October 2021 Vineyard

Child Development Center
Concluding
26 Years
of Ministry
St. Mark’s Child Development
Center has been sold!
The doors of St. Mark’s Child Development Center
opened over 26 years ago. During that time, more
than 2,000 children were cared for as if they were
family, introduced to prayer, rejoiced with lively
music, learned their prekindergarten basics, and were
loved by the teachers, staff, and the people of St.
Mark’s Church.
On August 23, 2021, St Mark’s Lutheran Church
officially signed the papers to sell the Child
Development Center building to an Investor Group.
The good news is that they have, in turn, leased the
building to The Learning Care Group. The Group
will be making some updates to the center and will
reopen as a childcare center in late 2021 or 2022.
The Finance Team has been meeting to identify how
the proceeds from the sale should be used, and they
recommend the following distribution:
• Pay back outstanding debt. The proceeds will
pay back expenses the church paid on the CDC’s
behalf between March 2020 and August 2021.
• Set aside money to service the mortgage. The
church has one mortgage loan that includes both
the CDC loan and the church building loan. We
cannot prepay this loan without a significant
prepayment penalty, so we will need to service
the CDC portion for the next 6 ½ years. Money has
been put aside in interest-bearing accounts for
this purpose.
• Fund St. Mark’s building repairs. A significant
amount will be allocated to the Property Team
to cover some of the essential repairs and
maintenance needed for the church building.
• Support existing and new church programs.
Some of the proceeds will be distributed to the
church each year to support outreach programs,
under the direction of Council.
• Secure our financial future. The remaining
money will be placed in secure accounts to
be used to pay off a substantial portion of the
church’s mortgage balance at the end of the loan
term.
The successful sale of the CDC building was due to the
hard work, dedication, and attention to detail of many
people. We owe a special thanks to Beth Benson, Vicki
and Al Lettow, Reese Wagner, Roger Shields, John
Themanson, Deb Arcilla, Jeff Ulrich, Gregg Kobliska,
Emma Albers, Don Friend, and Becky Mueller.
In addition, we thank the members of the CDC Board
who faithfully served on behalf of the children: Pat
Jones, Pat Hesteken, Greg Reiseck, Kate Fish, Carol
Fick, Teresa Thompson, Katie DeSotell, Beth Benson,
and Linda Pfeiffer.
We celebrate the 26 years of ministry that the CDC
provided to the Aurora community. In that time,
St. Mark’s provided a safe and welcoming space for
children to learn. In that time, we saw infants grow up
and graduate to kindergarten, thanks to supportive
staff and loving teachers. We can be proud that we
have offered care for little ones in our community for
over two decades. And we rejoice that we are able to
use the CDC building proceeds to start new programs,
become more financially secure, and continue to help
those who are in need in our community.
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