An Orillia man whose family donated thousands of dollars to a church expansion that didn't happen is hoping his dollars can be redirected to another local cause.
That is not likely to happen, however.
Prior to the 2016 dissolution of the congregation at Trinity Community Presbyterian Church in Oro-Medonte Township, donations were collected for an expansion to the church building. Glenn Wagner's family was among those who pitched in.
There is now a "sold" sign on the Line 7 South property, and the sale is expected to close Jan. 31, leaving Wagner to wonder where the money raised locally for the expansion — about $350,000, he said — will be going.
"Those designated funds must have gone somewhere," Wagner said, "because there wasn't an expansion."
He said he isn't interested in getting the money back for himself; "I just don't think it's wise for a church that has raised all that money to use that money outside of the community," he said.
He is trying to find out where the money will go, among other questions, but said he hasn't received an answer.
"They had received an answer, but they didn't like the answer," said Diana Veenstra, senior administrator with the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Where the money will go "is not something that has been decided at this point," she said, adding that information won't be available until the sale closes.
However, funnelling the money into another local charity is not an option, "as far as I know," Veenstra said.
"That's not how the policy works."
She was referring the Presbyterian Church in Canada's policy on amalgamation or dissolution of congregations, which states, in part, "By law, all property and assets vest with the Trustee Board at the moment of dissolution. The Trustee Board will receive the proceeds of the dissolution which usually involves the sale of the property. It is the responsibility of the presbytery to ensure that assets are protected from the moment discussion of dissolution takes place. Even before the official date of dissolution, the congregation shall not give away any funds that have not been approved at the Annual Meeting held previous to dissolution discussions."
In an email to Wagner, Veenstra noted the Barrie Presbytery would create a "mission plan" for its portion of the sale once it closes.
Barrie Presbytery clerk Jim Sitler assured Wagner in an email "any monies that might be returned to the Presbytery of Barrie resulting from the sale of the building and property will be used in accordance with a Mission Plan to be designed around the unknown amount of the monies returned and approved by the PCC (Presbyterian Church in Canada), Trustee Board."
"That Mission Plan is in process of being designed by the Presbytery of Barrie and in the draft form includes the bulk of any monies received from the dissolution process being placed in support of a Grant Fund and a Loan Fund already established by the Presbytery for the support, establishment, redevelopment, and ministry of congregations within the Presbytery. These congregations, in turn, reach out into their local communities to support initiatives that are of importance to them."
The church's amalgamation and dissolution policy also states, "It is the practice of the Trustee Board to return up normally to 70% of the proceeds to the presbytery upon approval by the Commission on Assets of a satisfactory mission plan submitted by the presbytery. The remaining 30% is normally placed in the New Church Development Capital Fund."
Requests for comment from the Barrie Presbytery have not yet been successful.
Despite the policy, Wagner still has unanswered questions.
"It's kind of irrelevant, whatever the policy is," he said. "If that is the policy, maybe the presbytery should consider a revision to that policy."
Wagner, who was a member of the financial leadership group at Trinity, is one of the fundraising chairs for Building Hope, a campaign to build a new homeless shelter in Orillia. He would like to see the money he donated toward the Trinity church expansion go to that cause, and other local charities, "not taken and absorbed by the Presbyterian Church in Canada, because it was raised locally."
