Congregational Meeting Update
The church council brought a motion before the congregation at the April 6, 2025 Congregational Meeting. The motion was "Do we have permission to proceed researching options on what to do with the vacant east lot?" The results of the vote were Yes: 69, No: 5, with 1 abstaining. The motion carried.
Temple Talks
Click on any of the links below to read the temple talks that have been presented by the Strategic Planning Committee on the topic of land use.
Temple Talk - February 9 - Mary Spear
Show of hands: How many of you know First Lutheran has a strategic plan?
This strategic plan was adopted by the congregational council in March of 2023 and it outlines our congregation’s priorities and goals. One of the priorities in this plan is Engaging and Collaborating with the Community. I am the facilitator for the team that is working on this priority. In addition to myself, others on this team include Randy Frey-Hawkins, Kristy Larson, Shanon Nowell, Mike Stewart, and Keith Stelter.
There have been many newsletter articles, a forum and monthly council updates on our work but we feel we need to be better communicators with our members. We will be giving a series of temple talks beginning today and for the following 3 Sundays and a First Forum scheduled for March 2nd will be an opportunity for questions and further discussion.
Now, back to the strategic plan. When the plan was being developed, the working group assigned several goals for each priority. One of the goals for our priority is to use the assets of FLC to meet the needs of the community. One asset our congregation has is vacant land that is near schools and the city center.
We had been hearing that there was a real need for housing in St. Peter. We explored this need for housing in more depth by having discussions with stakeholders including the city administrator and community development director. We also looked at data from two different housing studies for St. Peter, one conducted in 2012 and the other just completed this fall. The most recent study establishes that there is a great need for all kinds of housing including affordable housing for people renting and looking to purchase a home, first time home buyers, people 55+ looking to downsize, and those who are looking for higher priced housing.
So yes, there is a need for housing in St. Peter but also this need is so critical because housing contributes so much to a person’s health and well-being. Stable housing provides a sense of security and support that are hallmarks of a higher quality of life. Given this information and these insights, our team sees housing as a way this congregation can love and serve our neighbor.
I want to reassure you that the work of this team is to gather information. We are not making any decisions about the use of the land. That is for the congregation to decide.
Temple Talk - February 16 - Mike Stewart
My name is Mike Stewart and I am a member of the Strategic Planning Committee. Last week, Mary Spear gave you an introduction to the strategic plan here at FLC, including the possibility of using some of the church property for housing. Mary also told you that our committee is an information gathering committee, and so today I want to fill you in on some of the many things we have done to gather information.
One of the first meetings was with City Administrator, Todd Prafke, to discuss the need for housing and look at 2012 housing survey results. We also received information about zoning from Ben Baker, the Community Development Director for Saint Peter. Paul Tanis shared information about real estate law and Bruce Gray discussed the 2022 land appraisal.
We met with members of the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership to get ideas about the types of housing projects that might be possible. In December 2023 we held a First Forum after church to get feedback from members of the congregation. By the way, we will be holding another First Forum in two weeks on March 2nd.
We examined the results of the 2024 Saint Peter Housing Survey. Finally, we were advised to see if any developers would even be interested in our property before moving forward. As a result, we contacted 10 developers and had 4 respond that they would be interested should we decide to sell the land. With that interest shown, an appraisal of the property was done by Appraisal Services of Mankato.
As you can see, a lot of time has been spent by our committee gathering useful information. We will be having temple talks on the next two Sundays to share more information with the congregation and then we sincerely hope that you will be able to attend the First Forum on March 2.
Temple Talk - February 23 - Shanon Nowell
Over the past two weeks, you have heard from Mary Spear and Mike Stewart about our congregation’s strategic priority of Engaging and Collaborating with the Community. Mary introduced the idea that one of our greatest assets—our land—could be used to meet a significant need in St. Peter: housing. Mike then walked us through the careful process our team has undertaken, ensuring we are doing our due diligence by meeting with key community stakeholders, gathering data, and learning from experts in the field.
Today, I want to take a moment to reflect on why this matters. As people of faith, we are called to love and serve our neighbors. Throughout our conversations with community leaders, one thing has become abundantly clear: access to stable, affordable, and appropriate housing changes lives. It strengthens families, supports economic growth, and contributes to the overall wellbeing of a community. The question before us is how First Lutheran might be called to respond.
