REPORT OF THE LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE
TO THE VESTRY OF THE CHURCH OF THE ADVENT
Brownsville, Texas
October 2000

                                                        I. Introduction; Identification of Task
The Rector and Vestry of the Church of the Advent charged the Long Range Planning Committee, (chaired by Daniel Rentfro, Jr., with members Scott Cecil, Silvia Emerson, Victor Gonzalez, Carolyn Parker, Bill Reed, Carol Reed, Mark Valverde and Kay Williamson), with the responsibility of formulating a detailed recommendation to the Vestry concerning:
1.  The mission, purpose, and goals of the parish for the foreseeable future, and
2.  The location and facilities of the parish as they relate to the mission, Purpose and goals.

                                                                              II. Activities of the Committee
The committee organized in September 1999. Since that time, the Committee, as a whole or through one or more of its members, conducted the following activities:
1.  Held a Parish Meeting to receive comments from all parishioners;
2.  Interviewed leaders of various programs run by the church, including:
    a.  Christian Education;
    b.  Music;
    c.  Altar Guild;
    d.  Youth Ministry;
    e.  Women of the Church;
    f.  Career Closet
    g.  8:30 ministry
3.  Participated in a vestry retreat with the Reverend Frank Fuller of Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi;
4.  Held two meetings with Bishop Folts;
5.  Held two meetings with Ford, Powell, & Carson, an architecture firm having extensive experience in church construction and restoration;
6.  Held numerous committee meetings;
7.  Reviewed statistical data from the Diocese of West Texas regarding Advent's economic and demographic profile, and from the United Way of Southern Cameron County regarding social needs in Brownsville;
Throughout this process, the committee has attempted to focus on the first aspect of its charge -- determining the mission of the church -- rather than simply the question of future facility needs. The committee believes that, if the parish can adequately define its mission, the facility question will in large degree answer itself.

                                                  III. The Parish, Its Mission, and Its Facility
The Church of the Advent has this dilemma: What many people perceive as the most valuable asset of the parish -- the physical facility -- also stands as a major impediment to the natural long-term course the parish will seek to take. This dilemma corresponds to the dual purpose of the parish, and of all parishes. The mission of the Church of the Advent has two components. The first is the Mission to Members (current and future), to address their need for vision, meaning, purpose and caring. The second is the Mission to the Community of Brownsville, to share the benefits, material and spiritual, bestowed on us with all our neighbors. Both aspects arise out of the Christian obligation to witness to the Gospel. As expressed by the Reverend Mr. Fuller (who comes from a downtown Corpus Christi parish that has faced many of the issues now confronting Advent), meeting the perceived needs of the current (and future) parishioners for fellowship, community, caring, and rejuvenation is important. Indeed, without a strong congregation, Advent will be ill equipped to perform any ministry. But the true business of the church is much more. The church is here for transformation. Its members are to be transformed into the body of Christ, and thereby bring Christ to those who know him not. The only way the people of Advent can do the real work of the church is through witness. Most people do this best not by testimony, but by demonstration -- by showing people there is a purpose in life and this is where they find it.
There is no question that the current sanctuary has great value to the parish in fulfilling this mission. Beauty, serenity and permanence enhance the spiritual experience of a parishioner immeasurably. The sanctuary has architectural features and beauty that the parish could not reproduce in a new location under any economically feasible plan. Moreover, the building has great and valuable tradition for the current members of the parish and for the Diocese as a whole. Generations of Episcopalians in Brownsville and throughout the Diocese have been baptized, confirmed, and married there. At least 6 Diocesan councils have met there.
The neighborhood surrounding the facility also has great value to the parish -- as an opportunity for outreach. Brownsville's need for social service and educational services are well documented. The West Elizabeth neighborhood is fertile ground for that kind of outreach, containing schools and low-income neighborhoods. At its best, the West Elizabeth location can act both as a center for social service and as a spiritual oasis in the middle of an area badly in need.
Members of the parish have expressed these concerns in a number of ways. The comments received by the committee include:
1.  A sense of Sacred Place
    a.  Beauty -- Spiritual uplift;
    b.  Experience of God's Presence (Holy Ground);
2.  A sense of Sacred History (Our part in God's Story)
    a.  Memories of personal/family historical markers;
    b.  Memories of people who worked and gave to this church (Communion of All the Saints);
3.  A sense of Longevity
4.  A sense of Stewardship for the blessings we have received
5.  A sense of Moral or Social Responsibility to the local community
    a.  Location calls for outreach ministry
    b.  Suburban Flight contributes to Urban Blight
    c.  "Jesus didn't move to a nicer neighborhood"
At the same time, however, the facility also impedes the future of the parish. The education, meeting, administrative, and parking facilities are inadequate now. As Brownsville grows, so will the parish. Those facilities will only become more inadequate as the parish grows. In the short run, enhancement of the existing space through non-structural remodeling can alleviate the problem somewhat. In the middle to long range, no reconfiguration of existing space will suffice. A larger and more vital parish will demand more and better programs. The current facility cannot be reconfigured to accommodate them. The second reason that the current facility impedes the progress of the parish is the location itself. West Elizabeth Street is no longer the center of Brownsville, either geographically or economically. The West Elizabeth location is remote from the neighborhoods where many current parishioners, and most of the new ones, reside. It is fair to say that few of our members have little cause ever to be on West Elizabeth, except on church business. This location is not simply an issue of visibility; in other words, it not a marketing problem. Rather, the farther the parish is from the homes of its members, the less able the parish is to the needs of those members.
Comments to the committee in this regard have included:
1.  The need to Spread the Gospel
    a.  Reach out to young families;
    b.  Take the Gospel to the people where they live;
2.  The need to act as a Community of the People of God;
3.  The facility needs to be designed to encourage ministries and fellowship activities for all ages;
4.  The need for an equal sense of Belonging among long time members and newcomers.
One solution to the space problem would be to construct new educational and meeting facilities on West Elizabeth, thus preserving the tradition and beauty of the sanctuary while creating modern space for program use. Doing that would not solve, however, the location problem. Nor would it address the most serious impediment that the current facility creates for the growth of the parish -- the size of the sanctuary itself. The seating capacity of the sanctuary creates a more or less absolute limit to the ultimate size of the parish rolls. Discussion with professional consultants leads the committee to believe that there is not a feasible way to enlarge the sanctuary. While a continued revival of youth ministry, and a reenergizing of other parish programs, will undoubtedly create growth in the parish, eventually that growth will reach a ceiling, simply because of overcrowding in the sanctuary. Without significant growth of the parish rolls, we have doubts that sufficient financial resources are available to fund major new construction. To put it another way, the creation of new meeting space leading to program enhancement will grow the parish, making the sanctuary obsolete all the faster.

