Executive summary:

The Non-worship Space subcommittee of the Discernment committee was formed to develop requirements for the future physical space needs of St. Thomas'. In response to the comments presented in the listening sessions held in February, the Non-worship space subcommittee considered feedback and input from parishioners in regards to the following parish spaces:

• office
• storage
• bathrooms
• meeting and/or gathering spaces
• accessibility for those with disabilities
• utilization (i.e. how the space is to be used and for what purposes)
• kitchen
• technology
• green building practices
• vesting spaces

This subcommittee sought the input of all and particularly the input of those most affected by the areas under consideration.

It is important to note that the requirements and recommendations identified by the committee can be applied to either newly constructed or to our existing space. Much of the parish's current space has evolved to its current purpose in the years since the church was remodeled in the early 1970s. As a results rooms serving as the nursery, sacristy, and vesting areas do not adequately meet the requirement identified in this report, although the rooms may be physically large enough to implement the requirements.

As co-chairs of the subcommittee, we appreciate the time and hard work our committee members have devoted to the discernment process and each member of the committee for their efforts. Attached are the requirements and recommendations developed by our committee with input from the parishioners of St. Thomas' Parish.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Mattmiller
David Perez
Non-Worship Subcommittee Co-Chair Non-Worship Subcommittee Co-Chair

Accessibility

For St. Thomas' to fulfill its mission of being a place where anyone can find or be found by God, the parish's physical space must be accessible to all persons. By building a new space to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards and incorporating principles of universal design, St. Thomas' will be a more inviting place to persons of all backgrounds and abilities.

• Any new building should incorporate principles of “universal design,” which seeks to create an inclusive space with wider hallways, less stairs and more ramps in order to welcome all persons rather than make “separate, but equal” disabled entrances.
  • This concept would surpass ADA standards
  • “Size issues” should be kept in mind when creating space and furnishing with chairs that make all shapes and sizes of persons feel welcome and accommodate families, disabled, etc.
• If the new building is to have more than one floor an elevator should be added, however this may be expensive.

Green Building

Building Green is not a fad nor is it a luxury. Building an environmentally sustainable building reflects the most basic of Christian ideals, love our neighbors as ourselves. What we build and how we build will have an impact on our neighbors not just in Dupont Circle, but well beyond our small corner of Washington, D.C. Building Green is also an opportunity to demonstrate the values of St. Thomas’ Parish becoming one of the largest visible symbols of the inward and spiritual grace that is our community of inclusiveness and prophetic hospitality.

These values were clearly evident through a tour of the Friends Committee on National Legislation building on Capitol Hill. This “LEED” –see link at the end of this section—certified building demonstrates both the challenges, opportunities—known and unknown during construction—and the values incorporated into nearly every element of the building.

Building green and green design will significantly reduce long term operational costs. In addition to these savings, there are other generally unforeseen advantages and opportunities to building a green building in our community. One of the striking examples of this from the FCNL building on Capitol Hill was their new ministry of giving tours to interested organizations on a regular basis of their own building. The Architect of the Capitol routinely send contractors to the FCNL building to lean more about green building design and functionality. Other groups and organizations seek out the FCNL building’s conference room specifically because they wish to hold a meeting in a green space. The opportunity for hospitality, outreach and building use funds are significant factors that justify building a LEED certified building.

What is LEED^®?
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

LEED Building requirements and information can be found here: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

To live the example our parish defines for using God's gifts responsibly and being good stewards of the earth, it is necessary to exercise environmentally sound building practices in the construction of a new building. In addition, new buildings should be built to meet environmental standards for sustainable eco-friendly operation.

• The parish should establish a goal for new buildings to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building environmental certifications.
• Office furniture should be eco-friendly, possibly Herman Miller's line of recycled office furniture.

