Dear New McKendree Church Family,

Among our many blessings here at New McKendree is our excellent church staff. With only a few exceptions, I’m working with the same staff now that was in place when I arrived here in July 2018. Recently, though, there have been a couple of changes. David Hopkins, who served as our church’s “handyman” since before I got here, and, for the past several years, as the South Campus custodian, resigned in early April. I’m grateful for David’s years of service, his willingness to continue to serve as High Street's one-man volunteer lawnmowing crew, and even more thankful for his friendship and participation in our church family’s ministries. Lisa Thornton, our High Street Custodian for the past 10+ years, also resigned in April. I thank God for Lisa and David’s indispensable behind-the-scenes service to our New McKendree family.

While limping through April with church staff members, Breaking Bonds residents, and volunteers picking up the custodial slack, we simultaneously shopped for commercial custodial contractors. After receiving input from church family members who employ commercial custodians in their workplace and other churches, we solicited bids from four local companies and ultimately selected Cape Cleaning Services.

As a church family, working with a commercial custodial service provider will be much different from having staff custodians at our beck and call. We must do some “next level” advanced planning, communication, and cooperation with one another to maintain the same pace of ministry activity and building usage. For instance, we won’t have staff dedicated to setting up/arranging tables and chairs for our weekday and evening ministry events. Therefore, we’ll have to be extra intentional in planning and working together. Also, after using an area, we’ll need to tidy up and take the trash to the dumpster, especially if the trash contains food. It’ll no doubt take some getting used to. But as it is with any change, we’ll need to temper our growing pains frustrations with generous doses of grace.

Here are the nuts and bolts of our contracted cleaning schedule: Cape Cleaning is contracted to clean the High Street Fellowship Hall and first-floor classrooms weekly on Sunday evenings. On Friday evenings, they’ll come back and clean all three facilities—High Street, Cox Hall, and South Campus—including what was cleaned on Sunday evening.

Although transitioning from staff custodians to a custodial contractor may require a slight change in how we do things around our church home, based on our track record, I have no doubt we’ll work our way through it. After all, following God’s lead, we plowed our way through a pandemic, a major church renovation, and even the United Methodist Church’s “season of disaffiliations.” Through it all, we didn’t just survive, we thrived. It’s the New McKendree way!

Thank you all for the way you continue to love God and love and care for one another.

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Bryan Wendling