners in the non-profit community and are following up with phone calls. Once the holiday season is over, we will send out the second and third lists of letters.
We are approaching educational and cultural non-profit organizations, human services agencies, environmental and community economic organizations and asking them: Could our flexible, convenient spaces boost your mission? Could you imagine a partnership with shared stewardship and shared responsibility for these historic buildings?
While the generous financial gift from the Goessel family has insured that our historic buildings will be maintained for many years to come, our mission is to be “Christ’s disciples in the community.” The Church’s goal is to find one or more partners to share our buildings and significantly increase the ways they are used to serve Lenox and the surrounding towns and villages of the Berkshires. We envision that we will continue to own the properties (as much as anyone can own something that belongs to God!) and we may share that ownership with partners whose mission is the right complement to ours.
Our desire is to see a that the properties in our care do more to serve, strengthen, and enliven our community. In short, we hope to see people coming and going, every day of the week, finding nourishment for body, mind, and spirit in these buildings dedicated to extending God’s shalom to our neighbors.
Respectfully,
Barbara Sims for the Partnership Committee