Sacristy

Like so many spaces in our parish, our existing sacristy was not originally designed to serve this purpose. As a result, items that should be logically stored together to support the worship service are spread out across several rooms. Service items are currently stored together without organization or consideration for their value. In well designed sacristies, the subcommittee observed spaces, some smaller than our existing space, that maximizes functionality with drawers sized to fit specific elements like candles or rolls of cloths. These spaces are easily accessible from the worship space, and can accommodate support functions like the ironing of altar linens. This space will store items of considerable value and should be appropriately secured and climate controlled. Specifically, the subcommittee identified the following requirements for a Sacristy:

• Piscina
• Ample, easily accessible, airtight storage space that can accommodate the following:
  • Communion Service Items Should be stored together
    • Chalices
    • Paten
    • Cruets
  • Worship items should be stored together
    • Gospel Book
    • Stands
    • Candelabras
    • Alter candles
    • Misc. Altar supplies
    • Candles
  • Altar Linens
    • Hanging area
    • Easily visible
    • Room for growth
• The Sacristy should be secure with lockable storage.

Vesting space

A vesting space is the place where our worship leaders center and collect themselves prior to celebrating the Eucharist. It should be a place where clergy and lay ministry alike can keep their vestments in a secure and climate controlled space, and have ample room to vest. The space should be accessible from the sanctuary or other worship space, but still quiet and private. The Vesting space shall include the following:

• Room for all the Vestments. There should be separate closets for layperson (acolyte, Eucharistic ministers, etc) vestments and clergy vestments.
• Mirrors.
• Ample room for clergy and laypersons to vest. If space is available, there should be separate vesting spaces for lay and clergy members.
• The space needs to be quiet and private.
• Can be in or near Sacristy if that area is quiet and dedicated.

Flower workspace

An important ministry of St. Thomas' is the design and arrangement of floral pieces to grace the worship space. There are all kinds of tools involved in arranging flowers, the parish should be good stewards of these tools, properly caring for and storing them. The size of a new facility should inform the proportion of the flower workspace, to fully decorate a larger building will take more floral arrangements and require more space to prepare arrangements. The follower workspace should have the following:

• Ample counter space
• Sink
• Refrigeration, or if the location of the room is favorable, cool storage
• Storage for Vases and other needed tools

Nursery

Given the parish's focus on attracting and retaining families with young children, a dedicated nursery should be a priority. The nursery should be close to the worship space so that parents can easily access their children; however soundproofing should prevent noise in the room from reaching the sanctuary. The room, while geared towards the care of young infants and children, should have space for several aides and parents who visit before and during services. The room should have ample storage for age-appropriate toys, counter space and sanitary services like running water and cleaning supply, however storage should be child proof. The nursery should have the following:

• Cribs
• Changing tables
• Toys off the floor
• Diaper Disposal
• Sink
• Ideally a bathroom/toilet area
• Rocker
• Privacy area for feeding
• Bookshelves
• Quiet and welcoming
• A transparent glass window in the door.

Office Space

A parish of 350 needs space where both staff and volunteers alike can work productively without interfering with the worship and program space. A definable area of the church building should be dedicated to office space, with a separate entrance from the street. The entrance to the office area, while inviting, should be secured to protect our parish staff. The parish administrator should have a desk with room for an assistant in a larger office room, adjacent to a sitting area for 6-8 guests. Staff offices should be easily accessible to the parish administrator's area. Full time staff should have office facilities the quality of space offered in the private sector, including dedicated and inviting offices that parishioners will feel comfortable visiting and having confidential conversations. Our parish volunteers should also have space that supports their administrative needs, allowing them to come to the parish to do their work, maintain committee files and supplies, but not interfere with the day to day administrative operations of the parish. The parish requires the following office spaces.

• Four private offices
  • Soundproof glass doors
• Reception area – seating for 6-8 persons (with phone and/or computers for guests)
• Administrate area
  • Area from full time administrator
  • Separate area for receptionist
• Printing room with copier and related supplies.
• Conference Room/Library
  • Seating for 18 – 20
  • Soundproof
  • Book and archive storage
• Bathroom with shower
• Good lighting and airflow in all offices
• Coffee nook (wet bar with refrigerator)
• Work area for committees or volunteers
  • At least three cubicles with internet access and phone

