Transforming St. Paul's

$1,5000,000

This is a 3-year campaign. Please learn more, pray about it with us, and plan to make a commitment this coming May for what you plan to donate over three years. This way, our Trustees can plan and schedule projects, knowing the funding available for them. Please note that your estimate can be increased or decreased in the future as circumstances dictate.

Our facility and systems are aging. Some parts of the building are now 67 years old. Systems and structures have exceeded their useful life and are failing or will soon fail.

We have depleted our building and cash reserves and now must use our annual budget for the building, sacrificing ministry programs. This is due, in part, to higher costs of repairs and replacements, fewer members contributing and limited increases in overall offerings.

We’ve also fallen behind in technology. We must update our tech capabilities and our facility to make them more functional for current and future ministry and outreach.

The annual campaign funds our programs (worship, music, youth, evangelism, conference apportionments), administration (salaries, office and business expenses), and property maintenance (church and parsonage insurance, utilities, minor repairs). The capital campaign is for major facility repairs, replacements and improvements that exceed basic property maintenance.

We plan to RESTORE items like our heating/ventilation/air-conditioning and fire alert systems.

We hope to RENEW key areas throughout the church, and by using campaign funds, we will free up funds in our annual budget for programs. Programs are the key to the growth of St. Paul’s. 

With additional funds in our annual budget, we could REACH OUT to our community by:

·         Offering child and youth outreach ministries such as summer drama and fine arts programs

·         Providing school-year basketball, pickleball and sports programs in Hickey Hall

·         Appealing to students at nearby colleges and universities

·         Ministering more effectively to the hundreds of people joining us online throughout the week. Technology upgrades and staffing from our annual budget could facilitate stronger connections and bring more people to St. Paul’s

We are poised for growth in this community and Transforming St. Paul’s can firmly launch us into the growth that God intends for us.

The St. Paul’s Trustees (a church member-led committee) have compiled a project list for funding allocation over the next three years for campus repairs and replacements. Staff, committees and church members have also provided input for this project list.

The Trustees have prioritized the most pressing needs first. That way, building systems and structures are less likely to fail, or cause safety or comfort problems for members and guests.

We are continuing to develop renovation plans for our front entrance/parlor area with further input from staff and congregation.

Click here for Project List

The campaign team intends to report progress on financial commitment, gifts and project status every two months or so over the three-year campaign.

You may reach out to Co-Chairs John Gaber or Shari Purdie.

Given that our contributing membership has declined in recent years, we’re asking for everyone to prayerfully consider whatever would be a generous contribution for them to help us reach our goal.

This campaign will secure the physical wellbeing of St. Paul’s for several years. What’s more, it will offer our current members, supported by the staff, the chance to reach further into our communities to demonstrate the unconditional love of God through Jesus Christ. The world needs us. And we need them to thrive into the future.

Over the past few years, we have allocated more funds from the budget for property maintenance and repair. As needs have increased, expenses have risen, and offerings have not increased to keep up with expenses. The budget covered repairs, but at the expense of programming and staff for our ministries.

We were able to set aside reserve funds for several years from our annual budget for future building projects. However, since 2020, our revenue has been relatively flat, with property maintenance expenses increasing due to both our aging infrastructure and the higher cost of building repairs.

Project Impact funds from our 2017 capital campaign and other reserves have been depleted over the past several years.

All of our building reserves were depleted in 2024 with the $250,000 boiler replacement project.

Over the years, both financial staff and congregational oversight have been responsible and thrifty in managing the upkeep and updating our $10 million campus and parsonage. We have extended the life and capability of our infrastructure with allocated operating funds and designated gifts.

The Finance and Trustee committees have been working diligently to maintain our facility with creative and economical means without having to request ongoing capital campaigns over the years. For example, a decade ago, we established a building fund, where money was set aside from the annual budget every year through Covid.

Our 2017 Project Impact raised $500,000+ for building needs but was finally depleted when the parking lot light poles failed in 2024.

Just over a year ago, St. Paul’s hired a new facility manager, Kevin Floch, who was a mechanical contractor and the maintenance director for a prison. Kevin has made many repairs himself and knows how to get the best pricing from contractors.

Most notably, we have replaced one of our two boilers as well as the failing parking lot lights. Both projects should improve energy efficiency.

Other projects we have completed since 2023 include:

• Adding remote locking to exterior entrances
• Establishing a dedicated maintenance room
• Repairing classroom water intrusion
• Renovating Hickey Hall’s lobby area
• Rebuilding the heat exchanger in the second boiler
• Installing a new compressor for a Hickey Hall A/C unit
• Refreshing the Bride’s Room and Choir Room
• Adding the Samaritan Counseling Room
• Installing a new parsonage sidewalk
• Repairing our Garden of Hope’s pavers and adding a new monument there

See more information from the Trustees

Everyone! Specifically, our building, members/visitors and even mission recipients.

The tough news? We must make critical repairs and renovations in the next few years or we risk serious failures, costing more in the future. For example, we recently had a boiler fail and a light pole fall in our parking lot, which might have resulted in injury or property damage.

