Curbside Note
This Sunday, July 2, we will NOT hold Curbside. Children that age are invited to attend service with their parents. BackYard will still be available for pre-K as usual.

New Summer Schedule
Reminder - we are now on summer schedule. We have ONE service at 10:00 AM. Curbside and Backyard are also at this time.
We will resume back to two services starting this fall. More details will be released as we get closer to that time.

Women’s Ministry Expansion
As many of you have already heard, our women’s ministry is expanding.
Visit our website to find out more. Click on Preston Trail Family, then women’s. Also, we need your gifts and feedback on our future! Please stop by the information center and pick up or hand in your pink feedback card. For more information please send us an email at info@prestontrail.org. MORE

Coming Soon - Youth Camp
Also, plan ahead for Youth Camp, which will happen July 17-21 in Corpus Christi, TX. Cost of the camp will be $365 which includes a 4 night 5 day stay in the Holiday Inn - Emerald Beach, meals, as well as a great speaker and band. You don't want to miss out. Contact Ryan Hairston at ryan@prestontrail.org for more information.

Discover Preston Trail Class
New to PTCC? Join Pastors Jim and Paul on Sundays at 11:00 AM as we take a look at our church and where it is going. This is an opportunity for all guests who are new to PTCC to learn more. Session will meet at the AMC Theatre. Please signup at the Life Group table. A 5 week Partnership Class will follow for all those interested in becoming a PTCC partner.MORE

Online Giving
Make your life simpler by automating your giving. Follow the easy directions at www.prestontrail.org to setup for debit or credit card for regular giving and dream big donations. All transactions are secure and will appear on your regular statement.

Challenge and Response

Every now and then we catch certain glimpses of the reality of things that bring great hope and encouragement.  Sunday was one of those experiences for me.  We had a large group of new folks and our attendance is continuing to grow at a rapid pace.  Our Worship Team did a masterful job of creating just the right mood and moment for examining “Unanswered Prayer.”  We sensed God’s presence as we talked openly about some of our challenges of faith.  Kari Basden tied a bow on the message with her rendition of Throw Me a Rope, a song written by her husband Jared.  Then, the surprise of the day—the congregation responded to the report on our Building project with spontaneous applause.  What a demonstration of support for our leaders and trust in God!

For those of you who missed hearing the report, Paul and I believe it is important enough to repeat it for everyone here in Trail Notes.  Whenever a church faces the kind of challenge we are facing it is extremely important that communication be precise and accurate.  So, below you will find the report of the Building Team.  Read it.  Process it.  And if you have any questions feel free to email me at jim@prestontrail.org.         

As you read it I would ask that you focus on one part in particular—the part about our response.  We are going to let our Building Team and legal counsel handle the situation with Legacy Texas Bank.  As a church, though, we have an opportunity to demonstrate our character and faithfulness both to our community and to God.  Please join me in praying that God will bring great good out of this for his kingdom and Preston Trail Community Church!

Building Update

June 25, 2006

The Building Team continues to be excited about the prospects of remodeling our new building and all the opportunities for growth and outreach that will come as a result of being in our own space.

Since our last report, many good things have transpired including getting our building permit (effective May, 10, 2006) and completing our plans for the renovation.  Mark Able, our contractor, stands ready to begin work as soon as he is given the go ahead.

There is, however, an unforeseen issue that has arisen and caused a delay in our remodeling.  In an effort to keep you informed about our progress, we are making this announcement so that you will have accurate information about and can join us in prayer for a quick resolution to the challenge we are facing.

Background: 

During our due diligence period, as we were pursuing the purchase of the PC Dynamics building, we obtained a letter of reliance from Whitehead and Mueller, an environmental engineering firm, stating that recent Phase I and Phase II environmental tests showed that we were purchasing an environmentally clean building.  These tests are the standard for real estate purchases and the Real Estate Investment Trust that loaned us 2.1 million dollars to purchase the building did so on the basis of the reliability of our Phase I & II tests.

Several weeks ago it came to our attention that the Frisco Economic Development Council (FEDC) entered into serious deliberations with Legacy Bank Texas prior to us regarding the purchase of the building.  In doing so, the FEDC performed an additional test that came back with an unfavorable report.  Essentially, the contents of the dust created by the manufacturing processes in the building exceeded some recommended safety guidelines.

FEDC delivered a report to the bank of their findings and offered a contract with a lower purchase price taking into consideration the need to clean the dust from the building before they occupied it.  The bank refused their offer.