                                                            IV. The Committee's Proposal
Thus, the committee believes that the long-range future of the parish requires the construction of a new, primary facility in North Brownsville, closer to the residences of a majority of our parishioners. That recommendation comes with two major qualifications. First, the committee opposes any plan that would abandon the current sanctuary. The sanctuary itself (leaving aside, for the moment, the balance of the West Elizabeth facility) has genuine spiritual, traditional, and aesthetic value, and little major upkeep expense. It would disserve the Episcopal community, local and large, to abandon those values. It would also be a disservice to the surrounding residents, and to Brownsville as a whole, to vacate the West Elizabeth neighborhood. Advent serves as an anchor for the West Elizabeth area. Many of us feel that the parish has a Christian responsibility to act with not only Advent's interests in mind, but the neighborhood's also. Because of the opportunities in the neighborhood for outreach, evangelism, and service -- obligations that the Gospel imposes on all Christians -- the interests of the parish and the neighborhood are complementary, not antagonistic. If the world beyond the parish boundaries constitutes the mission field, Advent's current location lies in a fertile field indeed.
Moreover, the construction of a new, primary facility in North Brownsville should actually extend the life of the West Elizabeth sanctuary. The only way to substantially grow the parish in its current location is to hold more Sunday services. Additional services at the West Elizabeth site will also, however, place additional physical strain on the structure. On the other hand, having a second location as the primary site of regular services will avoid that strain. Preserving the long-term survival of the sanctuary, and more importantly of the Episcopal Church's presence in downtown Brownsville will, paradoxical though it may seem, lengthen the survival of the West Elizabeth location.

