Parish Facility Recommendations

At the April 5, 2022 Parish Council work session, it was concluded by consensus that it is in the best long-term interest of the Parish to go to one worship site. That conclusion was easier to reach than further discussion and decision regarding which site would best serve future
needs.

As many parishioners have voiced in these or similar words, “I recognize the need to eventually move to one site, but I hope it is the one I favor.”  These matters of the heart, i.e., our personal
stories, feelings, and ties to our church for parishioners make this a daunting and difficult choice. It would be much easier to delay or avoid this discussion altogether; however, that leaves us in a worse situation in five or ten years.

So, we started with objective factors. Through review of the Parishioner surveys and discussion the Council identified and prioritized key criteria to use in determining which site is best suited
for the long term.

At the April 20, 2022 Parish Council meeting the following key factors were discussed:

Parish Office and Rectory Near Worship Site

• St Joseph’s site includes the Parish offices. Holy Family site includes the Rectory.
• It is easier and less expensive to find Priest housing than build / remodel office space.

Accessibility

• Holy Family has a covered drop off area on the north side of the church.
• Holy Family has a larger commercial elevator. St. Joseph’s has a residential type elevator that has not functioned well.
• Holy Family Social Hall bathroom is readily accessible. St. Joseph’s Social Hall bathrooms have a step up and are not handicap accessible.
• Holy Family church is accessible but the sanctuary is not.

Worship Space Capacity

• It is expected that Epiphany Parish will be reduced to one Priest in the next 3 – 5 years. Sufficient worship capacity is needed to accommodate 1,000 Parishioners (based on 2018 and 2019 pre-COVID mass counts) with three masses a weekend. Holy Family Church (seating capacity range 481 – 568) can better accommodate three weekend services compared to St Joseph (seating capacity range 329 – 382).

Gathering Space

• Holy Family Social Hall has a larger capacity (260) compared to St Joseph Social Hall (160).
• Holy Family Social Hall has a newer kitchen, better accessibility, and is more welcoming with a higher ceiling.

Long-Term Expenses (Capital Expenditures)

• The 12/2021 architectural study documents that both sites have anticipated future repairs / improvements.
• The cost estimate for Holy Family was $450,000 - $985,000.
• The cost estimate for St Joseph was $1,390,000 - $2,753,000.

Marketability / Salability

• St Joseph’s site would be more marketable based on the location near HWY 122, the approximate 500 feet of highway frontage, and the larger amount of land.

During the facility evaluation process the question of vacating both current worship structures and building new came up and was discussed. It was concluded that the Holy Family worship
structure has sufficient capacity and did not pose excess capital improvement expense to warrant the significant cost of a new structure.

The following table summarizes the Council’s findings, by each criterion, which site is best for the Parish’s present and future needs:

Office and Rectory Near Worship Site: SJ
Accessibility: HF
Worship Space Capacity: HF
Gathering Space: HF
Long-term Expenses / Repairs: HF
Marketability / Salability: HF

After considering matters of the heart and the above key criteria the Parish Council concludes that the Holy Family site best meets the long term needs of the Parish. The Parish Council recommends to make this transition over the next 3 - 5 years as it will involve significant work and planning.

It is also important to acknowledge that this transition could be earlier if any of the following events occur:

 A natural disaster occurs that significantly damages one site
 A significant repair is needed that is not financially justifiable
 Epiphany Parish is assigned only one Priest
 Epiphany Parish is faced with financial distress
 An unsolicited acceptable purchase offer is received

The Parish Council forwards this recommendation to Epiphany Parish’s Pastor Rev. Neil Manternach for his consideration.