About one month later, December 21, 2005, we made an offer to the bank and signed a contract for the sale of the building.  In our contract it clearly states that the bank was obligated to disclose to us “any and all” environmental reports that they had in their possession.  They disclosed to us the results of their recent Phase I and Phase II reports, but did not disclose the report in their possession from the Frisco Economic Development Council. 

In light of this discovery two questions immediately come to mind:

1) What about the health and safety of our volunteers who have already worked in the building and our church in general when we occupy the building? 

• As soon as we received the report from FEDC we shut down all volunteer operations inside the building.  We did so simply to err on the side of caution as we sought to investigate and understand all the implications of the findings on the report.

• We brought in three experts (an environmental attorney, and two environmental engineers who work with EPA issues on a regular basis) who took a look at the FEDC report.  Their consensus response was that the chance of any harmful exposure to our volunteers who worked in the building was zero given the amount of materials in the building and the limited amount of time each volunteer spent in the building.  Just to make sure, four of our volunteers who worked significant hours in the building had their blood tested to check for any toxicity.  As expected, the reports came back normal in each case.

• The FEDC’s report requires that every square inch of the building be vacuumed—floors, walls, and ceiling--and then wet-wiped (they will literally use baby wipes).  When completed it quite likely will be the cleanest building you currently live or work in . . . and it will smell nice, too!   

2) What does this mean to our efforts to remodel the building and move into our new home?

• Before we begin remodeling we will need to remove the dust from the building and then perform a retest in order to ensure a clean and safe environment for all subcontractors and PTCC volunteers who will be working inside. (Note: since no more manufacturing will take place in the building the problem we are addressing will not reoccur)

• We are seeking an amicable resolution with the bank asking them to bear the cost of cleaning and retesting the building and to reimburse us for any and all losses of value or costs incurred by the report and the delay in construction.  Should an amicable resolution not be reached in a timely fashion, we are prepared to file suit against the bank for their non-disclosure of the documented, environmental dust problem and will seek all remedies available to us under the law.

• The clean retest of the building is crucial to verify that proper action has been taken to clean the building, guarantee the health of our church, and to clear any concerns that might arise when we seek to sell it in 6-8 years.

• We estimate that we will be able to occupy the building three months after renovation begins.  If we get a timely response from the bank we are projecting a late October opening of the building.

As we work with Legacy Bank to secure a timely and fair resolution, we would ask you to help and encourage us in three ways:

• Pray that the Lord will be at work in the hearts of all involved and that a settlement can be reached in short order so that we can go on with our renovation plans.

• Correct any misperceptions that you may hear in the community.  The word about our situation will be getting out very quickly.  Don’t be surprised if you hear some pretty wild rumors.  Simply and graciously assure people that the building is being cleaned by experts and will be an extremely healthy and creative environment for them and their family.

• Continue giving faithfully to our Dream Big effort and our ongoing Ministry Budget.  You may remember the first time you bought a home, your expenses spiked and you got stretched to the limit while you were adjusting to all the new responsibilities of home ownership.  Well, we are right there!  Your continued generous support will get us through the summer, into the building, and positioned for a period of unprecedented growth in our church’s ministry.

• Keep faith!  We may have lost some time, but we have not lost our resolve and passion for our mission of helping people find and follow Christ.  This small delay is but a speed bump in the road God has called us to travel.  He has blessed us immeasurably from the very beginning and he will be faithful to us as we face this challenge.  Remember the words of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to his friends in Philippi, “. . . he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus!”  

Well, this Trail Notes was a little longer than most.  Thanks for persevering to the end!  And that’s exactly what we are going to do with our new building—with God’s help and yours!

Blessings,

Read previous Trail Notes here

Click here for more information on Dream Big!

Chapter 2
Join us WEEKLY on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM, for a deeper service of biblical teaching, looking into the Life of Jesus. Led by our senior pastors, this will be a meaningful time of prayer, worship and teaching. 7:00 pm AMC Theatre.

LISTEN! Preston Trail Podcast
Sermons now available online! In keeping up with the times, all PTCC Worship Sermons are available for downloading on our website. So, if you missed a service, go here and take a listen.
You will have the option of downloading and listening to them on your computer or even subscribe here to have them come to your computer automatically each time one is added - then play them on your computer or your iPod. CDs will no longer be sold at our Resource Table, however entire sermon series will be available for purchase once our new building is complete.