The Board.........

John Fistere, President

Bill Pitts, Vice-President

Maria Garcia, Secretary,

Sheryl Ashley, Treasurer

Michael Barry, Member

Darlene Carter, Member

Michelle deVries, 1st Alternate

Traci Pavlas, 2nd Alternate

Letter from the Board of Directors

Speaking for the CCU Board and especially our treasurer, Sheryl Ashley, we are grateful for how our congregation has stepped up to support our church’s expenses and fundraisers this year.  We have had several months in the black.  This is something that has not happened in several years.  We started the year with a deficit budget as we have done for the last few years.  However, this year we may end the year in the black or not quite as large a deficit as anticipated.

We, also, must recognize the support and donations provided by ABC (Altadena Blessings Corporation) to not only our general fund but also to special fundraisers.  They matched funds raised for the new carpeting.  They donated $25,000 to the Wrigley Hall Roof Fund.  I’d like to take this opportunity to inform our congregation about what and who ABC is and does.

In a nutshell, ABC manages the apartments next door to our church and the two rental houses in the church parking lot – a valuable and vital service.  These properties had been transferred from CCU to this Corporation to free up the CCU staff from property management duties and to shift the liability from CCU to this Corporation.

The ABC Board members are as follows:  Neal Macurda, President; Betty Macurda, Treasurer; Gerry Kowalski, Secretary; Jeanne Sweetwood, Member; Don Adams, Member.  ABC board members must be a member of CCU; other than that, they operate independently from our church.  I wish to acknowledge the ABC Corporation Board of Directors.  We owe them a big “thank you” for the good work they do. 

So how did the Church come to have a relationship with these properties?  Here is the history.

The Altadena Manor apartments were purchased by the Church to control the sound levels on Sunday mornings.  They were purchased with a mortgage that was paid monthly by the rents, and the additional income went to the Church.  The house on the corner was purchased to provide housing for the Church caretaker.  The little house across from the Church was owned by a lady that complained about the noise from the Church.  It was purchased from her, and it had a mortgage.  In the early 1990s the two mortgages were consolidated with the apartments as the collateral and in the mid-1990s, the Church Board set a policy to use bequest money that came to the Church to pay off the mortgage.  This was accomplished in about two years.

The move was encouraged by then CCU Board Treasurer, Don Bruning.  Don suggested that it was a better investment to pay off the mortgages and have more income available than to invest the bequest (or donated funds) in CDs or similar type of investments.  I am grateful for how our congregants’ faith in our church and their generous donations have created a new, expanding energy and for the continued support of the ABC Corporation. 

We, your CCU Board, are excited about the possibilities in the coming months as we move forward together in the strategic planning process. 

Bill Pitts
Vice-President