Hello –
Since at least 2012, when they built the first tunnel along the Presidio Parkway, we’ve all experienced the gradual work of transforming our entrance from Marin into San Francisco. We’ve been patiently watching the landscape and the roads as they gradually change.
In a way, a similar process has been happening at St. Paul’s. Over the last two years an enormous amount of work has been happening in four areas. This week I’d like to briefly sketch out each area to give you a full sense of where we’ve been and where we’re going. These four areas are:
• deferred maintenance
• communications infrastructure
• our relationship with Marin Day School
• and a campaign we’re calling SPRIF III
As I hope you’ll see, by the end of next year we believe we will be in a much better place than two years ago, ready for whatever God has in mind for us.
1. Deferred Maintenance. Two years ago the basement level of the education wing flooded. As we dug into the lower levels of the building we realized that there were best practices for care of a building like ours that we had been neglecting. Over the last two years we have assembled a great team of people to attend with care and depth to each area of our campus. We created four binders (with the information also online) with all possible issues within each area and who to contact to help us care for them.
We are now way ahead of where we were two years ago. For example, just last week, Larry was attending to our 19 downspouts, Steve was leading a thorough relighting of the church, Roger replaced a broken toilet and Judy was attending to a worrisome crack in the sacristy. The care of our campus, on a deep level, has increased considerably.
Furthermore, as of this summer, we have our first accurate drawings of the campus. Our new ‘as-built’ drawings (done by the best professionals in the Bay Area at a very reasonable price!) will enable us to continue our deep work of caring for our sacred space far into the future.
2. Communications Infrastructure. The way the world communicates has changed dramatically in the last ten years and, like many mainline churches, we were behind. Last year we hired Shelley, who is very fluent in the way the world communicates, particularly in the Bay Area. She has already dramatically increased our presence on Facebook and transformed our website.
Less visible, but just as important, in her time here we have created a new calendar system (so important on a campus that has, on average, about 500 people outside the church family using our facilities each week) shifted our information to a safe, cloud based database now open to all church members, and have vastly expanded our ability to receive your giving and your pledging online. Along with this, our ability to track our finances has become more reliable and streamlined.
We are ready to step into the future with confidence. In the meantime, we aren’t neglecting old-school communication. In the next few weeks you can expect a printed-on-paper newsletter in your mailbox at your house.
3. Marin Day School. This preschool has been renting our education wing since the late 80s. This year, thanks to two years of very hard work by Jay, we are entering a new and even more productive relationship with the school.
We are one document away from a new contract that will do three great things for us. First, it will keep the school here for at least the next ten years. Up until now, the contract had always been for five years. Second, it will guarantee for us $160,000 to $190,000 of income a year, which is around 40% of our budget. Finally, if all goes well the school will invest $300,000 in our campus while we invest $50,000. That work is all scheduled to be done between now and the end of this year.
To top it all off, Marin Day School continues to be an ideal tenant. Many of us consider the teachers and administrators there our friends.
4. SPRIF III. On Sunday, September 21st, Maggie and Jay, supported by their SPRIF III leadership team of Tenesa, Pat and Joan, are going to publicly launch the campaign for the St. Paul’s Restoration and Improvement Fund.
September 21st marks the beginning of a conversation to be continued through at least one Soup Supper and many other conversations with smaller groups. The SPRIF III team wants to know your ideas and concerns. They want to know what possibilities you see for our campus.
The one area that has already received a lot of attention and thought is the safety and accessibility of our courtyard and the approaches to our courtyard. This means we’ve been thinking a lot about how to make it as easy and safe as possible to travel from your car to the church. Things like a smooth surface, an even grade and handrails have been carefully considered by experts and have been put together by the SPRIF III team as a proposal for you to consider starting on the 21st. There are other ideas that have emerged as well, and I’m sure you will be bringing your own ideas to the conversation.
Finally, it is always worth emphasizing that all four of these areas of change have been carefully considered and overseen by our Vestry. Our Vestry is our board of directors, elected by you each February at our annual meeting. The monthly Vestry meetings are the the third Thursday of each month and are open to all. The minutes of all the meetings, once they have been properly approved by the Vestry, can be found here on our website. You are free to read them if you would like to see how all four of these deep changes have been conceived of and managed. (Minutes are posted on the website each month, as soon as they are approved. They can also be found on the bulletin board of Duncan Hall.) Our next meeting is Thursday, September 18th at 7pm in Duncan Hall. You are welcome to come.
According to the Marin IJ this morning, the Presidio Parkway renovation should be done by the end of 2015. By then, we too should have come to the end of this season of deep change. By grace, we pray that the fruit will be a strong, healthy infrastructure on multiple levels, allowing us to pursue with joy and freedom the work God has given us to do.
Blessings,
Christopher
p: (415) 456-4842
(Photo image: www.catsynth.com)