Voting to Move Forward– A New Church
Frequently Asked Questions
1) Why build a Church?
a. The Original plan for the Campus in 1958 anticipated a new Church at some point.
b. When the community center was built in 1996, the next project anticipated for the campus would be Church.
c. The Task Force recommended in the 2000 that either a church or gym social hall be built.
d. In 2002 the parish community voted, 63% in favor of building a new Church.
e. In 2004 a capital campaign was launch with some 670 families pledging some $2.3 million towards a new church.
f. Remodeling the existing building has structural limitations. It originally built with idea that it would become a gym so day.
g. Building just a new gym/social hall costs about the same building phase 1 of the new Church, thus building a new worship space, the cornerstone of our community, allows for the gym to occur on a similar timeframe.
2) What is remaining major campus projects anticipated in the campus Master Plan?
a. A Church
b. Renovation of the Church into a gym/social hall
c. A Preschool
d. Renovation and Expansion of school buildings and office space
3) What happened to the 1st Campaign for the Church?
a. The Campaign launched in 2004.
b. Parish Priests changed in 2006.
c. Double digit inflation in the construction occurred started in 2006 through 2008
d. The plan to build a 17,000 square foot church increased in projected cost from $5.5 million to as high as $8.0 million.
e. A building committee was formed to assess options and work with Pastor on a revised Strategy.
4) What were the options that reviewed by the building committee?
a. Remodel the Existing Church, defer a building a new Gym/Social Hall.
b. Build a new Gym/Social Hall, defer upgrading the existing Church.
After doing all of the analysis for a and b above, it was discovered that a new church could be build in phases.
c. Build a New Church in phases to fit within an achievable financial plan, and renovate/upgrade the existing building into a Gym/Social Hall subject to funding.
5) What are some of the lessons learned since the 1st Capital Campaign for the Church?
a. Plan for inflation in the financial plan.
b. Plan for a mortgage and how to pay for it.
c. Build the project in functional phases.
d. Develop policies and means for a savings plan to help off set costs.
e. Develop on going (monthly/quarterly) activities associated with the building program.
f. Develop/Implement a on going communication plan.
6) What happens if a majority of people in this parish vote to move forward with the Church building project?
a. The Parish leadership will work with a capital campaign team to determine how and when to launch the next capital campaign. A new campaign could be launched as early as the spring of 2009 or as late as the fall of 2009.
7) What happens if a majority of the people vote no?
a. The parish leadership will determine how and when to redirect funds from the 1st Capital Campaign to other ministries as well as work with the donors to determine how much, if any, could be returned.
8) What is proposed in Phase 1 of the new Church?
a. 11,000 sq. ft. building, with 750 seats (same as current church).
b. 4,000 to 5,000 sq. ft. basement for meeting rooms and/or storage.
c. Subject to funding, refurbish/renovate/update existing build into functioning gym/social hall.
9) What effect do you think the current economy will have on raising funds for the new Church?
a. A vote in December 2008 is only a vote to determine if the project is going to move forward.
b. The decision to launch a capital campaign will occur in either spring or fall of 2009.
c. Building a new church can be “Stewardship Event”.
d. Current data/studies/info suggests that this parish community has the capacity to raise $2.5 to a push goal of as much as $4 million.
