Over the past year, Shir Tikvah and First Universalist have been working closely to explore the possibility of sharing a campus in a renovated space at 3400 Dupont — a vision that stems from relationships and conversations going back a number of years and a hope that co-location could be mutually beneficial to our growing congregations. 

We’ve envisioned co-location as a bold, innovative, and values-aligned way to move into the future, reducing our environmental footprints and operating costs, amplifying our justice work, and helping each congregation meet facilities needs that wouldn’t be possible alone.

We are writing, however, to share that the discernment period around potential co-location has now come to an end. After completing a feasibility study with our architects, which involved a thorough exploration of each congregation’s needs and provided us with detailed actual cost estimates, we have reached the conclusion that the cost of renovations and construction to meet both congregations’ space needs and priorities at 3400 Dupont would greatly exceed what we are able to spend. While this news was disappointing, it is not unusual for cost estimates to be much larger and more accurate once a contractor is engaged for estimating. We have therefore made the difficult, mutual, decision to discontinue exploration of co-location.

We are closing our exploration of co-location, mourning a brave and exciting vision for our congregations’ future, while also understanding the financial realities. We are incredibly grateful for the process of discernment that we’ve been through, the learning we’ve done, and the relationships we’ve developed and strengthened. So many people from both of our congregations have generously given their time, talent, and expertise to faithfully explore the possibility of co-location, and we are forever grateful for their skillful work. 

While we are disappointed that the outcome we hoped for is not achievable in this moment, we are grateful to now have clarity and better information as each congregation moves forward and addresses its space needs separately.

We look forward to continuing to strengthen the relationship between our congregations, supporting and enlivening each other’s missions, and working more closely together as progressive forces seeking justice and healing in the world and in our communities. 

We will share more information about what’s next this fall as leadership in each congregation work to reassess and determine next steps.  

With gratitude,

Rabbi Michael Latz, Bruce Manning (Shir Tikvah Board President), Jeremy Perotti (Co-location Steering Committee),

Rev. Jen Crow, Rev. Justin Schroeder, Bryana French (First Universalist Board President), Nancy Gaschott (Co-Location Steering Committee), Cindy Marsh (Co-Location Steering Committee), Kristin Siegesmund (First Universalist Board Representative on Co-Location Steering Committee)