SFX FACILITIES FEASIBILITY STUDY

Thank you to all who attended the SFX Facilities Study Open House on March 29th and shared their time, insights, and reflections on our Facilities Feasibility Study.

Your questions and honest feedback are essential to this discernment process as we seek to understand both the needs of our campus and the hopes of our parish community.

Click the buttons below to view and download the Conversation Station results. Click here to view the SFX Facilities Feasibility Study Task 1 Report. Questions? Please contact the Parish Office at (816) 523-5115.

A LETTER TO THE PASTOR FROM CHURCH DEVELOPMENT

Dear Father Don,

Serving St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church through this Feasibility Study has been a privilege. A total of 210 individuals participated in the study, representing 167 households of the parish. This is a 36% participation rate (based on 462 total households in the parish). This represents an excellent level of participation (the normal Feasibility Study participation level is 10%+).

We learned a great deal about the parish in the study. Most encouraging is that a high percentage of parishioners feel their spiritual and social needs are being met, and there is a high level of confidence in the Pastor, parish leaders, and parish staff. It is apparent that parishioners have great affection for St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, their spiritual home, and want to build these facilities as a part of their ministry and stewardship of God’s blessings. Survey participants indicated a significant need for participation in the building design and additional details about

the maintenance budget.

During the survey, 113 participants expressed interest in donating $1,015,180 to the project through the Church Development Consultants. Our original estimate of the amount that could be raised was $1.6M; however, the generous financial considerations noted above warrant a financial forecast of raising $2.4M from the parish households. In addition, sources outside the parish have indicated to parish staff that they are open to considering gifts of an additional $2 M.

St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church could raise between $2,000,000 and $4,000,000 from parishioners through a well-conducted, three-year Capital Campaign based on parishioner engagement, clear communication, stewardship education, and prayerful discernment.

Enclosed is a complete review of the information and data we gathered through the Feasibility Study. We have also provided you with concerns and recommendations for a Capital Campaign. All of this is provided to assist the parish leadership in better understanding the parishioners and the direction God is moving the parish. If you have questions, please contact us at any time.

Thank you for allowing Church Development to spend time with your fellow parishioners and learn more
about the great things St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church is doing in our Lord’s name.

Respectfully,

Denis Greene, President
Peter Kardash, Senior Consultant 

SFX Facilities Feasibility Study.

St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church has been operating at its current location for 75 years. The facility has performed admirably during that time—enriching our faith through worship, spiritual formation, intellectual rigor, diversity of membership, hospitality, fellowship, attention to family life, and concern for social justice. As you may know, SFX is interested in understanding how our facility can continue to support our mission—where Faith and Action meet—for the next 75 years and beyond. The Facilities Feasibility Study is a tool to help us understand what practical issues must be addressed in the immediate term, what improvements might need to be made in the future, and what the various options might cost.

What will the SFX Facilities Feasibility Study process entail?

Dake Wells Architecture (DWa) was hired in late 2025, to lead us through the process. Note that this type of study is very preliminary in nature! This process is all about listening, programming, understanding, visioning, and budgeting. There will be plenty of opportunities for future outreach and input once consensus is reached on a path forward.

The SFX Facilities Feasibility Study is comprised of two tasks:

Task 1: Listening, Programming and Understanding. In this task, DWa will interview representatives from the various User Groups at SFX, to determine what the space needs are for the liturgical, community, administrative activities that comprise the operation of SFX. DWa will also engage in outreach with SFX Parishioners, through an online survey and an Open House. It is important to gain diverse input on what’s working well now, and what could be improved. This feedback will help inform Task 2 design explorations by summarizing all the spaces that are needed for SFX to best achieve its Mission.

Task 2: Visioning and Budgeting. In this task, Dwa will create a number of preliminary design options, to explore the spectrum of practical needs and possible improvements. These ideas will be explored to better understand cost implications. The intent is to loosely capture a variety of visions and costs, to allow for Parishioners to have a dialogue and reach consensus on the best way forward. The ultimate outcome is to understand what is feasible, to inform future design efforts and construction projects.

Upcoming Dates:

• Apr 12 – SFX Facilities Feasibility Study Open House #2.
  (This will be a similar format to the first Open House—another chance for face-to-face input).
• May 15 – Task 2 complete.
  (Website to be updated with a summary of findings).
• May 17 – SFX Facilities Feasibility Study Open House #3.
  (This will be the final Open House to present the study’s outcome and gather feedback).