BUILDING GOD'S HOUSE...OUR HOME

CORNERSTONES (AKA "Frequently Asked Questions")

Q: Where will our new church and school be located?
A: The new church and school of San Francisco de Asís will be on the southeast lobe of McMillan Mesa, located just north of Route 66 in the center of Flagstaff. Our buildings, parking areas, and road will take less than 23 acres of the 105-acre site, allowing us to preserve most of the trees and grassy areas. 

Become familiar with this beautiful setting!  See the map of Flagstaff on the bulletin board and the topographic model of the site, both in the Saint Pius X fellowship hall.  To visit the site itself, take Ponderosa Parkway, turn left on Locust, right on Apple, and left on Hemlock to the FUTS parking area at the end of the street. Walk about 1/3 mile east and turn right onto the wide trail around the open meadow on top of the mesa.  Then follow one of the faint paths leading southeast toward the trees.  You will soon find yourself in a natural cathedral of ponderosa pines, singing birds, and wildflowers!

A little-known fact is that McMillan Mesa is much older than the San Francisco Peaks.  The mesa is composed of a lava flow that is about six million years old, while the eruptions that built the San Francisco stratovolcano began less than two million years ago  (from Stone Landmarks: Flagstaff’s Geology and Historic Building Stones by Marie Jackson).

Q: When will the new parish center be finished?
A: Our church and school will take several years to build.  The completion date will depend partly upon the early success of the Capital Campaign and partly on the sale of redundant church properties: the Clay Avenue pre-school campus, Saint Mary’s School, and Saint Pius X Center.  The parish may also sell or develop twelve to twenty acres of the site as affordable housing or assisted living.  Construction of the road will begin by next year so that the parish may hold some activities on the mesa in 2008!

Q: How many people will our new parish church, school, and offices serve?
A: Our new church is designed to seat 1,000 people.  The plan may be modified easily to seat 1,500 people. The outcome of the Capital Campaign and growth of the parish at the time construction begins will determine which configuration will be built.

Nearly 1,600 households of varying sizes are officially registered in our parish.  Many more attend mass here regularly. Saint Pius X seats between 600 and 700, with additional seating in the entryway and hall.  This additional seating is especially critical during the summer and on certain holidays, when the number of people attending mass increases by 20% to 40%. 

Our new school will initially have at least one classroom for each grade from Pre-Kindergarten to 8th Grade, as well as special-purpose rooms for a computer lab, library, and music. Each of these state-of-the-art classrooms will accommodate a maximum of 30 students.  Religious Education classes will share these rooms.  The design can be expanded to include more classrooms if necessary.

The administrative part of the new center will combine office space for the school and parish administration, resulting in increased efficiency and easier coordination of activities. 

There will be several rooms of varying sizes for meetings and activities of parish ministries and groups.  They can be combined to create an ample fellowship hall.

Q: What will these new buildings cost?
A: As the building of our new parish center progresses, we will keep a close eye on costs and on “value engineering” (finding creative ways to reduce costs without compromising quality or capacity). 

The following estimates all include interior finish and fixtures:
Church $10,520,000   Offices $536,000   School $6,681,000  Fellowship Hall $1,581,000

Do bear in mind that Saint Mary’s School and the church and offices at Saint Pius X are in need of ongoing maintenance and substantial repairs from time to time. They are not energy-efficient. Our new church, classrooms, and offices will eliminate the expensive maintenance as well as heating and cooling costs that these buildings require while providing excellent acoustics for worship, an improved environment for learning, and better, more efficient working conditions for our staff, clergy, and all of you who participate in ministries.
 

Q: Where will the road to the new church be located?
A: Arizona Engineering Company is working with the City of Flagstaff on plans for an access road to the building site of our new church.  This road will be a continuation of Enterprise Avenue, running north from the stoplight on Route 66 up to the southern edge of the mesa.  There it will divide, leading to our building site on the right and to Ponderosa Parkway on the left.  The tentative plans for this road are displayed in the Fellowship Hall at Saint Pius X.

