*** UPDATE: The Conditions Summary link has been updated. ***

Dear saints,

In recent weeks, we have rightly paid a lot of attention to the nature of a building on our block - the Egleston building. We have talked about it, toured it, reported on the major features of that tour for those who missed it, and no doubt shared many a conversation about what we think of the building ourselves. As part of that due diligence, we are now able to share a thorough Conditions Summary of Egleston that our architects, Perkins&Will, have worked hard to put together.

In it you’ll find the following themes addressed:

• Interior and Exterior Architectural Conditions
• Site Features
• A Code Assessment
• An Envelope Assessment
• And Other Themes, including: Accessibility, Energy Issues, and Egress

For those of you who enjoy getting under the hood with these sorts of things, the conditions summary will be an excellent read. For my own part, what I found most compelling about the document was this emphasis: that the assessment centers on the lived experience of those who use the building. This spoke to me because, as I shared in my sermon on Sunday, the beautiful thing about buildings is that if you build them the right way, you end up with people inside of them. All sorts of people.

We have paid a lot of attention to the physicality of Egleston Hall. We have needed to do so in this work, and will continue to. Yet, of primary importance when it comes to our buildings is the people who use them. 

I love the vision of the people who planned for and built Egleston Hall in the early 20th century. I find their sense of what a church property could be to be wonderfully generous. Egleston was a building for the parish, and for the community that gathered in it from beyond the church membership. It expressed a vision for All Saints’ to be in the city, for the city - even before there was a city to be in as there is today. 

The vision for Egleston that emerged from our years of listening to one another in the parish engagement work that led to our master plan for the whole block is one that wants that sort of use of Egleston to rise again.  

No doubt, it won’t be the same as it is today, and cannot be if we are serious about being a church that welcomes everyone. We have to have buildings that are not only accessible but welcoming to all.  

For me, the heart of Egleston - whatever bricks and mortar we end up with - will be the life that is shared in and around the physical structure. As I preached from the pulpit, as a parish church famed for its decades-long commitment to inclusion, we should seek to build a place where all are welcome. In the words Teresa of Avila,

‘For it is true, together we live; 

and only at that shrine where all are welcome 

will God sing loud enough to be heard'.

It is my deep desire that our work will indeed enable us to be a church where God will sing loud enough to be heard because all will be welcome here. We are called not only to say those words from behind an altar, but to live out that invitation for all to be welcome across this block and in all that we do as a church.

As always, share what you are thinking. Through the Sundays of summer your fellow parishioners who are working so hard on this project will be available for you to have a heart-to-heart with. I warmly encourage you to tell them whatever is on your mind. Additionally, following a final note from me next week, as we move into June and July you will hear from some other voices from within our parish. 

Thinking of them and how much this truly is a team effort, I remain deeply thankful to the parishioners giving so much of themselves on the Egleston task force, the block development committee and the vestry. Their contact details are below should you wish to share a thought with them by email, or simply join me in expressing your gratitude.

‘For it is true, together we live'.