Dr. William A. Ritter Senior Minister

February 13, 2005 Dear First Church Friends, Like a good journalist, let me lead with the hard news first. We have run into an unforeseen problem in refurbishing our sanctuary that, while not critical, will require us to amend our project. The good news is that it will not impact our budget. The bad news is that it will extend our timetable. Let me explain. When the contractor hired to clean the interior limestone looked more closely at our walls, he encountered "water ingress problems" in need of correction. When our sanctuary was built (1951-52), the east and west walls consisted of brick and block laid next to each other with a thickness of 12 inches. It has long been understood that a 12-inch wall will, over time, permit "water ingress." Which we have already experienced to a limited degree, leading to discoloration and occasional flaking (hence, the need for a stone cleaning contractor). Ironically, we have no such problem on the north wall (the front wall) given a thickness (brick to block) of 16 inches. By contrast, the CLC features "cavity wall construction" which allows for a one-inch vapor barrier between brick and block. We could ignore the advice and clean the sanctuary limestone, but the problem would quickly resurface. The only permanent solution would be to remove all of the outer brick from the sanctuary, install the vapor cavity and then rebrick. Given the labor-intensive costs associated with such a project, our contractors have advised us to take another approach. We can apply a sealant to the present wall which will last a total of 10-15 years (and can be reapplied at any time). The application cost is minimal, keeping us well within budget. The problem is that we cannot apply the sealant until the wall temperature exceeds 40 degrees. Which will require several days above 40 degrees to warm the wall to the desired level. One 40-degree day won't do it. Given the realities of Michigan winters, we are not likely to see a succession of 40 degree days until mid-March. And there are several things we cannot do internally until the sealant is applied. They involve flooring, carpeting, painting and replacement of the pews. This is true, in part, because "finish work" cannot be done until the large hydraulic lift is removed from the sanctuary floor. And we need the lift in place to complete the wall restoration. So when will we return? The expected date is Sunday, May 15, with the fall-back date being May 22. By that time, the organ will have been installed (which would not have been the case, had we returned on Easter Sunday). The bottom line is that we are talking about seven or eight additional Sundays in the CLC. Given this extension of our dislocation, we have decided to "bite the bullet" and make one other change. Effective this Sunday, February 13, we will change the starting time of our middle Sunday morning service from 9:00 to 9:15. While we would not have made the change if we were maintaining the original schedule, this seems to make sense for a number of reasons. My reluctance comes from years of experience in the ministry. I have learned the most disruptive thing you can do is change the worship schedule of a congregation. Which we will now have done twice within six weeks. But better to admit a mistake early and fix it quickly. Simply put, we were overly cautious in moving the 9:30 service to 9:00. We felt there would be too much confusion in the mingling of the crowds, requiring us to clear the CLC totally between services. But we also created problems for Sunday school teachers, choir singers and others needing (or wanting) to spend more than one hour here on a Sunday morning. The 9:15 start is a compromise. We still need more time between services than required previously. But not as much as we thought. Hopefully, this will increase the comfort of many while creating problems for few. As is true in many areas of life, we live and we learn. Unfortunately, too many people never take the final step, which is to apply what has been learned. Thank you, dear friends, for your patience with our learning curve. Sincerely, William A. Ritter