I want to emphasize, as Mary and Mike have before me, that no decisions have been made. Our role as a team is to explore possibilities, gather information, and share what we learn with you so that, as a congregation, we can discern the best path forward together.
Temple Talk - March 2 - Bonnie Pettis
Good morning. My name is Bonnie Pettis and today I would like to provide some insights into the First Lutheran Church Finance Committee.
I’d like to review the 3 Strategic Plan Financial Goals with you that our team focuses on.
1) Implement a plan to achieve and maintain financial stability.
● Simply put a plan for financial sustainability & stability is a tool that is used to help First Lutheran church meet our overall goals and thrive in our community and allows it to continue thriving over the long-term.
2) Ensure that FLC has a financially balanced budget and reserve funds.
● The finance committee has a firm commitment to providing a financially balanced budget to the congregation for their review.
● We are also focused on having a Capital Improvement Fund that can help protect our budget from known and unknown risks. Recent examples for items that we have needed to use reserve funds for include the repair of our church organ along with boiler and roof repairs.
3) Develop and put into place a process to match the budget to identified needs and wants of the church.
● To meet the overall goals we have for First Lutheran church our plan for financial stability needs to incorporate what we want to do as a congregation.
● One of the most important things I believe our Finance Committee does is our correspondence with various FLC committees to assure that we understand their needs and the goals they have set. Truly working together as a team to make our congregation thrive.
During our Forum time today discussions will be focused on options for the extra land we have at FLC. The finance committee has reviewed and monitored the progress of the land committee and has recommended that we move forward with the sale of the land. The sale of the land provides income that we need to supplement the annual budget. Without additional funds from the land sale we will need to find other ways to supplement our income or cut expenses to maintain a financially balanced budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Summary
As part of the Strategic Plan for FLC adopted by the Congregational Council in March 2023, the Action Team “Engaging and Collaborating with the Community” explored the goal of how the assets of First Lutheran Church could meet the needs of our community. One significant asset the church has is vacant land to the east of our facility. Housing studies conducted for the city of St. Peter reveal there is a great need for housing. Access to stable, affordable, and appropriate housing changes lives. It strengthens families, supports economic growth, and contributes to the overall well being of a community. The Action Team believes that using this land for housing is an impactful way to love and serve our neighbors.
Action Team Members
Randy Frey-Hawkins, Kristy Larson, Shanon Nowell, Mary Spear (Facilitator), Keith Stelter, Mike Stewart, Pastor Chris Culuris
About This Document
The following questions were developed from feedback we received at the March 2, 2025 First Forum that congregation members attended to share thoughts on the potential development of our land and alternative opportunities for its use as well as any additional information that they needed.
1. What are the exact property lines for the vacant lot?
An abstract of the property lines for the vacant lot can be found on the FLC website. From the main page click “More..” then click on the tab “Land Use”.
2. Would we lose the large pine trees, sheds and foodshelf gardens?
No, we would retain the large pine trees, sheds, and foodshelf gardens. For a detailed picture of the exact boundaries of the property being considered, visit the FLC website and click the link on the home page titled “Land Use”.
3. What will happen to the young trees that were planted on the lot?
In the end, the question of the young trees planted around the perimeter of the lot would likely be left up to the developer. Some could perhaps be retained in their current location with the right building locations, but it is hard to maintain a small tree with heavy construction equipment needed to build a home. We would consider replanting some of them to another location on the west and north lawns. Another possibility is that perhaps members of the church would consider transplanting some of the small newly planted trees to their own yards.
4. What about the environmental impact and loss of green space?
Using the measurement tool on Google Earth, Mike Stewart calculated the total green space we would be selling and what remains with the church. The east strip of land where the garden and sheds are located is 570X72 for 41,040 sq ft. Immediately east of the building is 136X45=6,120 sq ft. The area off the SE corner of the building is 115X63=7,245 sq ft. South of the parking lot it is 130X417= 54,210. That strip is not perfectly rectangular as the street cuts off the SE corner so I estimated it at 50,000 sq ft. On the west side of the building it is 291X116=33,756 sq ft. That includes going from the north edge of the parking lot to the north edge of the property. On the north side of the building, going from the NW corner of the building to the east side of the playground, it is 261X105=27,405. Adding those 6 figures together gives a total of 165,566 sq ft. The architect said the lot we would be selling is 106,873 sq ft. The total green space would be 272,439 sq ft. That means that we would be selling 39% of our green space and retaining 61%.
