A few weeks ago, I had mentioned on the Capital Campaign page of the bulletin that 2016-2017 would be the year of “Flexibility and Patience”. There are going to be some significant changes to our facilities and programs that will be starting this coming Fall, and so I want to ensure we are all prepared for this exciting time. Flexibility will be important. People may be used to certain meetings or events that have taken place in the same location for years that will now need to move to another room due to construction noise or programmatic changes. I am also asking for patience as we expand our services to all our Parish Family and the local community while ensuring the current programs are enhanced as well. That can mean some “growing pains”, that I am sure all of us will experience at one point or another.
However, in order to deal with these changes, we are making significant changes to our church to make our environment easier to deal with and more engaging. From doubling our Front Desk staff to take on the new responsibilities to changing our supply company for cost-effective, commercial-grade materials like our new hand towel, soap, and toilet paper dispensers, St. John is taking the steps to make sure you are supported in your faithful life journey, no matter where you are on your path. Here are few other ways we are changing our operations to assist you:
- Event Support: John staff will be onsite during events and activities to ensure their success. This requires coordination with all groups that meet here to identify their needs and requests. We request this coordination be accomplished well ahead of any event, so we can plan accordingly with both equipment (table layouts, A/V needs, etc.) as well as access and staffing.
- Emergency Line: We have a St. John Facilities Emergency Line that can be reached by calling the main phone number of the church and dialing “0”. This line goes to a cell phone and is for facilities emergencies only, like a room setup needed at that moment or an overflowing toilet. This is not a line for Mass schedule requests or other details. Those types of questions will be referred back to our phone line.
- Food Service: Did you know that St. John now has a Food Service Manager? If your event or activity has a need for food and beverages, please contact the me and we can determine if the Food Service Manager should become involved in your program. This does include access to our kitchen, which has been locked for safety reasons and is only available to our approved catering organizations.
I am very excited to provide our approved Capital Budget to you all next week, which will illustrate all the proactive steps we will be taking this summer and the upcoming year to prepare for our Parish Family’s future. Stay tuned!