Q: When will it be built?
A: The road will be built after these plans and our overall site plan win approval from the Development Review Board and the Planning and Zoning Commission. Necessary easements and rights-of-way are currently being negotiated.  Before we can issue a contract to begin building the road, the Office of Buildings and Properties of the Diocese of Phoenix will review our financial status.  With their approval, we will also begin the process of selecting a local project manager.  We hope to begin construction of our road in the spring!

Q: How can parishioners be part of this project?
A: Just as the parishioners of Flagstaff have pitched in to help build our historic churches, we can participate in preparations for the road.  We will organize to relocate plants in the path of the road and plant them in the area after construction.  The site plan calls for keeping as many trees as possible intact, however, if any trees require removal, parishioners in the woodcutting business may apply to obtain them.  The same will be true for the building site itself.  In addition, the proposed meditation trail and prayer gardens on our section of the mesa will be available for adoption so that groups or families may maintain them as service projects.

On a muddy country road in medieval France, a traveler encountered a man struggling to wheel a cart laden with an enormous block of stone toward the town. What are you doing? asked the traveler.  Oh, some people in town are paying me to deliver this stone to them, the carter answered.  It’s heavy, though.  What a miserable job! The traveler expressed his sympathy and continued on his journey.  Half a mile farther down the road, he encountered another man with a cart, also burdened with a huge stone. What are you doing? the traveler asked again. His face alight with joy, the second man answered:  I am building the great cathedral of Chartres!
 

Q:  Why do we need a fancy brochure?

A:  The brochure may appear “fancy” but it was the stewardship work of several parishioners who combined talents to produce such a beautiful presentation.  The cost to print the brochure was nearly half of what it would have cost due to the devotion of willing parishioners to give of their time.  We all have the opportunity to assist in the campaign this way.

The reason for the brochure is to produce something we can see and review at our own convenience.  The inclusion of information about the new buildings is meant for us to prayerfully reflect upon.  The giving chart allows us to realize that we can make a substantial gift by giving small amounts over the course of five (5) years.  The drawings give us hope and incentive for a truly beautiful and Christ centered church.  This is the only tangible evidence of our campaign and every parishioner should have this information.  We can thank Tom & Susan Bean for the photos and text and Dave Jenney of Northland Publishing for all the inspiration, artwork, and publishing. We have Jenn Hartin to thank for putting all these Cornerstone questions onto the church website and many other volunteers who are giving of their time.  There is still a need for volunteers so many of us can give of our time to help make our campaign a success.

Q:  Why does the interior of the church look plain on the drawings?

A:  The drawings of the interior only reflect the building itself as the architects have planned. As with all churches, much liturgical thought must be put into the interior of the church so that it draws us to worship and pray. We hope to include the talent of our community such as our own traditions, paintings, statues, and decorations to complete the decor.  Our church will be big enough to accommodate our growth but warm and inviting enough to foster a real sense of spirituality during quiet prayer and mass. We as a whole will make it reflect Christ’s presence. Likewise, the school will be filled with wonderful art from young artists.  

Q:  How will we Pledge?

A:  Volunteers are calling on parishioners as the campaign progresses.  You might not get called until September or October so please be patient.  Formal pledge cards are printed which allow you flexibility of pledge payments.  You may elect to pay on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis.  You may also pay by check, credit card, or automatic account withdrawal. The church will send payment reminders based upon how you elect to pay.  Annual statements will also be issued for your tax purposes.  We just ask you to prayerfully consider what you can give for the needs of the children and their spiritual and academic growth as well as our faith community.

If you have prayerfully determined how much you would like to pledge for the campaign and would prefer not to have parishioners call on you to answer questions or discuss the project, then you may come by the Campaign office and fill out a pledge card during church office hours. 

Q:  How do we know that contributions will go to the new church?

A:   All contributions to the campaign are designated as “Restricted Contributions” and as such cannot be used for any other purpose.  Each dollar specifically designated to the San Francisco de Asís Building Campaign is restricted to our campaign by the Diocese, the Internal Revenue Service, and the courts from a legal liability standpoint.  The monies cannot be used for any other need or purpose so long as a pledge card is filled out and checks are made out to San Francisco de Asís – Building Fund.

