Capital Campaign for the Community of St. Matthew 

Letter from Fr. Steve

Case Statement

Transition Team

Capital Campaign Office, Room 108 in School  •  Call 651-293-0697 or 651-224-6912 for more information.
Campaign Counsel: Jim Fennell: jfenn@st-matts.org  •  Campaign Secretary: Colleen Erickson.

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Progress Reports:  Bulletin 7/1/2001    Bulletin 8/5/2001    Bulletin 3/10/2002    Bulletin 5/19/2002    Bulletin 6/30/2002

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Bulletin Announcement 8/5/2001

 

Window on Parish Center Needs

Dear Saint Matthew Community and Visitors:

As a child I remember well the bus rides to outings and what are now called "field trips". As a junior high school student my friends and I often harassed and frustrated the bus driver by singing "One Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall". It was a way of passing the time, and exhausted us — so in the end we were less rowdy and less obnoxious — in the mean time the bus driver had to contend with the second most insane song ever devised — second only to "Itsy, Bitsy, Tinny, Weenie, Yellow, Polka Dot Bikini."

The other day I walked around the Parish Center and counted the panes of glass in the center windows — would you believe 1,264 panes of glass! Could you imagine a bus trip with 70 urchins singing "1,264 panes of glass in the parish center; if one of those panes should happen to break, 1,263 panes of glass in the parish center."

Part of the work to be accomplished through the Capital Campaign is the replacement of the parish center windows. These windows are 1950's style crank out windows. Most of the cranks don't work — the threads are stripped; and parts are unavailable to repair the cranks. The windows are single pane, and are held with putty in rotting wooden frames — more often than not chipped and deteriorating.

The windows are energy inefficient — to say the least; and they are marginally functional — one gets a fresh breeze in the winter if one sits near a window and the wind blows and churns outside.

This style of window was popular in the 1950's long before any concern about conservation and rising energy costs.

As for energy costs. Saint Paul District Heating will be coming across the river soon, and will be available on the West Side. Conversations are beginning to explore what would be involved in Saint Matthew's hooking into the city district heating.

Should such an effort be possible for Saint Matthew's and Wilder and other West Side institutions our shop worn, tried and true, early 20th century boiler system would no longer be needed to heat and cool our buildings.

This would mean a significant long-term savings to Saint Matthew's.

This Capital Campaign is a once in a life time opportunity for parish members, the West Side community, other parish churches, corporations and foundations and individual donors to come together to create renewed and restored spaces for caring on our the ministry of learning and service to our West Side community.

Pray for the success of the Capital Campaign. Examine what your participation in this effort means to you and your household. Challenge others to have the courage, the faith, and the generosity to make our dreams come true.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Adrian
Pastor

 

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