|
St. Francis Xavier begins its first capital campaign in 50 years
By Andrew Junker, ajunker@catholicsun.org
May 15, 2008
St. Francis Xavier Parish is undertaking a $23 million capital campaign to build a new elementary school and faith education center, a new parish hall and a parish center.
“The parish is over 80 years old and in terms of capital development, nothing has happened here really since 1959 when the church opened,” said Jesuit Father Dan Sullivan, pastor of St. Francis Xavier.
In other words, he said, the time is ripe to update the campus.
For example, the elementary school classrooms are each about 600 square feet. The average modern classroom size is nearly 1,000 square feet. The new school — which will sit on the current school’s site — will also be built with an eye to accommodating technological advances that aid teaching.
“Education is just delivered very differently today than it was 50 years ago,” Fr. Sullivan said.
The new parish center will be the ministry and business hub of the parish, while the parish hall complex — an 11,000-square-foot building — will house the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul food pantry. It could also host up to 500 people in one big room for special events or be compartmentalized into smaller rooms.
“We did a really deep process where we interviewed parish members and sent out surveys” to determine what the needs of the parish were, said Tami Bohannon, director of resource development for the parish.
“The whole parish was involved,” she said. “What do we need? What do we want?”
The most common refrain before the campaign began in 2006 was the need for more space. The parish currently offers 58 ministries and barely has the physical room to accommodate them.
Right now, they’re housed in what used to be the rectory, which, on many nights, can feel a bit cramped.
Bohannon said a typical evening finds free ESL classes, Spanish-speaking youth group, Spanish young adult faith formation and children’s religious education all occurring simultaneously in the former rectory.
“It’s not just about the bricks and mortar,” she said. “It’s about what’s going on inside when you open the door. We know that the 58 ministries will continue to thrive and we’ll only create more because we’ll have the space, the availability and the people who want to get involved.”
Another aspect of the capital campaign will link the school to the church with a prayer walk. As the campus sits now, the church is separated from the school by what Bohannon calls a “sea of parking.”
“You really notice it when you see the kids walk from the school to the church each week for Mass,” she said.
Current plans call for a covered walkway that will link the two sites. Along the way, the walk will tell the story of St. Francis Xavier, an early Jesuit who is renown for his missionary zeal. Its trellised covering will also provide some much-needed shade in the summer months.
Building on the past
“It’s a huge project,” Bohannon admitted of the capital campaign. “But it’s not unprecedented.”
In fact, she said, it’s merely carrying the great tradition St. Francis Xavier parishioners have of coming together to build.
“In 1948, the parishioners built the rectory. They built the first buildings of the school. They bought land for what’s now Xavier College Preparatory and built buildings there. They built a convent for the sisters who taught in the grade school and high school,” she said.
After 10 years of building, “they took a rest for six months and thought, ‘We need a worship space,’” Bohannon said.
To begin building in 1958, the parish needed $700,000. In one weekend, parishioners donated $650,000.
While prices are bit higher this time around, Bohannon is certain that parishioners, alumni of the school and supporters of Jesuit education will pull through again.
The campaign has entered into its public phase. Since last fall, Bohannon has been courting leadership gifts, working with various foundations, community partners and alumni.
“We’re reaching out to anyone who might be supportive of this,” she said.
While the actual start of construction is entirely contingent on fundraising efforts — the parish must have 100 percent of donations committed and 80 percent pledged to begin building each phase — Bohannon and Fr. Sullivan hope to break ground on the new school in the fall of 2010.
|
