The Friends of St. Peter's Church are pleased that the Executive of St. Peter's has acknowledged our 16-page Business Plan proposal that was presented to them.
They have asked that we present it for discussion at the special meeting of the congregation (Täiskogu koosolek) called for November 12, 2022, beginning at 1:00 pm. We believe this proposal should be available for everyone for review in advance of the meeting. We have sent a copy to all members whose contact information was provided to us. The plan is available for review on our website at www.friends-of-st-peters.com.
This Draft Proposed Business Plan takes into account your responses to a recent survey that we distributed. It is not meant to be a final draft, nor a formal proposal, but rather a document with which to begin collaboration with the current church Executive.
If you or your loved ones were confirmed at Peetri Kirik but have not been active in the last 6 years (and did not receive the invitation to the meeting from the Church Executive), please be encouraged within the next week to:
1. send a donation to the church via e-transfer; and
2. send an e-mail to advising them of the donation and their request to be added to the membership list.
St. Peter’s Church Proposed Business Plan, Introduction
There is no easy way to remedy the problems that have beset this church. Unfortunately, much of it is because over the years proactive management has been absent either through a lack of management depth or simply being overwhelmed by the issues that had to be dealt with.
A proposed budget by itself is not a “Business Plan.” A business plan is a process whereby management commits to dealing with the issues no matter how painful. A Business Plan requires organizational ability, commitment, and hard work.
The Business plan we have proposed requires hard work on the part of the executive.
We have put together the elements of the plan, but it requires the executive to acknowledge that they are prepared to accept these elements before they are incorporated into a proposed budget. The information is all there. There are three steps to this process:
1. You simply have to acknowledge the extent to which you are prepared to live with it and
2. assess the probability that the financial objectives for each activity can be realized
then
3. incorporate the result into the proposed budget work sheets.
It is unfortunate that we were not able to undertake this process before the congregation was presented an incomplete set of options two years ago. Without benefit of looking at a comprehensive business case and the option to remedy the issues facing the church, the congregation was asked to chose which “liquidation” option they preferred. This was entered into without an understanding of the consequences associated with the options presented.
Our proposal is based on the operating budget as presented in the audited financial statements dated December 31, 2021. We have since learned of the backlog of capital renovations and repairs that are required by the church. There is no comprehensive plan to deal with these issues. It almost seems like the executive council anticipated that these issues would disappear if the church were put up for sale. Unfortunately, life does not work that way. If the roof leaks, you must fix it. If you are in violation of the fire code, you must fix it. One cannot defer time sensitive physical issues. The executive council must take a proactive management approach to manage the physical assets that they have been entrusted to maintain. Lack of money is an issue.
How to deal with it is especially difficult for an Estonian organization that prides itself on being self-reliant. It is difficult, but we should not be embarrassed to ask for help. Government funding and foundation grants are available for not for profit organizations that focus on community benefits. Out of necessity we must adapt and become more of a community-oriented church as opposed to an exclusively Estonian one.
The full plan is available here.
