Henderson United Methodist Church

13000 West Baseline Road

Little Rock, AR 72210

 

 

Sanctuary Redesign Committee

This committee has just been recently formed to tackle the task of redesigning our Sanctuary for a new look for our congregation and our community.


We will meet the second Thursday of every month at 6:30pm in the Sanctuary and discuss ideas, make decisions and just have a wonderful time with each other in a discussion on how we would like our Sanctuary to look.


We invite everyone to attend as we are an open committee so come if you want to share your ideas with us.

Members

Chair: Shaun Jennings

Vice-Chair:

Secretary: Karen Sebourn

Vendor Contact: Marty Baker

Members-at-large:

Karen Broadnax

Necole Krie

Ray Lancaster

David Luneau

Kat Maxwell

Robin Moore

 
Meeting 03-13-12

Members in attendance: Shaun Jennings (chair), Ray Lancaster, David Luneau, and Karen Sebourn


Shaun reported there is a tax lien on Faye Rollins’ estate. This may be more than its assessed value. The United Methodist Foundation is working with the IRS to get things worked out. Someone needs to talk to whoever is in charge of this account to find out what the possible outcome will be.


The committee met to discuss whether to proceed with plans for the sanctuary redesign in light of the above information. If it is decided to proceed, discounting the money that may be received from Mrs. Rollins estate, fundraising will be necessary. Also, the Henderson trustees may decide that any fundraising efforts need to be directed toward more pressing needs at this time (restoration of damage to the outside of the building, etc.).


Committee members decided to postpone pursuing the changes to the sanctuary until:

(a) after the new pastor has time for transition to his/her duties
(b) more is known about the actual money situation relating to the Rollins’ legacy
 
Until the committee meets again, there are some steps we can take to improve lighting and sound:

(a) change all the fluorescent bulbs so the color and intensity will be the same throughout the sanctuary

(b) ask people from Boise to come reposition the speakers and train people to maintain them.


For future reference, Curtis Stout Co. is a reputable company we might want to use when replacing the lighting.


The Committee agreed to meet again in September to reassess the sanctuary redesign situation.

Meeting 02-14-2012
 Members present: Shaun Jennings (Chair), David Luneau, Kathy Maxwell, Karen Sebourn
 

Opening Prayer given by Shaun

 

Discussion of the list of tentative projects for updates on cost:

 

It was decided that an expert is really needed to estimate cost and appropriate lighting for the sanctuary.

 

Shaun discussed the sound system with representative from Boise. He found that it might cost $10,000 to upgrade and set up. They can come later and give a free estimate for a more accurate cost.

 

Shaun brought a suggestion for mounting the hanging cross and incorporating a flame on it.


Steven Baker will be asked to provide a blank floor plan so that a better idea of where instruments, furniture, and choir loft needs to be.
 

A door from the hallway to the future choir loft was discussed. It was noted that it appeared that plans for that had been made originally as there was a space in a closet that seemed designed for that purpose.

 
A prioritized list was generated as far as importance of the projects to be done. In order of most important to least they are:
 
1- New carpet and cushions, move the hanging cross and design an appropriate background for its display, create choir loft where instruments are currently located, as well as open a door from the choir loft to the hallway.
2- Update/renovate the sound system 
3- Sheetrock and paint sanctuary walls
4- More efficient/decorative lighting
5- Construct a balcony in back of the sanctuary for lighting and sound control
6- Update heat and air
 

The money generated by the sale of property given to the church by Faye Rollins is still in the Methodist Foundation. The amount is unknown. It was generally agreed that sanctuary projects cannot be fully explored and planned for until this is known.

 
The prioritized list will be given to the trustees when the approximate extent of the project is better known.

 
Meeting 01-10-12

Members in
attendance:
Shaun Jennings (chair), David Luneau, Karen Broadnax, Kathy Maxwell, Karen
Sebourn, Marty Baker, and Necole Kreie.


David Luneau read from Faye Rollins’ will stating that the money set aside for
Henderson UMC “must be used for the sanctuary or related items.”
 

Charlotte Harrison will find out more about the status of the release of the funds from the estate.


