"BUILDING DISCIPLES FOR ALL AGES"
Seven spacious atria thanks to multi-use space.

For many people, a big part of their life at All Saints' takes place in the Parish House. This space, which includes everything except the church itself, is home to the homeless every Monday. It's where our youngest members are cared for and nurtured in the ever-growing Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, and where people first experience All Saints' hospitality (and the cooking of Jean-Luc) as they attend Alpha and other programs. Beautiful choral music is born here and mission trips to Honduras and Mississippi are planned here. Small groups and ministry fractals meet, the Bible is studied and SAGES elegantly lunch here. On a Sunday morning, the Lower Parish Hall houses the Toddler Room, the Parish Bookstall and the food areas. The building also provides office space for staff and our many volunteers.

If this sounds a little too much for one aging building, you"re right. "We're bursting at the seams!" says Carol Anderson. Because All Saints' is land-locked, the only way to increase square footage is to go up (by adding a third floor) or down (by adding a basement). Both options were thoroughly explored and found to be cost-prohibitive.

Carol recalls, "When we discovered what it would cost to add a third floor, Casey Rogers, who's now Senior Warden, posed the question to the vestry: 'Even if we had that much money, do we really think God would want us to spend it on a building?' We all agreed that there had to be another way. After much prayer, we decided to take a different approach, one that calls us to be good stewards of the existing space rather than adding space."

In the past six months, we've tested the idea of allowing all spaces to function with more flexibility. Each Friday evening, for instance, Executive Pastor David Wilson's office is broken down and becomes Daybreak Atrium for the weekend. On Sunday afternoon, it reverts to an office for the following week. "We really can create substantially more usable space by making it multi-use," says Parish Administrator and Building Committee member Sam Williamson. With such positive results, architects, RTK, were given the go-ahead to proceed with final plans to make as much space as possible multi-use.

What differences will you see? Here are just a few:
• We will have seven atria for our children's program, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Rooms will be designed to maximize their space and the children's experiences.
• The apartment that now houses our Luke atrium on the back patio will instead become offices.
• Our Lower Parish Hall will become fully that again! There will be separate spaces for our Toddlers.
• On an early survey, parishioners commented over and over about the value of our patio space. We're improving and redesigning to add to both the amount of usable patio and the ambiance.
• The kitchens will be reconfigured and remodeled with new appliances and separate walk-in spaces for the freezer, the pantry and the refrigerator.
• There will be more comfortable seating areas for small group and ministry meetings.

What you won't see:
• The exterior of the Parish House will not be changed much. It will retain its current look and feel. When you completed the survey forms , you let us know you like the appearance of the building.
• A much-needed all-new infrastructure (unless you venture into the basement): electrical, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and computer network.

When is this happening? We're expecting to break ground this summer. STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION!

-Andy Carmichael.