The Building Beloved Community Committee (BBCC) is working along two tracks toward an overall upgrading of the SSUMC campus in conjunction with our planned affordable housing development.

The first phase will include new bathrooms near the sanctuary and lifts to provide accessibility to Fellowship Hall.  It will also include closing, consolidating, or re-purposing large portions of the education wing.

But the first phase also requires quite a bit of church volunteer manpower to help move multiple ministries & offices.  We especially need help on two specific days:

  • Saturday July 13 (9:30am-1pm): The focus will be on clearing rooms for painting AND on identifying items to be moved, donated (A Wider Circle, etc.), or thrown out. Basement rooms 21 & 22 must be cleared and ready for painting the following week.
  • Saturday August 17 (9:30am-1pm): We are bringing in two (2) large dumpsters, one for trash and the other for metal recycling.

Again, we need youth & adult volunteer help on both days. Our goal is to have all offices, classrooms and ministries moved by September 1 so that we can begin to shut down designated portions of the education wing and prepare for construction & remodeling in the early fall.  Pastor Will plans to update the congregation shortly on the anticipated remodeling timeline.

On the second track — planning for our affordable housing development, BBCC members and Pastor Will have been part of regular weekly meetings with our development partners which are now beginning to focus on its possible shape, size, and capacity. The congregation engagement session on Saturday July 20 (see below) will explore some of those initial design and community concepts.

We continue holding comprehensive engagement gatherings with the congregation and broader community.  The goal of these sessions is to draw input from and collaboratively envision the future of the SSUMC campus with our congregation, our church partners,  surrounding neighbors, and other potential key stakeholders in our future affordable housing residences. Upcoming sessions include:

  • Coffee & building walk-through, Thursday July 11 from 6:45-8:45 pm w/Pastor Will & members of the BBCC
  • Congregation/Community Design Meeting #3 – A discussion on initial design and community concepts, Saturday July 20 from 10am to noon
  • Coffee & building walk-through, Saturday July 27 from 10am to noon
  • Coffee with the Senior Pastor, Sunday July 28 from 11:30am to 1pm

Please plan to take part in these important sessions, as your engagement is crucial to the success of “Building a Beloved Community.” And for ANY question you may have, contact us at belovedcommunity@silverspringumcp.org.