Q: Continued - Is that how the inside of the church will look? 

A: This is the question most parishioners ask when they first see the concept drawing of the interior of our new church building.  The word to keep in mind is “concept”.  The artist attempts to show the entire space from a single viewpoint.  This results in a loss of volume.  The 3-D space is flattened and the vertical dimension shortened giving us an unusual perspective.

When you look at it again, keep the following in mind: The peak of the building will be some fifty-five feet high, soaring almost five majestic stories above the altar.  In the nave, where the congregation gathers, will be seating for a thousand people.  That area, including the sanctuary, is over twice the size of the interior of St. Pius.  Additional seating for another five hundred will be added in the two arms of the transept.

The drawing appears to bring the ceiling down and fills a third of the view.  However, the lights and the clerestory, or long row of upper windows, will shine down, drawing attention away from the rafters and illuminating the altar and the ambo, which is the proper focus of our Eucharistic celebration.

The floor will slope gradually from the entrance to the sanctuary, enabling the parishioners to better hear and see the celebrant, the readers, and the choir. The pews are set out in a semi-circular format to bring the people closer to the altar.  When the transept is complete, the building will have a traditional cruciform shape. 

Q:   How can parishioners contribute their time and talent as well as treasure?

A:  There are numerous ways to help both now and in the future.  Our current needs are for parishioners to become emissaries for the campaign.  By so doing they will visit other parishioners to answer questions people might have about the campaign and the school and church project.  To do this only requires one (1) hour of training and then select families the volunteer wishes to visit.  This is the biggest volunteer demand right now but there are other ways people can help.  We need volunteers to; make calls for the committees (not request for money calls), fold letters and stuff envelopes, speakers after the masses telling about the project from their perspective, and we will continue to need people over the course of the five (5) year campaign for a variety of tasks. 

Jim Myers is to thank for the wonderful signs and Campaign ‘Thermometer’.  We have Felix Durazo, Anna Garcia-Hoffman, and Bob Boyle to thank for designing the campaign accounting system to safeguard our funds.  We can thank Chris and Adrian Wilke for hosting a reception at the Kilted Cat catering facility and several other families who have or have offered to host events for the campaign. 

This is a perfect opportunity for us to witness and exercise our Stewardship.  God has given each of us ways to be part of this living fellowship.  Please remember that the focus of this project is not bricks & mortar but a way for each of us to respond to God’s call.  The living bricks referred to by St. Francisco de Asis are each and every one of us using our varied talents as stones in the overall structure.  We build our faith community together one piece at a time.  Hence Fr. Pat’s motto: Building God’s House….Our Home.  When the new school and church are erected and you enter them for the first time you will feel the true presence of the Holy Spirit and you will experience a certain indefinable experience knowing that you too put a piece of yourself into this holy place for God for our children and for our community.  Please call the office to find out about how you can become a living brick.

Q:  How will we the people of God benefit from the new church, or what is being offered for our spiritual development?

A:  Since Father Pat arrived he has chosen a course of renewing the spirituality of our parish through several avenues.  His focus has been on the spirituality of mass, the message of Jesus, and reaching out to those who may fear the future or worry about the past.   He is leading by example so that the future of our parish, via bricks & mortar and spirituality, will be deeply rooted in nurturing our faith lives. This will be done by invigorating the existing ministries, allowing new ministries to start, and to foster an environment of willingness to address our needs both physically and spiritually.  Part of that growth process includes a new building.  While the physical structure is not the end to the means it benefits us by having a place to accommodate our many and growing groups.  It will provide a new school to better foster an atmosphere of learning and growth in faith by those who will lead our church tomorrow.  It will give us a peaceful, contemplative and large enough place to pray and celebrate the central mystery of the Eucharist.   So far the process has focused on bricks and mortar and the campaign but after the campaign focus will shift to the esthetic and spiritual when parishioners come forward and join new committees and groups to bring our long-term vision into focus.  It will be a shift from “what we could have been” to “what we are now” and how we are going to use the new church and school to define our ministerial works and tailor the physical environment and endeavor to create an environment where the building will support our growing and different avenues of faith calling.  The atmosphere Fr. Pat is fostering where all are accepted, loved, and focused on the Gospel message will center and stimulate growth among the existing ministries and will attract new spiritual growth through new programs and new ministries.