Given these figures, we still have green space south of the parking lot, the west and to the north of our church building. There have been some prairie plantings on the west side of the building but there is more potential here if we want to add prairie. The vacant lot south of the church also represents green space where native plants could be planted. The north side has the playground and trees but not much else has been done with this part of the property.
5. What about using the space for prairie or gardens?
See question 3 for more information on available green space for gardens and prairie. Other factors to consider are the cost of establishing a prairie and the upkeep required to keep out invasives to create a healthy growth of natives.
6. Do we have any control over what would be built there?
There are zoning restrictions that would control what is built on the site. The vacant lot east of the church building is zoned R-2. Based on these regulations, Ben Baker, Community Development Director, said the following is permitted to be built on the land:
7. What about potential neighborhood opposition?
We expect some households in the neighborhood to be concerned about the possibility of housing being built where they have grown used to seeing an expansive lawn. It is normal for people to be concerned about a change like this in their neighborhood. We believe the benefit of providing additional housing in the community outweighs the risks of some neighbors being temporarily uneasy about having additional homes in their neighborhood. That being said, we would certainly encourage the buyer of the land to communicate with the neighborhood about the project. We have learned that most developers have this built into their process.
8. Would we owe any taxes on the sale of the land?
As long as the church is properly organized as a tax-exempt organization, the sale of real estate is exempt from taxation and does not create an unrelated business income for the church. However, if the church has land that it is going to subdivide and develop and sell off that way, that would be considered unrelated business income and therefore be taxable. As long as the church is selling off real estate it owned and was holding as an investment, there is no tax cost to the church. What the buyer does with the property after the transaction is irrelevant.
9. What percentage can we retain and what would have to be applied to the principal on the mortgage?
When asked whether the church could hope to retain a portion of the proceeds and use it to enhance its investment portfolio and help augment the annual budget rather than be applied to capital improvements, Thrivent said yes. When asked whether the church could hope to retain 50% to 80% of the proceeds, Thrivent offered a conditional yes. At this point, without first providing Thrivent with the requisite information, it’s unclear whether we fall closer to retaining 50% than 80% of the proceeds. With the sale of land, what we can expect to apply on the principal will range from 20% to 50% of the proceeds.
10. What cuts would the finance committee consider if we don't sell the land?
This question is currently under consideration of the Finance Committee. For now, the addition of the proceeds factored into future budgets has been removed and will not be considered unless or until the sale is finalized
As part of the Strategic Plan for FLC adopted by the Congregational Council in March 2023, the Action Team “Engaging and Collaborating with the Community” explored the goal of how the assets of First Lutheran Church could meet the needs of our community. One significant asset the church has is vacant land to the east of our facility. Housing studies conducted for the city of St. Peter reveal there is a great need for housing. Access to stable, affordable, and appropriate housing changes lives. It strengthens families, supports economic growth, and contributes to the overall well being of a community. The Action Team believes that using this land for housing is an impactful way to love and serve our neighbors.
Action Team Members
Randy Frey-Hawkins, Kristy Larson, Shanon Nowell, Mary Spear (Facilitator), Keith Stelter, Mike Stewart, Pastor Chris Culuris
About This Document
The following questions were developed from feedback we received at the March 2, 2025 First Forum that congregation members attended to share thoughts on the potential development of our land and alternative opportunities for its use as well as any additional information that they needed.
1. What are the exact property lines for the vacant lot?
An abstract of the property lines for the vacant lot can be found on the FLC website. From the main page click “More..” then click on the tab “Land Use”.
2. Would we lose the large pine trees, sheds and foodshelf gardens?
No, we would retain the large pine trees, sheds, and foodshelf gardens. For a detailed picture of the exact boundaries of the property being considered, visit the FLC website and click the link on the home page titled “Land Use”.