Our aging infrastructure requires these repairs, and we depleted our capital reserves last year. We are at risk of a building failure that could require an expensive repair, and we do not currently have the funds.

The good news? Potential new members are all around us. They expect that we’ve kept up our building and maintained it to modern standards. We need to catch up.

The strategic plan requires that St. Paul’s undertake a capital campaign at this time. The many members who participated in and helped develop the strategic plan recognized that our facility was aging and in constant need of unplanned repairs. They also understood that building system components would need to be replaced in the near future.

Our priorities are to primarily:

1. Repair and replace structural components and systems that are failing or at high risk of failure
2. Maintain items that can increase the lifespan of certain items
3. Increase energy efficiency

Projects planned for 2025 include:

• Fixing many leaks on the north building wall into the lower level
• Repairing the rusted Hickey Hall Portico supports, the bell tower supports, and the exterior Sanctuary Cross
• Updating the air handling and A/C systems and controls for the office/classroom areas
• Fixing parking lot cracks, broken concrete, resealing and restriping

We will use the priority list to complete the higher-priority items in the project list our St. Paul’s Trustees developed.

Our facilities provide a home for many programs that make Rochester such a supportive community. Here’s a short list of how our facilities are used:

Daily

• Preschool program
• Samaritan Counseling
• Various church meetings

Weekly beyond Sundays

• Bible studies
• Women of Faith

• Choir rehearsal
• Alcoholics Anonymous

Monthly

• Cancer support groups
• Men’s prayer breakfast

Seasonally

• Confirmation classes
• Rummage sales
• Vacation Bible School
• Harmony in the Hills concerts
• Christmas basket program

Our facilities are a tool for potential growth. People expect:

• modern facilities like they are used to everywhere else in life
• that buildings are maintained to the same standards our homes and businesses are maintained

In addition:

• Completing our deferred maintenance items will make our facility more sustainable in the future and better facilitate current and new ministries
• Improving the functionality and welcoming appeal of the front entrance and parlor area will increase our visibility and make St. Paul’s more inviting to all who pass by
• Repairs will allow more of our operating budget to be used for new programs and activities to attract new members

The annual budget will still allocate funds for ordinary maintenance and some repairs. The excess funds not spent on unforeseen repairs will be allocated to programming and operations.

If the campaign goal is met, we should have some funds to designate as reserves for repairs/replacements beyond 2028. However, the scope of the growth improvements for the front entrance/parlor area must still be determined with the congregation’s input, so the cost at this time is a tentative estimate. This outcome will affect any reserve amount.

When Campaign Co-chair John Gaber presented this campaign to the member-led St. Paul’s Administrative Board in the late spring of 2024, the Board was not in favor of financing this work. We are not aware of any grants for this work, either.

While we have not discussed this option, there is no reason why someone could not donate to a particular project near and dear to their heart.

Timing could be an issue since this is a 3-year project implementation.

The only other concern may be that there are priorities, so our preference would be a general donation to ensure we can fund the highest priority items if the campaign does not reach its full goal.

Our Waymakers campaign funds our programs (worship, music, youth, evangelism programs, conference apportionments), administration (salaries, office and business expenses) and property maintenance (church and parsonage insurance, utilities, repairs). The Transforming St. Paul’s capital campaign is for major facility repairs, replacements and improvements that exceed the basic property maintenance expenses covered by the annual budget.

There will certainly be opportunities for volunteer service to assist with some of the planned projects, such as cleaning, preparation, painting and other refresh projects.

We have invested in our facility for years, and spending $1.5M to hopefully address most of our major needs for the next 10-20 years is a bargain compared to the cost to relocate. This cost is a bargain for the facility we have, as opposed to finding another facility that does not suit our needs as well and financially strains our church.

St. Paul’s is a 53,000 square-foot building on 7.5 acres, with a parsonage. Many of our members have a history at this location and do not desire to relocate. We are not aware of any facilities available in the City of Rochester, and most members desire to be centered in the Rochester area. 

St. Paul’s custom pipe organ would not be able to be moved. In addition, our co-op nursery would also be at risk if we relocated and downsized.

There are a few church facilities on the market to purchase or lease in the Rochester Hills/Auburn Hills, but they are too small for our needs, with only a single sanctuary that can seat 200-250 and only 10,000-15,000 square-feet. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church across from Oakland University is available to rent, but it is too small for our needs.

If we sold our facility, we might need to share a church for a few years before finding an available church in the area that meets our requirements. Also, any other facility we purchased would require funds to renovate to meet our needs.

To buy vacant land and build new would be cost-prohibitive. Construction costs are high and there would be substantial architectural, engineering, municipal approval/permit fees incurred. The cost would be $200-$300/square foot (e.g., $5-7.5M), when our property would likely realize $60-$80/square foot in a sale. While we would get a new facility, there would be no room for growth, and we would have limited our potential with downsizing.

The sale of St. Paul’s would be for residential development, and would require the demolition of our large facility. We would also need to determine how to handle the parsonage as part of any sale and relocation.

You’ll find updates in our twice-weekly Connector email, on screen on Sundays, and online at stpaulsrochester.org. See information from the Trustees.