Welcome to Christ Episcopal Church

I want to write about our building. Some of you will know that we had a masonry company come in 2024 to evaluate our building. If you know about that, then you probably know that they suggested that grout throughout the facility (church, parish hall, and breezeway) would need to be replaced, and that some of the stone itself would need to be re placed as well. The amount they quoted for the work was … stomach-churning. I got some great advice when consulting with colleagues and diocesan staff — one of whom said “Masonry companies have masonry solutions. You want someone who can look at things more comprehensively.” One colleague highly recommended the architectural firm Macdonald & Mack, which has worked on many rehabilitation projects in and around Red Wing. We’ve spent the past year working with them to evaluate the status of the building in a more comprehensive fashion.

The good news, I’m happy to report, is that things are not as bad as we might have first believed. Most importantly, our window to address most of our issues is 10 to 15 years. That gives us a much better chance to finance work through a “Legacy Grant” from the State of Minnesota. Christ Church is well positioned to receive a Legacy Grant, for many reasons. Grant managers want to distribute money across the state, which means that we aren’t competing with the Twin Cities metro. We’re located in an historic district, which for grant purposes is effectively the same as being on the Historic Register, and that is a huge plus. We are a landmark within Red Wing. And we’ve had the opportunity to demonstrate that we can successfully manage grant funded projects, with the security system we installed this year.

None of these factors guarantees that we will receive a grant. But put these things together, and our chances of receiving grant funding – especially over a 10 year period – are very good. There is some work we will need to do earlier - over the next three to five years. This work involves tuckpointing the bottom 4-5 feet of the facility and additional work around the entryway to the church. There are two pieces of good news to this. First, because this work will not involve the cost and hassle that comes with scaffolding, we can get a lot more work done with fewer dollars. Second, grant applications receive greater preference when an applicant puts some of their own resources (time, talent, and/or treasure) into the project; and also when they demonstrate that they can manage the specific project effectively. Long story short: doing a small portion of the work upfront has the potential to pay off in a big way down the line. We are now working with our architects to scope out this “small project” - both in terms of what it would look like, and with respect to the costs. When we have some specifics, your Vestry and I will develop a strategy to finance those costs, which will likely involve a small capital campaign.

Christ Church has an amazing building. Visitors are continually in awe of our beautiful sanctuary and chapel. Our Parish Hall is versatile, hosting many activities, and our undercroft is now dedicated to serving our community. Our space helps connect us to each other, to our community, and to the majesty of the Almighty. I’m hopeful and confident that, with God’s help, we’ll be able to rehabilitate our space so that, 100 years from now, it will still be loved, cared for, and will connect people to things far greater than themselves.

In Christ, Pastor Aaron Twait