3. What will happen to the young trees that were planted on the lot?
In the end, the question of the young trees planted around the perimeter of the lot would likely be left up to the developer. Some could perhaps be retained in their current location with the right building locations, but it is hard to maintain a small tree with heavy construction equipment needed to build a home. We would consider replanting some of them to another location on the west and north lawns. Another possibility is that perhaps members of the church would consider transplanting some of the small newly planted trees to their own yards.
4. What about the environmental impact and loss of green space?
Using the measurement tool on Google Earth, Mike Stewart calculated the total green space we would be selling and what remains with the church. The east strip of land where the garden and sheds are located is 570X72 for 41,040 sq ft. Immediately east of the building is 136X45=6,120 sq ft. The area off the SE corner of the building is 115X63=7,245 sq ft. South of the parking lot it is 130X417= 54,210. That strip is not perfectly rectangular as the street cuts off the SE corner so I estimated it at 50,000 sq ft. On the west side of the building it is 291X116=33,756 sq ft. That includes going from the north edge of the parking lot to the north edge of the property. On the north side of the building, going from the NW corner of the building to the east side of the playground, it is 261X105=27,405. Adding those 6 figures together gives a total of 165,566 sq ft. The architect said the lot we would be selling is 106,873 sq ft. The total green space would be 272,439 sq ft. That means that we would be selling 39% of our green space and retaining 61%.
Given these figures, we still have green space south of the parking lot, the west and to the north of our church building. There have been some prairie plantings on the west side of the building but there is more potential here if we want to add prairie. The vacant lot south of the church also represents green space where native plants could be planted. The north side has the playground and trees but not much else has been done with this part of the property.
5. What about using the space for prairie or gardens?
See question 3 for more information on available green space for gardens and prairie. Other factors to consider are the cost of establishing a prairie and the upkeep required to keep out invasives to create a healthy growth of natives.
6. Do we have any control over what would be built there?
There are zoning restrictions that would control what is built on the site. The vacant lot east of the church building is zoned R-2. Based on these regulations, Ben Baker, Community Development Director, said the following is permitted to be built on the land:
- Single-family residential: The use of a site for only one dwelling unit
- Duplex residential: The use of a site for two dwelling units within a single building
- Two-family residential: The use of a site for two dwelling units, each in a separate building
- Multifamily residential (limited): The use of a site for three or four dwelling units within a single building.
7. What about potential neighborhood opposition?
We expect some households in the neighborhood to be concerned about the possibility of housing being built where they have grown used to seeing an expansive lawn. It is normal for people to be concerned about a change like this in their neighborhood. We believe the benefit of providing additional housing in the community outweighs the risks of some neighbors being temporarily uneasy about having additional homes in their neighborhood. That being said, we would certainly encourage the buyer of the land to communicate with the neighborhood about the project. We have learned that most developers have this built into their process.
8. Would we owe any taxes on the sale of the land?
As long as the church is properly organized as a tax-exempt organization, the sale of real estate is exempt from taxation and does not create an unrelated business income for the church. However, if the church has land that it is going to subdivide and develop and sell off that way, that would be considered unrelated business income and therefore be taxable. As long as the church is selling off real estate it owned and was holding as an investment, there is no tax cost to the church. What the buyer does with the property after the transaction is irrelevant.
9. What percentage can we retain and what would have to be applied to the principal on the mortgage?
When asked whether the church could hope to retain a portion of the proceeds and use it to enhance its investment portfolio and help augment the annual budget rather than be applied to capital improvements, Thrivent said yes. When asked whether the church could hope to retain 50% to 80% of the proceeds, Thrivent offered a conditional yes. At this point, without first providing Thrivent with the requisite information, it’s unclear whether we fall closer to retaining 50% than 80% of the proceeds. With the sale of land, what we can expect to apply on the principal will range from 20% to 50% of the proceeds.
10. What cuts would the finance committee consider if we don't sell the land?
This question is currently under consideration of the Finance Committee. For now, the addition of the proceeds factored into future budgets has been removed and will not be considered unless or until the sale is finalized