Trustees have asked that the committee come up with a prioritized list of improvements to the sanctuary:
 

        Heat and air system- cost: $14,000-$16,000


        New carpet and pew cushions- cost approx. $23,000 (Karen Broadnax will
              check on fabrics and upholstery)


        Lighting- David Luneau will get a “ballpark” price
 

        Sound system- Shaun Jennings will check on prices
 

        Cross moved back and back-lit from middle panel

 

        Balcony constructed in the back of the sanctuary to house sound and light
               systems


        Choir loft moved to stage left of chancel – risers constructed

        Praise band instruments moved to stage right of chancel
 

        Door to choir loft opened from back wall

        Sheetrock concrete block walls

        Paint walls

Karen Seabourn checked with Lisa Screeton about any suggestions she might have:

        Be sure the choir area has a hard (linoleum or wood) floor for acoustics


        Move the organ to the back of the sanctuary
 

        Be sure the piano is facing the choir


        Look at the background treatment Holy Souls gave their cross for an idea for
                ours
 

The above items will be prioritized when their cost has been determined.
Meeting Summary 11-10-11

Ray Lancaster opened with a prayer.

Members in attendance: Shaun Jennings, Ray Lancaster, Marty Baker, David Luneau, and Karen Sebourn.

 

Status of money from estate:

Jim Argue as a representative of the United Methodist Foundation is looking into status (sale of real estate, etc.). The Foundation is the trustee. Sean will email K.C. Daneshmandi as head of Henderson’s trustees to contact Mr. Argue to see where we are and get an idea of how much money we will have to spend.

 

Discussion of sanctuary update:

Chancel area as focus:

- move choir to right where praise band instruments are for acoustics

- praise band drums, etc. moved to left and a wall placed to hide equipment

- move cross and altar to back of chancel area

- pulpit and piano moved to either side of alter

- new door from back of chancel to choir loft

- restore prayer rail

- possibility of adding a stained glass window to back wall of chancel area

          - special lighting from within wall to enable it being seen day and   night

Other areas of need:

- possibility of creating a balcony in the back of sanctuary for sound, lights, and audio equipment and technician

          - it would enable pews to be reinstalled where equipment is presently

- replacement of heat and air conditioning unit for sanctuary

          - David or Marty will get a quote

- update sound equipment to one that is more appropriate for space       

          - Ray will check on this and requirements for balcony

- still need to discuss priority of carpet replacement, cushion covers, paint, etc.

- Marty will get measurements of chancel area\


 

Miscellaneous:

- meeting day to be changed to the second Tuesday of each month so as not to conflict with Praise Band practice

- no meeting in December, but resume in January
Meeting Summary 10-13-11

We filled two of the positions that was requested. We would like to ask Karen Sebourn to be the secretary to keep minutes of each meeting. Marty Baker has agreed to be the Vendor Contact. We did not get a Vice Chair or a Committee Liaison elected. Those in attendance agreed that we are not at the stage to have a liaison and probably will not need one until we make a decision.

 

KC brought the blue print that Kevin had drawn up to show the floor plan of the sanctuary.

 

Things that we feel should come first. We need to know how much money we will have available to us for the redesign. This will dictate what we will do and what we will be able to do in the first few stages. We will also need to know where the money is and how we can get that money to Henderson. Once we have the money in hand, we will be able to start some of our first projects that we decide to do.

 

Important items that we should look at first, the HVAC needs to be updated. That system is the original system and cannot keep up with our needs. It is not energy efficient and is costing us more than it should on our energy bills. With a new HVAC system, when our congregation grows larger, it will be able to handle the amount of people and keep everyone comfortable. Also, the ROI with a new efficient system will decrease our electrical costs. Marty will get with David and bring in a few vendors to get ball park estimates. The other quote that they will be working on is getting the carpet redone. We know that the carpet has to be the LAST thing we do because if anything needs to be built, we do not need to carpet the sanctuary once again. This will be the two projects that we can get immediate costs on so we can start to find out what we need to spend.

 

Ray brought up that there is some structural work on the roof that needs to be done soon. We will need to get that looked at to see how much that costs.

 

Suggestion: Put up a small terrace on the back wall and place the sound board and lighting controls up there so we can reclaim that area for pews.

Suggestion: Take out the lighting and put up LED chandeliers.

Suggestion: Put in permanent risers where the praise band is and make an entrance over there through the existing closet for the choir entrance. Move the praise band to the other side of the chancel, move the cross back towards the wall, move the alter back underneath the cross, move the lectern over by the choir area and the piano and organ over by the praise band to balance out the chancel. KC will draw this blue print out for us so we can see what it looks like.

Suggestion: Move the pews to make a center aisle.

Suggestion: Purchase a new speaker system to get rid of the current speakers.

Suggestion: Get a smaller soundboard because the current system is not being utilized properly.

 

KC has volunteered to make our drawings for us when we get a layout ideas and want to see what they look like.

 

Finally, we feel that we need to make an announcement to allow the congregation to contact anyone of us with ideas that they want. We should get all of the ideas from our congregation so that we can discuss everything and that everyone feels that they had input into this process.