The Vestry Commissions Study for Growth

by The Reverend Dr. Roman D. Roldan on October 12, 2022

TLDR: While there are parts of our buildings that are under-used, there are areas where we have run out of space. A committee of the vestry has been formed to study space utilization and offer their suggestions.

In terms of space, parishioners of Saint Dunstan’s have wishes, needs, and frustrations. The wishes are to re-acquire a licensable kitchen to reduce our dependence on catering and to enlarge our fellowship space, since we have a rather limiting maximum occupancy in our Price Fellowship Hall. The most pressing need is for office space, as we now have staff sharing office space. The greatest frustrations is the under-utilization of the BEC building. All of these wishes, needs, and frustrations, in addition to the apparent growth we are witnessing, has led the vestry to create a committee that will study creative ways of maximizing our space and planning for the future. The following is the charter for the committee has developed for their work:

Purpose

The St. Dunstan’s Facilities Planning Committee is a special purpose committee established by the Vestry to plan for the development of church facilities over the next 10 years. The Committee should accomplish the following specific tasks:

Review the 50 year history of the development of the existing facilities on our 10 Acre site and assemble drawings and documentation for the existing buildings.
Forecast Worship attendance for the next 10 years and determine if our existing Church building will accommodate that growth plan. Identify recommended building improvements.
Assess the Education building facilities and determine if that building could be more fully utilized in the coming years.
Assess the Price Fellowship Hall, staff offices, and other areas of the third major building on campus and identify needed space changes, e.g., the addition of a commercial kitchen and new offices for additional staff members.
Assess our 10 Acre property for adequacy of parking, lighting and safety features and the ease of vehicle and pedestrian traffic flows. Address the highest and best use of the surplus acreage on site.
Establish a strong working relationship with the Diocese, particularly the Financial Services and Mission Amplification organizations. Seek input on site planning and project funding issues for St. Dunstan’s.
Evaluate potential consultants/ architects to work with the Committee. Recommend to the Vestry for approval the award of a contract with a specific scope of work and cost structure to a selected consultant by July 2023.
On or before July-August of 2023 present to the Vestry a proposed master site plan and proposed development steps for the St. Dunstan’s site over the next 10 years.

Committee Members

The Committee shall consist of the following members of St. Dunstan’s Church: Dick Deming, (Chairperson,) Laura Gunn, Rod Leis, Manette Maddox, Laurie Riggs, Flint Risien, Catherine Jones Penco, Deena Akinrinsola, and Carol Cooper. This is a cross section of vestry, finance, administration, and parishioners at large. We were also careful to add parishioners of various age brackets and professional backgrounds. Substitute or additional members may be assigned by the Vestry or Rector.

Committee Schedule

The Committee has been appointed and approved by the Vestry. They will be commissioned by the rector on Sunday, October 16^th, 2022, at the 9:00 A.M. service. They will begin work in Mid-October 2022. Periodic status reports shall be provided to the Rector, Vestry and Parish by the Committee. The Committee’s final report and recommendations to the Vestry will be targeted for July-August 2023. If the Committee’s work is not complete by that date, Vestry approval of a Charter extension shall be sought. The Committee will take an oversight role if construction is approved, working closely with a Project Manager and the Vestry to ensure that their Master Plan is developed in accordance with their specifications and Vestry/Parish wishes.

Please pray for the work of this committee and submit any ideas to them, preferably in writing. We will keep you informed at least quarterly on the results of their study, and we will share the final work product with the entire congregation by the end of the 2023 Summer. If anyone has any questions about this committee or their charter, please contact Dick Deming or Laura Gunn, our Senior Warden.

Blessings to all,

Fr. Roman+

About the Author

The Reverend Dr. Roman D. Roldan

The Rev. Dr. Roman D. Roldan is originally from Colombia, South America, where he lived until he migrated to the United States for College in Southwest Miami in the late 1980s. He attended the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium for graduate school in theology, followed by a master’s degree in social work at Rutgers University in New Jersey in the early 1990s. From 1995 to 2005, he worked as a bilingual psychotherapist, administrator, and Chief Deputy Officer for a national behavioral healthcare company in Florida. He became an Episcopalian in the year 2000 at Grace Episcopal Church, Ocala, Florida. In 2005, he attended Trinity School for Ministry, graduating in 2007 with his master’s degree in divinity and in 2016 with his doctorate in divinity with a concentration in preaching.

Fr. Roldan has been an Associate Dean at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Davenport, Iowa, the Rector of Grace Church of West Feliciana Parish in Saint Francisville, Louisiana, for eleven years, and the Rector of Saint Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, for nearly five years. From 2017 to 2020, Fr. Roldan served as a seminary professor at Trinity School for Ministry’s Spanish online program. He also served from 2015-2019 as the Episcopal Chaplain at Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as “Angola Prison.” He was the Dean of the Baton Rouge Deanery in the Dioceses of Louisiana from 2016-2020. From 2010 to 2020, Fr. Roldan served as a short-term missionary in the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras and built the Episcopal Church in El Carmen, San Nicolas. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Seminary of the Southwest since 2021. He has been a chaplain to 3 Cursillo and two Happening teams since his ordination. He is passionate about the supervision of curates and raising vocations to the diaconate and the priesthood.

Fr. Roldan has been married to Chris Anna Roldan for 31 years and has four children ages 30, 27, 22, and 20. He is an avid reader, traveler, and amateur writer. He is the author of A Blind Man and his Monkey and is currently working on his second novel, The Ghost and his Baby.

Email: frroman@saintdunstans.org

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