Storage

To keep a building attractive to visitors and parishioners, ample storage space should allow parish to hold all of its supplies that facilitate programs and every day use of the space. This storage should be specific to its purpose and be located in a way that facilitates its usage (for example, kitchen supplies should be stored near the kitchen). Storage needs can logically be categorized as follows:

• Supply storage,
  • e.g. office supplies
• Equipment storage.
  • Where we store movable chairs, tables, audio/visual equipment, and picnic supplies.
  • Used regularly for programs, it should be readily accessible.
• Program Specific:
  • Pride, Holiday, Picnics, Parish Retreat, Transitional Housing storage, Sacred Grounds, etc.
  • Used infrequently, but often takes up more space.
• Decentralized storage
  • Reserves of supplies specific to activities located in or near meeting rooms, education rooms, etc.
• Archives
  • Climate controlled, fire proof, accessible storage for physical and logical archives. Also see technology for digital storage requirements.
• Filing storage.
  • For storage of parish records
• Music storage
  • For music.
• Coat closet
• Kitchen storage
  • For paper goods and other supplies
  • Lockers for caterers
• Storage spaces in general needs be larger to accommodate all of these programmatic needs, and should be accessible.

Technology

An important part of the St. Thomas' ministry is connecting with people across the city and the world through telecommunications and our website. A new building must enable staff, volunteers, and parishioners to easily make phone calls, access the internet, or perform other network-based tasks. To do this, the parish must have a modern wired and wireless network, networking equipment, and computers for staff and parishioners alike to use. A new building requires the following:

• CAT 6 wiring throughout building, in every room, to support data network, telephony
  • Networking closets and repeaters should be stations in proximity to support Gigabit Ethernet
  • Routers and switches to support an appropriate number of network ports given the number of rooms and offices planned for the new building
  • PBX and other distributed equipment necessary to support a VoIP telephone network with at least one phone per room.
• Coaxial wiring throughout the building, in every room
• Wireless network access in every room of the parish that can support multiple Virtual LANs (VLANs)
  • LAN with a registration server for granting guest access to parishioners and visitors.
  • Secure wireless LAN for staff with VPN capabilities for accessing parish servers and resources.
  • Ceiling space for WiFi bridges and repeaters to be placed at necessary intervals to provide adequate wireless coverage.
• Server closet with room for one rack and necessary cooling and networking equipment.
• Rooms in the new building should have the following technology:
  • Several rooms equipped with LCD projectors embedded in the ceiling. Easy to use remotes
  • Wired for sound
  • Phones
  • Computers in frequently used rooms

Music room

The music program at St. Thomas' has traditionally had an important role, both as part of worship and as outreach, and we know from the recent Parish Survey that it is the desire of the congregation to continue this important ministry. Music is an area that requires significant space, both for storage and for activities. While some of the space can be shared with other activities, some must be dedicated to storing music and instruments, providing a reliably-available rehearsal area, and to give the music director office space.

• Room where up to 30 people can rehearse
• Sound proofing
• Music folder storage for musicians
• Adult seats
• Children's seats
• Fit a piano
• Must be secure
• Instrument storage (cello, oboe, bass) either parish or visiting musicians.
• Music library storage
• Desk, computer, phone
• Recording equipment audio/video
• Robes/vestment storage space
• Appropriate climate control for the instruments.
• Water hookups, wet bar
• Restroom in the choir space or adjacent.

Kitchen

Meetings and gatherings at St. Thomas' often center around the sharing of meals and food. A kitchen that can be used for the preparation of a wide range of meals is necessary to support the programs and regular meetings that are held in the parish. Given the anticipated size of our congregation, the kitchen should be fully featured to support the preparation of a meal that would feed twice the size of our anticipated membership, or 700 persons. The kitchen should meet the standards of caterers but still be accessible to parishioners. It should be central to the event space in the parish, with a serving window to allow easy access to food, but still have adequate flow where parishioners needing to pick up items from the kitchen would not interrupt or endanger food preparation. The kitchen should be convenient to a building entrance to facilitate the easy loading and unloading of food and other event support needs. The kitchen needs to be in close proximity to social spaces where regular functions like coffee hour will be held.

