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Building for our Future: Part Two

Looking Down the Road: This letter is to follow up on the previous letter released some weeks ago regarding the soon to be unveiled plans for our future building here at Our Lady of the Mountains. As I mentioned before, the second phase of our project is more remote, and therefore we have more time to consider it. By leaving space for future expansion, we are acknowledging we will grow as a parish, and that we will need that space for our growth, but in the meanwhile we have the first phase to concern ourselves with: to raise money for it, to build it, and to pay off the mortgage, and therefore phase two is not something we should become overly preoccupied with, if only because we have time to reflect.

Considering our Options: You may recall from the last letter that one of the changes I asked the Building Committee and the architectural firm to make was to cut their plans down, and to give us a phased approach. What we are currently calling phase one was actually only half of what was initially being proposed. The second half of that vision (what we are now calling phase two) was a new parish hall, capable of accommodating 1000 people in auditorium seating, together with a new commercial kitchen on the main floor, and in the undercroft there was plans for nine good sized classrooms. There was also much needed parish office space on the ground level between the existing church and the new parish hall. I reiterate that the Building Committee was asked to plan this large hall. I understand that the idea was that the current parish church was adequate in size (which is true), but that the current hall was inadequate in size (which is also true), and whereas our parish community likes to gather together for functions, we therefore needed a larger hall. The problem was, while in theory it may have seemed like a good idea to build a parish hall that large, once an architectural firm had drawn up plans and made an architectural model, the scope and scale of what the parish had asked them to do became more clear.

• Essentially, what happened was that the great hall had eclipsed in scale and in beauty our parish church.
• Another problem was where the hall ended up being situated in the grand scheme of things, because now the center or heart of the campus was no longer the church, because the newest, the largest, the most attractive and the most centrally located building in all the campus was now going to be a parish hall.
• Then, when we looked at it, we had planned so well for a parish hall, but our current church still had its inadequacies: lack of liturgical space, less than ideal lighting, lack of real space for the musicians, no cry room, no vesting area or sacristy.
• Overall the plan still seemed disproportionate and imbalanced.

And so there were two options that were considered:

• First of all, the Building Committee tried changing the orientation of the hall, and adding a bell tower to the existing church to try to bulk up its exterior, and even considered changing the scale of the hall, but even this did not really balance out the campus.
• The second option was more daring, and it was one that was ultimately proposed by the architectural firm itself, though I endorse this second option, which is to eventually build a new church, and to let the existing church become a church hall.

While this second option may initially surprise you, I’d like you to reserve your judgment on it until you’ve had time to see the plans and to think about it, remembering that we have no shortage of time. One thing I can assure: the Building Committee will present a plan that is both logical and beautiful, even if it is bold.

• First of all, if OLM eventually builds a new church, as opposed to a hall, the new church would be about the same size as what the initially proposed parish hall was, and it would still permit us to build more adequately sized classrooms in the undercroft.
• Moreover, a new church would be in the heart of the campus, convenient to most of the parking, and handsomely located right at the intersection of Waleska Highway and Refuge Road (giving OLM a landmark setting within our community, and aligning the new church in the traditional east/west orientation)
• A new church could give the parish things we are currently lacking in our existing church: a cry room, a choir loft, adequate space in the sanctuary, ample storage, real sacristy and vestry space, and it could even leave room for a future pipe organ. I should mention that the Building Committee had tried to address some of these problems in our existing church, but the results were unsatisfactory, as they chopped up the space too awkwardly.
• A new church could employ most of what we are currently using in the existing church (the same pews, the same altar, the same stations, etc), but it could provide for us more room, further (unobstructed) seating, better acoustics, and better options with lighting than our existing church has.
• And finally the old church could be handsomely reconfigured into a beautiful parish hall with relatively little structural work, and while it would not seat 1000 people, do we really need a hall that large anyway? Certainly this could be a wonderful space for social events.

And so which is our best option? Will we eventually build a new hall or a new church? While I appreciate this option of building a new church may come as a shock to some, and while I admit that if it were built tomorrow it wouldn’t make much sense, I would also remind you that this parish should continue to grow, and that phase two can only be built years from now. So think on it. Depending upon the time table and upon our growth trajectory, there is a real possibility that a different pastor would eventually build this second phase, but this is not to say that the second phase, as it is conceived currently by the Building Committee and the architectural firm, is not very intriguing, as I believe you will soon discover

While the building of phase two is more remote, the question of how to proceed is not an unimportant one. I have seen parishes where they built gyms or halls that eclipsed their churches in size and in beauty, and then they would end up having their most attended masses (like Christmas and Easter and First Holy Communion) not in the church, but in an auxiliary building. Having a great hall would be wonderful, and I believe this plan will give OLM not only a great hall, but also a balanced and beautiful campus, with the church as the crowning jewel. This letter (as the letter before it) has been an attempt to keep you informed, and to prepare you for what the Building Committee will soon unveil. May God bless you all.

In faith,
Father Byrd