Merger Information
Merger Moment—October 23, 2009
Last year the Joint Merger Taskforce, the two Boards of Trustees, and several committees from both Tapestry and OCUUC met regularly to look at how we might make being together work. All of the groups experienced success, and actually came to conclusions that were mutually workable. In May, Tapestry's congregation confirmed its desire to merge. And so, we thought, “we’re ready to do it, we're ready to merge!" We were ready then, and are ready now... except for three small obstacles.
First, Tapestry found itself this summer without ordained leadership, but has since retained Tom Owen-Towle, former co-minister at First Church, San Diego, so the first obstacle has been cleared. The second obstacle...OCUUC didn’t obtain [and still hasn’t gotten] a creditworthy renter or buyer for our campus. And the third obstacle, Tapestry continues to experience increasing financial difficulties due to its high rent. This made it necessary for Tapestry to immediately seek an alternate site to congregate (Tapestry has been looking for rent relief since June 2008, when their congregation voted to seek a combined site.) The ministers and presidents of both congregations have met, and have pledged their efforts to keep both congregation informed of each other’s status, and to the maximum extent possible, keep all options open that minimize the time or expense for a merger. Although Tapestry has done a monumental job of rearranging their finances to remain in their current site in anticipation of merger, they simply cannot afford to remain in their current site any longer....they MUST relocate. Tapestry will shortly begin negotiating a lease for another site which will be more feasible for them financially, offer them the most flexibility, help them build membership, and come to merger with renewed energy and confidence.
As for that second obstacle, neither OCUUC nor Tapestry can afford to obtain a combined site without first tapping the income stream from sale or rental of 1259 Victoria. We are actively continuing our efforts to sell or lease our property. Once that occurs, we can go back to the logistics of becoming one congregation, and fulfill our long-sought and hard-earned goal of a strong liberal religious presence in Orange County.
In the meantime, we can do all sorts of things together. The presidents and ministers met just last week, shared OWL programs are on-going, we gathered for the second consecutive year at deBenneville for a combined camp, and we continue to inviting each other to our respective events. It is likely that we will hold other events together as well (although it's important to remember that until Tapestry is settled in a more affordable site, their focus and attention will be on relocation.) We know it’s hard to wait, and even harder to know that there’s not much we can do right now to move the process forward; but this is what we have to do! And both congregations can continue strengthening their respective programs which can only mean richer common programs and shared ministry when the time comes!
Supporting Documents
February 8, 2009 - Pulpit Information
January 25, 2009 - Joint Task Force members
January 18, 2009 - Joint Task Force Timeline
January 18, 2009 - Pulpit Editorial
September 8, 2008 - Growth Team Report
September 1, 2008 - Joint Task Force Webpage
September 1, 2008 - Growth Team Report slides
August 1, 2008 - Growth Team Report and drive times
June 1, 2008 - Long Range Plan Timeline
April 9, 2008 - Exploratory Task Force Report
February 20, 2008 - Cottage Meetings Report
January 30, 2008 - Exploratory Task Force Map Overlay
January 13, 2008 - Informational Meetings Q&A Session
January 1, 2008 - PSWD Moving Congregations guideline
December 19, 2007 - Exploratory Task Force Timeline
December 9, 2007 - Informational Meetings Q&A Session
November 11, 2007 - Informational Meetings Q&A Session
November 10, 2007 - Exploratory Task Force Report
March 1, 2006 - Long Range Planning Report
January 10, 2005 - Long Range Plan Growth Team Charge
Click the Tapestry logo to visit the Tapestry Merger Page