January 5, 2015

“If you build it, He will come.”

As you may remember, we have been working with Fr. Nick Smith from the Office of Sacred Worship toward the goal of having a chapel here at Good Shepherd (in what is now a conference room across from my office).  Having received recently a bid for the stained glass windows, we now have enough information to put together a budget for the project.  Presently, our very conservative estimate is the renovating the space and outfitting the chapel will cost approximately $50K.  As stated, this is a conservative estimate, inasmuch as it is likely that there will be opportunities to save on some costs moving forward, as well as the possibility of unforeseen additional costs.  Our initial hope was that we might be able to find an altar and similar items at the Reclamation Center, but Fr. Nick has searched with us more than once, and there is nothing there currently that meets our needs.  This will mean purchasing things like an altar, tabernacle, and other items new.

At our upcoming Board of Directors meeting on January 13^th, I plan to present briefly a draft budget and ask for a “go ahead” to develop a fundraising plan to cover the costs.  I look forward to a time when Jesus can be physically present here at Good Shepherd in a way that has been missing for many years.

Yours in Christ,

Michael