• Needs to be a commercial-grade kitchen to be used by caterers and parishioners alike.
• Look for opportunities to partner with a caterer in the city, like Fresh Start, to staff our kitchen for events, conferences.
• Coffee urns for coffee hour.
• Serving window
• Kitchen should be able to cook, or at least prepare for serving, a sit-down meal for a population twice our sanctuary size (700 people)
• A kitchen should have the following equipment:
  • Commercial-grade refrigerator
  • Unit for warming trays
  • Commercial-grade stove
  • Coffee makers
  • Microwaves
  • Industrial dishwasher
  • Practical storage for large events (dishes, utensils, disposable products, pots, pans, etc)
  • Food pantry
  • Trash and recycling space
  • Filtered water
  • Cleaning storage
  • Give outside groups secured cupboards in the kitchen.
  • Serving pass-through window

Parking

Some parking is needed, as on-street parking is frequently full and commercial parking lots are often closed on Sundays. Lack of parking has already been identified as a barrier to parish growth. While our proximity to Metro is a plus for singles and those who live close by, it remains unfeasible for many of our parishioners to take advantage of Metro on Sundays.

• Must have one space per staff
• Parking should be underground
• Access to parking should be controlled/limited
• See if the city could give us more spaces on Church Street dedicated to us during certain hours.
• If we keep a surface parking lot, see if we could have something under it or over it.
• Maintain current number of parking spaces proportional to our desired growth.
• Investigate partnering with a parking garage on for Sunday parking
• Would a parking garage operator pay to construct our parking spaces in exchange for managing the lot and earning income?

Parish space

St. Thomas' is known for its social gathers. Coffee hours after services, galas, and dinners are an important part of our parish life. A new building should have space to accommodate these gatherings keeping in mind the future size of our parish, approximately 350 parishioners, each potential with a significant other. The following parish spaces are required:

• Social hall. Needs to accommodate 2 times our number of parishioners (350x2=700). Does not need to be a dedicated space. Could be subdivided into other space when not being used. Will need accompanying storage for chairs, tables, etc.
• Coffee hour space for after services. Should be more intimate, have furniture, area for coffee service.

Meeting space

The church depends upon its many committees, task forces, and other bodies of volunteers who meet tirelessly to further its ministries. The current St. Thomas' structure is used for a variety of parish and community meetings both during and after business hours. In addition, many of the spaces used for meetings are currently shared with parish education. A new structure should have the following meeting spaces:

• Meeting space should be able to support 4 concurrent meetings of varying size. At a minimum, each room should have a capacity of 15 persons. At least one room should have a capacity of 40 persons.
• Rooms should utilize partitions/movable walls to create smaller spaces from larger spaces. These partitions should be sound proof.
• Doors to meeting rooms should have transparent glass windows in the doors so the rooms can be used for education classes if necessary.
• Have a coffee/wet bar near the meeting space.

Bathrooms

The following requirements were identified for parish bathrooms:

• Have enough bathrooms to meet building codes.
• All restrooms should be ADA compliant.
• Larger restrooms near sanctuary to facilitate crowds before and after services.
• Restrooms should be located near choir room,
• There should be at least one dressing room-sized bathroom for wedding preparations.
• A private bathroom with a shower should be located in the office area.

Outdoor space

The parish has been fortunate to have a dedicated park, serving as our front door to the community and a tranquil place where parishioners can stop and escape the city life. Several parishioners contacted the committee to share how the park has affected their spiritual journey at St. Thomas' and their desire to see outdoor green space remain a vital part of any new St. Thomas' physical plant. In addition, our committee visits to other congregations found other congregations making use of their outdoor space for programmatic initiatives, parish gatherings, and attracting new members. These outdoor spaces were a key component to the identity of the churches we visited, in the same way the park has become a part of St. Thomas's identity. Therefore our committee believes the following are requirements for a new building:

• Green space, possibility a park our courtyard, where parish events like picnics or coffee hours can be held. In addition, it would be best if the park was accessible or visible to the parish.
• Playground. If the parish is to attract families with children, having outdoor space with playground equipment would provide an activity and outlet for children.
• Some area in a courtyard or passageway for a columbarium.