Thank you to all who led, hosted, and participated in our discernment meetings in March. Sixty-five people met in small groups to discuss what we valued about All Saints, to imagine our future, and to identify the improvements needed to enable us to embody the future to which God is calling us.
Participants reflected a general appreciation for the gathering of the groups and were open to the discussion questions. People frequently mentioned the church’s accepting, close, and supportive community. Appreciation for clergy and staff also came up in all the meetings.
In general, parishioners have an understanding that building improvements are needed, and that space use and accessibility need to be evaluated strategically. There also seems to be general recognition that the costs for replacing the sanctuary roof(s) and making all three floors of the Parish House fully accessible are major, although finances were not discussed at these gatherings.
The Capital Campaign Discernment Committee (Margaret Hogan, Rob Hillman, Matthew Burfeind, Julia Speyer, and Richard Burden) will meet on 29 April to further discern and prioritize both the capital and non-capital projects participants have identified. These prioritized lists will be shared with the relevant committees so that they can begin the next phase of this work. For example, the Vestry and Property Committee can begin gathering more information about cost and scope of capital projects, and other committees can evaluate the non-capital project ideas that came from this discernment. We will communicate the details of these next steps to you in the coming months.
Again, thank you for taking the time to participate in this discernment and providing us with important information to help us make decisions moving forward.
