June 1, 2009 Letter to Bishop Brown

Martinez United Methodist Church
100 Church Street Martinez, CA 94553

6/1/2009

Rev. Walter H. Brown, Bishop
California Nevada Conference
P. O. Box 980250
West Sacramento, CA 95798

Dear Bishop Brown,

Our Pastor, Rev. Winston Cruz, advised us last evening that he is being moved to
Valley Springs United Methodist Church effective July 1, 2009. As United Methodist, we acknowledge and accept the practice of the Bishop making reassignments on advice of Cabinet. In our 40 plus years as a local church we have gone through a number of such reassignments with Christian love and grace.

Like many mainline churches, Martinez United Methodist Church is faced with a
declining membership and its accompanying declining resources. To that end we have
developed teams to counter this challenge and believe we are positioning ourselves for greater outreach.

Yet, the loss of Pastor Cruz at this time borders on the catastrophic. Being aware
of this potential, our annual pastor’s evaluation has requested that we be advised in
advance of any consideration of moving Pastor Cruz. This is consistent with paragraph
431 of the Discipline “whereby the bishop and/or the district superintendent confer with the pastor and committee on pastor-parish relations.” We reinforced this concern with the District Superintendent at this immediately past Charge Conference. We stated that providing medical coverage would over extend our resources while noting that there were other even more stressing factors to consider. In the belief that the open meeting was not the appropriate venue to detail our needs, we did not go into specifics. We assumed that if a change was planned, we would be consulted. We trust that this letter will begin the conferring process.

The principle factor is this: our physical plant is over forty years old. While the
facilities are structurally solid, major maintenance can no longer be postponed. Eight years ago, a loan from the Church Extension Society enabled us to re-roof the parsonage. We next turned our attention to our general activity building. Having satisfied the first loan, we recently were awarded a second loan to complete the flat roofing of the activity building and to replace the (original) furnace. We anticipate these will be completed by fall.

The next major maintenance we face is replacing the wood shingle roof on our
sanctuary. The square footage combined with the steep slope will require a major
expenditure; our estimate is $40,000. With one significant loan obligation presently, a second one is not responsible - even if possible.

Our finance plan has been this. Over a year ago, in a confidential meeting, Pastor
Cruz stated he saw our need and was prepared to assist us in filling that need - his
advancing arthritic condition not with standing. He reaches the minimum retirement age of 65 in the forthcoming assignment year. He proposed that, at the appropriate time, he approach the Bishop and Cabinet with a proposal that he continue to serve Martinez UMC without salary. His salary-equivalent would be placed in a special account by our finance committee to build a reserve for re-roofing the sanctuary.

With regard to the late notification of the appointment of a new pastor, we will
always welcome a new pastor, the individual and family, with Christian love; that is our way. Yet, we face hardships in preparing for the new pastor. Should s/he and family (we have received no details) require residency in the parsonage, we will need to evict the present, long term occupants and to do extensive maintenance inside the house. Paying for other, temporary residency for the new pastor will be a significant expense and must be taken from our reserves for capital outlay.

In conclusion, we accept the authority of the Bishop to make all assignments. We
also understand that there is precedent for reversing an assignment. That is our request: leave Pastor Cruz with us for another three years - through our major maintenance period. At that time he anticipates being open to discussing continuance in a pastoral role.

Yours in Christian love,

S/Robert Sartin
Chair, Pastor Parish Committee
CC: Rev. Renae Extrum-Fernandez
Rev. Ted Virts
Lu Bennett, Chair, Administrative Council, Martinez UMC

Hard copy to follow via U. S mail