FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For additional information, contact:
Co-Chair, Steve Gold, 802-229-0028
Co-Chair, Paul Ohlson, 802-522-3234, ohlson14@gmail.com

February 3, 2025—A year and a half after the church suffered significant damage to its historic building in the July flood of 2023 the Unitarian Church of Montpelier is launching a thirteen-member Climate Resilience Study Group to research five options for climate resilient facilities for the congregation’s long-term future.

The Unitarian Church of Montpelier was founded just six months after the tragic assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Throughout the more than 160 years since then, the church has weathered several serious floods. The flood of 2023 did extensive damage to the building and has forced the congregation to examine its climate resilience options. 

The UCM governing board has appointed a thirteen-member Climate Resilience Study Group composed of volunteers from the church to thoughtfully examine suggestions made by the congregation for options that might protect the building and make it more resilient to future predicted floods. The board charged those involved in the study to objectively and thoroughly research the congregational suggestions and to present their findings to the board without making any recommendations. The five options the study group will research range from simply repairing any future damage to raising the building to moving church functions to another site.

Steering Committee member Paul Ohlson said: “The study group takes our commitment to objectivity very seriously. All options must be considered so we can make the best possible decision as a congregation.”

The study group has been given a year to identify the challenges, opportunities, and costs associated with each suggested option with a report due to the board in January of 2026. The Board will then present the Study Group’s findings to the congregation for discussion and action. A decision-making process to thoughtfully consider the best possible option for the church’s future will be determined by the congregation in the coming months.

UCM’s Board President, Jeremy Beaudry said of this initiative: “This is a huge undertaking for our congregation. We intend to engage in a thoughtful process and come to a decision that our members can fully support.”

UCM’s Minister, the Rev. Joan Javier-Duval, has served the congregation since August of 2015. She said, “This congregation has served a vital purpose in the community for 160 years. We must now prepare for the future with courageous acceptance of continued climate instability and a spirited commitment to carry on our congregation’s mission and presence as a spiritual community of love and service for future generations.”

UCM Climate Resilience Study Group. Back row: Phil Morse, Dustin Rand, Steve Gold (cochair), Peter Watt, Albert Sabatini. Front row: Dan Jones, Bryce Douglass, Brenda Bean, Paul Ohlson (cochair), Elizabeth Peebles, Allen Clark, Barbara Conrey, Susan Koch

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