A Ministry-Appropriate Building

This blog is a resource for members of All Pilgrims Christian Church as we explore alternatives for living into our vision of a ministry-appropriate building on Capitol Hill.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Reports from Small Group Discussions

As we continue to gather ideas and insights about a “ministry appropriate” building as part of our Vision, the Building Vision Task Force recently offered four separate small-group discussion sessions following worship and social time on specific focus topics related to the building.

Those meets have been completed and the notes compiled. These are available for your review at the links below.

May 1 Journey Into Worship: A discussion about the sanctuary and other worship and spiritual growth spaces. How would we like to incorporate movement, art, nature, water, and music? Link to Notes.

May 22 Journey Through the Building: A discussion about entering and navigating through the church building including locating the church office on Broadway, creating a single entry, and improving accessibility. Link to Notes.

June 5 Openness Inside: A discussion about creating interior gathering spaces that for existing ministries and programs, as well as considering what types of space might be desirable for future flexibility. Link to Notes.

July 10 Openness Outside: A discussion about visions for the church exterior spaces such as the green space on Broadway, the “secret garden” to the north of the building, chapel courtyard and landscape areas. Link to Notes.

Questions? Please contact Michael Brown, mbrown@watg.com or Kathleen Hosfeld at hosfeld@hosfeldconsulting.com

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Case Histories - Four Churches and Their Buildings

On March 27, members and friends of All Pilgrims met to continue our Building Vision conversation. During our time together we briefly reviewed the results of the first Congregational Meeting. Parie Hines, our leader in the feasibility process, synthesized our feedback into two themes: Journey and Openness. We also looked at pictures of our own building (thanks to Steve Clagett). We reviewed four case histories:
  • St. Andrew, Kansas
  • Trinity Episcopal, First Hill, Seattle
  • Discovery House, Wallingford
  • St. Paul’s, Queen Anne
The Powerpoint from our session including these themes and case histories is available HERE.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Results of First Congregational Meeting - Building Vision


Thank you to the Building Vision Task Force and special thanks to Parie Hines, Steve Clagett and Michael Brown: The first congregational meeting to discuss the vision for our building is complete and the results have been compiled into the report linked here Building Vision Meeting 1 Results.

Hard copies of this report have been posted on the walls in Stuart Hall. You may also download and print them from the link above.

The Task Force and the Council will be discussing next steps in the visioning process; we will announce the next congregational meeting via the Sunday bulletin, email and The Vine.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Our Vision for a Ministry-Appropriate Building

During our “summer of vision” exercises, we created a series of visionary statements about our future together. One is that we will “live from a ministry appropriate building that represents God’s vision and call.” The small piece of plaster that fell from the ceiling during a recent worship service tells us that it is good and timely to take up this aspect of our vision now.

To that end, the Coordinating Council began this fall to explore options for our building. It is important to stress that the Council does not have a predetermined outcome in mind as to what “ministry appropriate” means. Rather, we have outlined a deliberative process of research and discussion to gather relevant facts about the current building and its possibilities and to come to a decision together as a congregation that fits our resources and our vision.

We have come a long way in our discernment of God’s call for All Pilgrims. We want to continue our faithful discernment of this important issue, and continue to hold each other in tender care as we discuss our future together.

The process we have defined for developing our plans for a ministry appropriate building will take place over the next year. The Council took the first step on that plan by commissioning a series of technical studies that will tell us our options. These studies include structural and seismic, electrical and mechanical assessments (see links to all these studies below). We are working with architect Parie Hines, a member of All Pilgrims, who is volunteering to coordinate these studies and facilitate a process of congregational discussion of needs, goals and desires.

We invite all members and friends of All Pilgrims to attend the first of several planned congregational discussions, January 23rd, following social hour in Stuart Hall. This highly participative discussion will explore needs and interests, and allow members to express priorities for specific building features.

On behalf of the Council, and the Building Vision Task Force, I want to express our excitement to begin this important conversation for the future of our ministry together.

Blessings,
Kathleen Hosfeld
Moderator, All Pilgrims Christian Church

LINKS TO COMPLETED STUDIES (Please click title to go to a download page)

Mechanical Study

Structural Study

Electrical Study