Frequently Asked Questions about Building a New Church

Question: How much is it going to cost to build a new church?
Answer: At this point, we don’t have a good estimate of what it will cost. This is for two primary reasons: First, we don’t yet have a design for a new church, and of course construction costs depend on how we design our church. Deciding on a design will be a time-consuming process, and will include the services of an architect, perhaps a liturgical consultant (to help us incorporate features important to our community), broad participation from our community, and the diocese. Second, we have not yet acquired any property on which to build, which will of course be a factor in determining the cost.

Question: But I heard it was going to cost almost $20 million to build a new church. Is that true?
Answer: Probably a much more realistic cost would be to look to Caldwell, where two years ago they completed a church of approximately the same size that we would need here (seating for 800). Their cost, including the land, was under $5 million. They still have to build a parish hall, and religious education classrooms, but the estimate for that is $1.5 million.

Last year an architecture firm, recommended by the diocese, was hired to survey our existing properties and make recommendations for how we should consolidate into a single church. They recommended that we build a new church on new property. As a second part of their study, they asked us to create a “wish list” for what should be included in a new “dream” church and school. School personnel and each ministry in our parish was asked what physical space (meeting rooms, storage, etc.) they would like to have, and the result was square footage requirements that probably far exceed our actual needs. Based on these admittedly inflated requirements, the architects made some gross estimates on what construction costs would be for both the church and a much larger school – approximately $18.5 million. This church would seat approximately 50% more than what we think we should actually build, and the school included many more classrooms than we would need anytime in the near future.

Question: Can we afford to build a new church and school?
Answer: We hope to answer that question very soon. In early August, a consulting firm will conduct a study to estimate the amount Holy Spirit parishioners would be willing to contribute to the building of a new church. What we do know is that similar-size communities (approximately 1500 families) in our diocese have been able to afford new church buildings. Depending on the results of the study, we may decide that we should defer the building of a new school and make it part of a second phase of the project. Although it is highly preferable to have a church and school co-located, we may have to wait on school construction.

Question: How much money has to be raised, and how will it be raised?
Answer: The diocese guidelines stipulate that we should be able to cover 70% of the cost of the new building through a combination of collateral properties, pledges, and savings before we begin construction. Most fund-raising efforts last for several years, and donors usually pledge to give over a several-year period. Some may choose to give from current income, and some may pledge deferred gifts.

Question: I heard that those involved in this process (the Pastoral Council, Finance Council, Building Task Force, and Fr. Enrique) only considered building a new church and did not consider remodeling any of our existing churches.
Answer: Expanding one of our existing churches was considered by the architecture firm hired to assess our situation. The primary obstacle to using one of our existing properties is that they are all “landlocked” and the options for expansion are very limited. St. Anthony’s school already has a very limited playground area, so it is not feasible to expand into the school property. Also, the city code has minimum requirements for off-street parking. To meet those requirements, we would have to buy up houses in the surrounding neighborhoods so that we could meet current city code requirements. This is a risky (some homeowners might not be willing to sell) and potentially expensive option. In addition, the architects stated that remodeling costs often approach or even exceed the cost of building new. For all of these reasons, remodeling one of our existing facilities is not the best approach.

Question: But if we no longer use our existing churches, what will become of them?
Answer: Given its historic nature, St. Joseph Church will remain part of our parish. Although it would probably not be used for regular Sunday Mass, it would be available for use on other occasions, such as weddings and funerals. St. Paul and St. Anthony would be turned over to the diocese and they would look for suitable buyers who would make appropriate and respectful use of the buildings.

Question: Won’t it be hard to maintain a vital, active parish if we all share liturgy together in a larger church?
Answer: The vitality of our parish is of course our major concern in this process. Other communities in our diocese have found that consolidating multiple parishes into a single church has actually improved the vitality of their community. For example, Caldwell combined three parishes and a mission church into a single new church. When they combined two years ago, there were approximately 1,600 families in the new parish. They now have 2,200 families in the parish and they are meeting their financial obligations. While the change process was difficult for many people, the parish is now a vibrant, growing community. Many of us have had the experience of being part of warm, welcoming parishes, both large and small, in other communities. In short, the size of a building is not the primary factor in determining the vitality of a parish.

Question: Is the only reason we’re building a new church because of the priest shortage? I heard that there really isn’t a priest shortage, and there will be plenty of priests in the future.
Answer: The priest shortage is not the only reason to build a new church. By coming together, we will be able to pool our resources and better minister to the community. A new church can provide adequate space and usable facilities for future generations of Catholics. We will be able to use our financial resources for ministry instead of maintenance and repair of older buildings.

A major factor is also the shortage of priests. Although some estimates show that we may see an increase in ordinations in the next few years, we will still have approximately half the number of priests in our diocese that we had in 1990. In those fifteen years we have experienced significant growth in the Catholic population of Idaho. Even if we begin to see an increase in vocations, there has been a forty-year trend of declining numbers of priests that, even with the most optimistic projections of ordinations, will take many, many years to overcome. The diocese is straining to provide all Idaho Catholics with the regular services of a priest. Compared to most other parishes, we here in Holy Spirit Parish are relatively “rich” with the services of two priests, given the number of Catholics in our parish. It is only fair that we configure ourselves in a way that does not require the diocese to take priests away from other vital assignments in the state.

Question: Isn’t St. Anthony large enough to allow the parish to be served by one priest?
Answer: According to Canon Law, a priest should say no more than three Masses on a day, except on special occasions. Currently, approximately 1,100 people attend Mass on a normal weekend (not including Christmas and Easter). Of those, approximately 600-700 attend Mass at the 9am, 10am, or 11am Masses, which are in the typical “prime time” for Mass attendance. Assuming that would continue with an early morning Mass and a Spanish-language Mass, that leaves only one “prime time” Mass for the bulk of the community. This means that we would need to seat at least 700 people for that Mass. St. Anthony seats a maximum of less than 500.

Question: Who has been involved in this planning process?
Answer: The process to evaluate our existing facilities began in 2001. At that time, a group of parishioners, many with construction experience, was asked by Fr. Joe Muha to assess our existing facilities. At about that same time, Bishop Mike Driscoll asked us “To plan to have only one site for the celebration of Mass, a site able to hold, if not the entire community, at least a major portion of the community.…” Since then, a professional architecture firm, a representative from the diocese, the Pastoral Council, the Finance Council, our pastoral staff, and our past and current pastors have also been involved in discussions and planning. In 2004, Fr. Enrique formed the Building Task Force to begin looking at the issues in more detail. All together, at least sixty members of the parish have been involved in these discussions. Additionally, four open forum meetings were held, each attended by approximately fifty members of our parish.

Prepared by:
Fr. Enrique Terriquez - Pastor
Kregg Aytes – Chairman of the Building Task Force
Pete Santos – President of the Pastoral Council