Q:  Why haven’t I been called on to make a pledge?

A:  As volunteers come forward and are trained to call upon parish families they select names from the parish roster.  If you have not been called upon it simply means a volunteer has not gotten your name yet.  But do not worry we will get to you.  If you would like someone to call on you to discuss the campaign or building please call the office (779-1341) and ask that someone come soon and we will arrange it.  If you prefer and have prayerfully reflected on your gift, you may come to the office to fill out your pledge card. Otherwise, please be patient and pray for success.  We could also use more volunteers so consider putting stewardship into action and become a volunteer.  It is very easy and all volunteers have expressed how rewarding it is.  Likewise, many have come back and asked to call on more families because it was a very uplifting and spiritual experience.  Please join the excitement and be part of the momentum.  Call to volunteer today.

Q: How can we possibly afford to give a big pledge?
A: All shall give as they are able, according to the blessings of the Lord your God that has given you. Deuteronomy 16:17

Your commitment should not be a financial burden.  The campaign is not asking for significant donations right now.  The principal of a campaign is to make a pledge of a few dollars per week or month for the five-year campaign.  The giving chart in the brochure illustrates how we can make small gifts yield a significant pledge over the course of five years.  Individual or one-time gifts, while truly appreciated, are not the nature of a capital campaign.   The idea of a campaign is for each family to reflect on what God has provided to them and to give back to the church a portion of what has been given us.  It should be a sacrifice but not a burden, for in this way we truly feel the wholeness of our spirituality.

We as Catholics are fundamentally responsible for supporting the church and its mission for the benefit of the whole community.  However, the church does not expect people to make substantial gifts at one time as this is usually too burdensome but by giving a small portion back to God over time we can be successful in achieving great things.  Just as our Patron, Saint Francis said, “ Start by doing what is necessary, then by doing what is possible and suddenly, you are doing the impossible.”  We too can do the necessary by making a commitment, then doing the possible by pledging each week, and finally as a parish community we will accomplish the seemingly impossible.

The real beauty of building a new church is that no one group of parishioners can build it on their own, it takes the entire faith community to work together in order to achieve success.  And thorough this communal work we grow in faith, love, and charity. So please consider a pledge by consulting the giving chart in the brochure and make a pledge.

Q: Where can I fill out a pledge card on my own?
A: This weekend and next, after each mass, there will be Pledge Envelopes in the Parish Hall at St. Pius available for everyone who has not yet pledged.  Volunteers will assist and answer any questions you may have.  As promised, everything about your pledge is strictly confidential without even campaign leaders knowledgeable about pledges.  Pledge cards will be alphabetical so look for the volunteer who has cards with the first letter of your last name.  This is a great way to get your pledge made and to save time.  We strongly encourage you to pray about your gift and fill out a card today or next week.  Cards will also be available in the church office during normal business hours throughout the week.

Financial Note: A recent U.S. ruling that was signed into law allows donations from individuals to any charitable organization (not just Katrina Relief Funds) to be fully (100%) deducted from this years income tax liability.  Generally this requires an Adjusted Gross Income over $145.950 and the gift to be made between August 27, 2005 and December 31, 2005.  This ruling would include your contribution to the Capital Campaign if you qualify.  It would also allow you to deduct 100% of your pledge if you were to fund it in its entirety this year.  Please note that this is not given as tax or legal advice and that anyone considering this avenue consult with your tax advisor.

Questions?  Call the Capital Campaign Office, 779-1341.
 

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CAMPAIGN PRAYER

Our Heavenly Father,

As a sign of your steadfast love, in a world hardened by sin, we prepare a place worthy of your Holy Presence where our growing Catholic family, drawn together by the Spirit in Christ, may joyfully celebrate your Word and Sacraments.  Bless our efforts as we embark on our journey to raise the walls of this Holy Dwelling.  Send forth Your Spirit of unity and generosity for it is in giving that we receive.  Empower us to be a community of love, growing in likeness by the grace of Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. 

Amen