NO EDIFICE COMPLEX

Dear Friends in Christ:

When I was in seminary, we used to hear of parishes that suffered from edifice complexes. For these unhealthy congregations, their buildings seemed to be the center of all their attention and to consume most of their energy.

Our parish does not, thanks be to God, suffer from such an edifice complex. We see the building as being one of the many tools for ministry that we have received as gifts from God. Our responsibility for this gift, as for all of the other gifts, is the responsibility of faithful stewardship. Using the building for our own work in ministry is only part of our stewardship. We have also made space available for ecumenical ministries and for other community groups:

v     Interfaith Hospitality Network housing for Homeless Families

v     Meals-on-Wheels of Erie County

v     Three Alcoholics Anonymous groups

v     The Community Music School and other music teachers

v     Compassionate Friends for the bereaved

v     The East Aurora Garden Club

v     The Girls Scouts

v     The 4-H

v     The Blue Cactus Coffee House

v     The Citizens’ Coalition

Over the past few months, members of the Vestry and others have been meeting to develop plans for some major – and much needed – repairs and improvements to the Church and the Barker Building. We have been guided in our discussions by the report from Forum 2000 (a wide-ranging discussion of challenges that faced the parish in the early fall of 2000), by an architectural study done that same year, and by the insights of an ad hoc committee of former wardens. We have identified three major areas in which work needs to be done:

v     The roofs of the Barker Building and the Church, especially the flat roof over the library and the sacristy and the place where it joins the roof of the Barker Building. Leaks in this area have been a problem for many years and we have had serious problems with ice buildup at the edges of these two flat roofs. We are also considering the possibility of replacing the flat roof of the Barker Building with a gable roof that will be more in the style of the roofs on the Church, Chapel and Parish Hall. Those roofs may also need some major repairs as they are already a few years past the “normal life” of slate and tile roofs.

v     The entrance to the Barker Building. The doors need replacing and we are considering the possibility of reconfiguring to include a vestibule that will reduce heat loss at the entrance during the winter.

v     The heating systems for the Church and the Barker Building. Some work has been done to improve the heating system for the Church and we are still considering whether or not the replacement of the boiler is needed (we have had heating experts give opinions on both sides of this question).  We are also considering a recommendation for the 2000 architectural study to rezone the Barker Building for greater control over which rooms are being heated.

As we move ahead with plans for these major improvements, we will also be developing plans for a capital campaign. The work that needs to be done will cost money and all of us, as well as members of the community who us the building and see it as a valuable community resource, will have the opportunity to support this work financially.

Early in the 20^th century the members of Saint Matthias Church faced the challenge of building the beautiful Church in which we have worshiped now for more than 75 years. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the members faced the challenge of building the education wing that we know as the Barker Building. In these early days of the 21^st century we face the challenge of faithful stewardship of these buildings so that they may continue to be used in ministry in this new century. May God who has placed this challenge before us empower and bless us as we work to meet it.

Your brother and priest,

Fr. Dan