                                                                       The Role of the Diocese
Plans just now emerging from the Diocese make the preservation of the West Elizabeth sanctuary, together with the construction of a new facility, feasible in a way not previously thought. Bishop Folts has as one of his primary goals for the 2001 Diocesan Council the beginning of a process that would ultimately extend the kind of community outreach now done in San Antonio by the Good Samaritan Center to other sites in the diocese. The committee has impressed on the Bishop the fact that West Elizabeth Street would be an ideal location for an operation of that type. The committee has also conveyed to the Bishop the parish's complete lack of interest in operating a facility of that type divorced from any spiritual activity. In other words, the committee would be interested in seeing a Good Samaritan-type center created on West Elizabeth if, and only if, the church had a regular, active presence in that location; in other words, the Center should be an extension of the Church not simply a Salvation Army with another name. The existing sanctuary would be crucial to tying the two together. The Bishop has stated that he expects this project to move forward, and he is convinced that it will happen in Brownsville.
The program would be a co-operative one, with the parish, the Episcopal Community in Brownsville (Episcopal Day School, and St. Paul's also participating) and the Diocese sharing the work, the costs, and the rewards of such a ministry. As the committee conceives it:
1.  The Church of the Advent would maintain the Sanctuary and what ever else might be suitable for use as the spiritual hub of its commitment to the community. With good landscaping and maintenance, it could anchor a mission to the City with or without the purchase of additional property.
2.  The sanctuary would host daily Morning Prayer, one (or more) services of Holy Eucharist on Sundays and Baptisms, weddings, funerals and High Holidays. In addition, the sanctuary could be used to host lectures and concerts, and the grounds opened up and restored in the nature of a prayer garden, its original use.
3.  The Columbarium could be maintained here in perpetuity.
4.  The Diocese would construct whatever additional facilities were needed on adjacent land, assuming that land could be acquired at a reasonable price.
5.  The Diocese would operate the facility offering a wide variety of services to the residents of Brownsville, Episcopalian or not, with the assistance of Advent clerical and lay staff and parishioners.
6.  Advent would make available to the center, at no cost, the use of its facilities on West Elizabeth, consistent with the needs of the Parish.
At the North Brownsville facility, The Church of the Advent would carry out its mission among its Members, current and future, through:
1.  Regular Sunday Services
2.  Christian Education
3.  Youth Programs
4.  New Comers Programs
5.  Fellowship
6.  Main administrative presence
The committee has deferred any recommendations on many of the specific questions often asked about the  long-range plans of the parish: What will happen to the organ? The organ could be restored and moved to inside the church on Elizabeth Street or to the new site, which could be built to accommodate its full potential. Will the education wing, and the old rectory, be preserved or removed? On the one hand, the education wing especially presents many of the most serious maintenance problems for the parish. On the other hand, remodeling and rehabilitating them might very well be more cost-effective than new construction. Those are serious questions, deserving well thought out, serious answers. The answers to those questions, however, will emerge to a large extent at their own pace, as the program develops. For instance, if the community center involves the diocese, and grows to a sufficient size, it might justify new construction on the other side of Elizabeth Street, or elsewhere in the area. That being the case, some or all of the parish hall and the education wing might be removed, allowing the property to be re-landscaped to something approximating its original configuration. On the other hand, a community center supported by Advent alone might of necessity be more modest, and require the use of existing buildings rather that new construction.
The committee feels strongly, however, that four principles can and should be established now: (1) The long-range health of the parish requires the construction of a new facility. (2) No plan should be adopted that involves the destruction of the existing sanctuary or the complete abandonment of the West Elizabeth neighborhood. (3) No long range plan can be achieved without first revitalizing the parish and its programs in its existing location; and (4) That will require the expenditure of substantial funds on the West Elizabeth facility.
It should be emphasized that the construction of a North Brownsville Facility is a long-range plan. Clearly, constructing a new facility is several years away. Were the parish to decide tomorrow to move, relocation would take a minimum of five years. It would involve site selection, design, fundraising, and construction. Fifteen years could be just as reasonable an estimate as five could. The fact that it is a long-range plan, however, makes it no less a real plan. It is precisely because the plan will take so much effort on so many fronts that it needs to be committed to now. Without that commitment in principle, no progress will ever be made.
Because the new construction is a long-range goal, the parish must no longer postpone needed maintenance and remodeling activity on West Elizabeth. Only a vibrant and financially healthy parish can achieve the long-range goals outlined in this report. Advent cannot become vibrant and financially healthy with the facility in its current state. No matter how soon the parish builds a new facility, there are vital parish needs that are unmet right now. The parish hall, classrooms, and kitchen are all inadequate, indeed dangerous. There is an urgent need for improved handicap access, and at least a modest playground. The facility in general badly needs sprucing up. Meeting those requirements should not wait on the construction of a new facility. The ten-year plus delay in building the Tugie Bracht patio shows how the question of long-term goals has impaired the meeting of short-term needs. The fact that the parish may not be ready to act on the committee's recommendation immediately should not cause the same kind of paralysis.

Therefore the committee recommends the following: [1]
1.  Commit to the construction of a new primary facility, as crucial to the long-term health of the parish;
2.  Select and secure a site for the new facility as soon as possible.
3.  Engage an architectural firm to create conceptual and schematic drawings of the new facility, together with cost estimates, for display to the parish and the community; the committee recommends the San Antonio firm of Ford, Carson and Powell;
4.  Establish an endowment fund for the construction of the new facility, and begin soliciting contributions to it.
5.  Secure additional land adjoining the West Elizabeth site for expanded parking, and for the eventual construction of a Diocesan Good Samaritan center, if that can be done at a reasonable price.
6.  Begin performing the deferred maintenance needs of the West Elizabeth site.
7.  Identify ways in which the parish can remodel, improve, or use differently the existing facility without any new construction, to meet the current program needs of the parish, with the assistance of the architectural firm.
8.  Continue discussions with the Diocese to secure a firmer commitment for the creation of a community outreach facility on West Elizabeth Street.

Respectfully submitted,
Daniel Rentfro Jr.
Chairman

[1] The order in which the recommendations are listed does not signify the committee's opinion of their importance. All are important, and all should be committed to now, even if not implemented immediately.