“Growing Together in Faith” Parish Building Campaign

Long Case Statement

What do we want to do?

            St. Thomas More Parish is responding to the current and future spiritual and physical needs of its growing faith community by initiating a comprehensive building and remodeling program.

            Since its inception 25 years ago, our parish − people that we worship, live, work, and socialize with − has concentrated on professing the Gospel of Jesus Christ by living our faith through prayer, scripture, evangelism, service, and celebration of the Sacraments. This is being accomplished through formal celebrations and worship services in the parish church, and by educational programs and faith discussions designed for our children, young adults, adults, married couples, and seniors.

            The vision of the original 190 families was to build a strong, vibrant community that would embody the above mission statement, including the necessary funding for the "bricks and mortar" to construct a house of worship, an educational wing, a community center, and administrative support offices. Over the years, the building additions were carefully planned to reflect the needs of the parish and the ability of parishioners to support needed construction.

            The current church has proven to be sufficient for our present and future spiritual needs. Its well-thought-out design and size complement the celebration of the Eucharist. However, while the parish spiritual needs are being addressed, the physical space needs required for educational and social programs have not kept pace.

            The membership of St. Thomas More Parish has quadrupled in size from the original 190 families to more than 900 today. It's anticipated that the number of families will increase in the near future with the expansion of Ft. Riley. We have now reached the point where the parish needs to build an additional building and to remodel and reconfigure Werth Hall.

2001 Parish Five-Year Plan and 2004 Needs Assessment Study

In 2001, the St. Thomas More Pastoral Council undertook an ambitious review of the parish's five-year strategic plan. Numerous public forums were held to look at all aspects of the parish, including immediate- and long-range space and facility needs. The input from those forums showed that a parish community center was needed. The Facilities Planning Subcommittee summarized those findings in a September 2004 report to the Pastoral Council, which prompted a needs assessment study of groups currently using the St. Thomas More facilities. With input from the Knights of Columbus (K of C), Thomas More Ladies (TML), Youth Ministry, third-agers (seniors), parish staff, and our pastor, a Parish Facility Planning Subcommittee assessed the needs of the parish. After much discussion, a list of immediate- and long-term needs was assembled. The new building and remodeling program is the result of their input.

Here is a summary of their findings (not necessarily in order of importance).

We need:

1.         Space for youth ministry (grades 7-12), 200-250 persons.

            The youth ministry has at least three inter-related dimensions: 

                        The education in faith

                        The social/recreational fellowship

                        The spiritual/worship expression

Youth ministry involves small-group and large-group sessions of 15 or more persons in classroom, social, and recreational settings. The youth ministry/teen center facility should have easy, direct access to the church/sanctuary. The facility also should have a kitchenette and a dining area.

2.         Space to expand/enlarge the nursery, which serves young children (infant through age 4). The ideal nursery space should be at least double, if not triple, the present size.

3.         Space for religious education classes for children (K-6). Between 200-250 youths will receive their religious formation and classes in this space. The rooms would be used on two different week nights for these classes (150-200 children each night). Some of these rooms would be used for children's sessions on Sunday mornings. Many of these rooms would be used for various adult meetings on other nights.

4.         Space for our library. This would primarily be a "stacks" room for books and videos on shelves. Secondly, it would serve as a small "reading" room, which could also serve as a "meeting room" for select small groups of three or four persons.

5.         Space for the choir to rehearse. An acoustically treated "choir rehearsal room" would have space for a choir of 15 to 50 persons and a piano. It also would provide space for a music library/storage area. Ideally, this room would have easy access to the sanctuary/worship area (the church) and be located near the music director's office.

6.         An expanded office area. This area would provide six or seven offices for the central operation of the entire parish, including the parish secretary’s office; the pastoral associates' offices; the pastor's office; religious education office; liturgy office; bookkeeper/secretary office, waiting room, conference room, central work room (for copiers, folding-machines, work tables, etc.); and a storage room (for paper, office supplies, etc.). It would be adjacent to the central work room and restrooms with a receptionist area near the office entrance.

7.         Increased kitchen storage space for a freezer, supplies, etc. Direct access to the kitchen would be ideal.

8.         Storage space for overall parish use.

9.         A room for the Knights of Columbus and Thomas More Ladies. It would be relatively small with a sliding wall that would open into another classroom/meeting room. This room would provide a permanent area to display the Knights' trophies, etc. The opened room would be large enough for a meeting of between 20 and 60.

10.       Bride and a groom dressing rooms with easy access to the gathering area of the church where the wedding party could dress and prepare for the wedding ceremony.

What are we going to do?

            The 2006 St. Thomas More building campaign calls for the construction of an approximately 13,000-square-foot parish community center that will comfortably accommodate 700 people at a time. Tentative plans include a new and larger kitchen, performance stage, multi-purpose meeting rooms, storage rooms, and an outside patio. The final design will be handicap accessible and will probably be large enough to house banquets, weddings, musical events, youth activities, third-ager physical activities such as indoor walking during inclement weather, community meetings, and limited intramural activities.

            This new building will replace the current Werth Hall, which can accommodate no more than 234 people at a time, and its limited kitchen facility. The new building also will provide additional meeting space for the Knights of Columbus and the Thomas More Ladies and much needed parish storage.

            The preliminary plans include a covered walkway between the current church and the new parish community center, which will have the Stations of the Cross.

The second part of the building improvement project will reconfigure and remodel the current Werth Hall by adding additional administrative offices, classrooms, and multi-purpose/special-purpose rooms such as a choir/music room, a bride's room and a groom's room. In addition to the Werth Hall remodeling, the current classrooms in the Hake Education Wing will receive aesthetic remodeling. This will have a positive impact on the learning environment for the various religious education classes.

            The third and final part of the project will replace the current church roof. The current roof is aging and has had ongoing leakage problems.

            The cost for the above is projected to be:

            1. Building addition. 13,000 square feet                         $2,200,000
            2. Landscaping                                                                    20,000
            3. Remodeling of existing Werth Hall, office areas, and kitchen
                        6,440 square feet                                                   423,000
            4. Remodeling (mainly aesthetics) of classrooms
                        4,088 square feet                                                     36,000
            5. Replace current church roof                                           240,000
                                                                                    Total    $2,919,000

How are we going to do it?

            The St. Thomas More Parish will organize and initiate a comprehensive fund- raising campaign for the project.

            The anticipated cost is slightly more than $2.9 million. The parish has about $500,000, so the parish must raise the remaining $2.4 million. The Salina Diocese policy states that the actual detailed planning and construction of the project cannot proceed until the parish has 50 percent of the funds in hand.

            The weekend of April 30, 2006, has been designated as "Commitment Sunday" by the campaign organizers. Individuals and families will be personally visited by a fellow parishioner and asked to complete a campaign commitment card that reflects the donor's commitment to the parish and this particular capital improvement project.

            Prior to "Commitment Sunday," parishioners will receive mailings and other materials informing them of the project details and the commitment process.