Church Expansion Committee: Report to the Parish

December 21-22, 2013

It has been about six months since the Church Expansion Committee has reported to the parish and there is much to say. However, I will try to be brief about our exciting progress.

Because of the tremendous growth that has been experienced by the Stouffville community and here in our very own parish, Fr. Michael initiated a new committee with the task of exploring and developing a plan for Church expansion: it was called Church Expansion Committee. This committee is charged with the responsibility of investigating and overseeing the planning and construction of a Church expansion. The committee has been meeting on a monthly basis in order to discuss, plan and strategize for all the different aspects related to Church expansion:

The committee explored different resources in order to learn about Church architecture so that the expansion would be consistent with sound church architectural principles, respectful of liturgical guidelines and reflecting the needs and goals of our unique community.

1. A consultation process was initiated with the Archdiocesan authorities responsible for coordinating development and we were given permission to proceed with the conceptual design development stage.

2. Last winter, each parish Ministry was consulted, by the Church Expansion Committee, in order to assess the needs of our community and assist us in deciding how best to meet all those needs. In addition, last spring the Committee enlisted the help of parishioners through an open Town Hall information meeting to which all were invited. Finally, we posted a request for feedback on the parish website. The results from all of this were compiled to provide direction for the Architect in the development of the Conceptual design.

3. Subsequently, the committee visited a variety of different churches around the Archdiocese in order to compare and contrast, assess and evaluate the various forms of architecture being used at this time. We were also able to see the work of many currently approved architects around the Archdiocese in order to form a basis of comparison.

4. By mid-summer the committee was in a position to issue a formal Request for Proposal to architects inviting expressions of interest and submissions to qualify for interviews.

5. These interviews were held last August-September with 6 different candidates. After further deliberationand referencechecks, the committee came to the consensus that Andrew Baczynski from the IBI group was the best candidate for our project.

6. In October we reached agreement with Andrew Baczynski to act as the architect for St Mark’s church on this project and he began meeting with members of the committee in order to assess our needs and initiate the preliminary conceptual design process. Formal contracts have been executed now between the architect and the Archdiocese of Toronto.

7. By Spring-time, we should be able to provide the parish with a conceptual design for you to assess and hopefully admire and support.

If you have any questions about this process, or suggestions about our church expansion please feel free to approach any of the Church Expansion committee members you know personally , or to call and leave a message with the parish office in which case one of our committee members will get back to you. We will be more than happy to discuss your questions and/or address your concerns. (Refer either to your pamphlets distributed earlier this year or the web site for a list of members.)

The Church Expansion Committee wishes each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.