Next Step Committee
Minutes of the “Rolling Meeting”
Feb. 5, 2005
Present: Paul Carew, Martha Dill, Terry Eason, Linda Rimer, Ted Vaden; The Rev. Stephen Elkins-Williams, ex officio
The traveling delegation of the Next Step Committee visited St. Paul’s, Winston-Salem, and St. Peter’s, Charlotte. We’re grateful to rectors Don Goodheart at St. Paul’s, and David Pittman, St. Peter’s, for making arrangements and greeting us. We were shown around at St. Paul’s by Sexton Alvin Williams and at St. Peter’s by Sue Coonan, former senior warden and leader of the expansion effort.
The committee agreed to meet at Chapel of the Cross on Sunday, Feb. 13, to discuss the visits, consider interviewing architects and prepare for a presentation at the Feb. 20 Annual Meeting. There has been growing interest among parishioners about the committee’s work.
Following are summaries of our visits, as provided by Martha Dill and Ted Vaden:
St. Paul’s, Winston-Salem
- We liked the Winston-Salem church because it was warm and welcoming: the lighting in the halls was soft, the colors warm and coordinated throughout (with the exception of the fellowship hall which seemed darker/cooler with the green and the wood). Every door had two windows in it that were low enough that a child could see in, and the doors were a light wood. Almost every room with the exception of the workroom had outside light, often lots of it.
- The priests’ offices were clustered with the rector’s secretary in a separate office with a closable door. Because we aren’t quite sure what the insurance or whatever rules are about why there were windows in the ministers’ doors, considering smaller windows, a different configuration, or a room arrangement that could guarantee at least facial privacy would be important. There was a small waiting area directly outside the doors but a more private waiting area nearby outside the deacons’ offices. We liked the whole feel of this area – it wasn’t blockaded from the rest of the building.
- The entryway was open, welcoming, and the desk was open in that anyone could get around it and not have to get in through a door down the hallway, as in Raleigh.
- Liked the “teen center’ with its own café.
- Terry didn’t like the chapel as much as some of us did, but what we did like was that the open woodwork on the ceiling made it feel spacious and lofty without feeling vast and empty as the barrel ceiling in the fellowship hall did.
- Fellowship hall seemed very big, even though could be divided out at the back. Their parlors were attractive but they were separate, closed rooms, not really casually accessible, and we liked the notion that part of the fellowship hall could be normally set up as parlor spaces, movable if what we needed were all the floor space. That seemed more congenial for us.
- Good signage, lots of bathrooms, though the women still ended up with fewer “spaces” than the men, which runs counter to the reality of the world.
- The “courtyard” was a disaster, perhaps because of the hilliness of it, but was a detraction. We wouldn’t have that problem.
Notes on the project, as supplied by Don Goodheart:
# of communicants – 2,600; sanctuary capacity – 700; Sunday attendance – 800, 4 services; annual budget -- $2+ million.
Cost of project -- $14 million, of which $9.5 million was construction. Raised in capital campaign; going back now with second campaign to retire debt (and capture new parishioners).
Special advice: “Most important is to get a consultant with a faith perspective, a competent architect, a contractor with good references (not necessarily the lowest bidder), and finally a project manager who knows the congregation and the buildings.”
St. Peter’s Charlotte:
Charlotte’s “mother” Episcopal church, founded in 1834. After nearly withering in recent decades, the church has benefited from Charlotte’s downtown revival. Now has 900 communicants, 300 pledging units. The annual budget is $750,000. The addition was completed in Fall 1998. It includes new office and classroom space and refurbishing of existing space, including an old fellowship hall that had been abandoned but now has been handsomely refurbished. The hall accommodates 300 to 350 people. (St. Peter’s has a “Holy Chow” breakfast every Sunday between 8 and 10:45 services, attended by 60-70 people.) The education program features Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori-based program for ages 3-12, housed in three atria in the new wing. Also use Journey to Adulthood program for teens. Both programs are models for the rest of the state.
The new building covers four stories, including a basement and unfinished fourth floor (planned for growth). It’s approximately 36,000 square feet. Cost was $4.3 million, including a $3.5 million capital campaign. They had one big gift -- $1 million, I believe – from the Close family. Capital campaign was successfully completed in three months. (Alan Lee, Ted Vaden’s college roommate, was the campaign consultant.). They were happy both with the campaign consultant and with the architect, Bill Monroe of Charlotte, who is one of the four designers who submitted proposals to Chapel of the Cross. The building is a nice joining of the old and new. Some of our group felt the classrooms were too small. Offices, especially for clergy, were commodious and comfortable.
Both St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s managed to place the fellowship hall on the same level as the sanctuary, which was an obvious plus compared to the third-floor location at Good Shepherd.
Last updated: February 18, 2005
