Dear People of St. James’,
I am so thrilled to let you know that the Master Plan Committee will officially be getting to work this Saturday!
What is a Master Plan in the church context? I am so glad you asked! A church master plan committee acts as a strategic planning group that will translate our Strategic Vision into a concrete, phased development plan for our physical campus, including evaluating existing spaces and planning future renovations or construction. This group will build upon the foundations of good work already done through the 2014 Master Plan process, various iterations of columbarium committees, the Vestry Administration Committee (including our solar group), the Land Committee, and our most recent Strategic Visioning process. The committee will engage an architect (firm) to work through this process with us, as the Vestry, in its wisdom has already set aside funds for this.
We will keep you updated on this work and the upcoming congregational engagement components of it (likely in early fall 2026), because we will need to hear from you! Our hope is to have an inspiring Master Plan and an understanding of what the first phase will look like by St. James’ 85th anniversary in December.
Let me introduce you to our amazing committee:
Rudy Green (Chair), Marisol Acosta, Anaflor Bernal, Lisa Braithwaite, Kent Burress, Gwen Chance, Clint Dawson, Harris Kerr, Steve Kraal, Jill LaCour, Sean Moothart, Alex Ogunmuyiwa, Daniel Segura Kelly, and Elaine Tang.
Stephanie Dodoo (Sr. Warden), Aimee Estep (Parish Administrator), and the Rev. Eileen O’Brien (Rector) will serve in an ex-oficio capacity.
This committee brings an incredible array of skill sets and backgrounds for this work, and it is well-equipped to engage the whole of our diverse congregation and community.
I am so grateful that everyone we asked to be a part of this significant work said, “Yes! I am in!” Be on the lookout for future updates from Rudy Green, Chair of the Master Plan Committee.
Rev. Eileen
