If I were to ask each of you about your favorite sports team, I would suspect that you would know the name of a few of your favorite players, and probably the head coach. But you might not know the names of all the position and specialty coaches that it takes for that team to truly be successful. So it is with our parish. Due to our stewardship way of life, there are many people behind the scenes performing specialty roles that you may not know about. We don’t want this to be the case with the Rebuild My Church campaign.
Rebuild My Church is the culmination of years of work here in our parish. Beginning with Faith Forward in 2016, there have been many public conversations concerning the needs of the parish by our Pastor and others. But what you may not understand is the group of individuals acting behind the scenes – the Facilities Committee.
This committee was formed eight years ago by our former pastor, Fr. Daryl Befort. We are thankful for the many dedicated members who have served, including Jim Aukofer and John Sanburn, may they rest in peace. There have been many others who have lobbied over the years on behalf of the Operations/Finance Council that we needed to upgrade our roofs, HVAC, restrooms, and other parts of our parish grounds.
The Facilities Committee is a group of dedicated parishioners who have served as coaches over the recent building projects and will continue to do so for years to come. We are blessed with the current members, who will lead us forward and make recommendations to help us see the vision of Faith Forward and complete the work of Rebuild My Church.
Introducing Facilities Committee Members
Pat Burns - Director of stewardship and finance. Prior to SFA, was controller and treasurer of Sherwood & Wildcat Construction, and has been a parishioner since 1989.
Pat Malone - Director of maintenance. Owned a restoration company specializing in structural drying, mold remediation, fire, and smoke cleanup for 22 years. Parishioner since 1982.
Dennis Smith - Past member of the Operations Council. Has been on the Facilities Committee since its inception. President and CEO of LK Architecture. He and his firm have performed many projects at St. Francis, including the Facilities Condition Assessment as well as the architectural renderings for Rebuild My Church. Parishioner since 1997.
Chuck Mies - Past chair of the Operations Council. Has served on the Facilities Committee since 2014. He is a degreed architect and practiced for a Wichita firm for the first nine years of his career. For the past 27 years, he has been a technology and process consultant to architects, engineers, contractors, and building owners. Parishioner since 1989.
Ryan Farley - Past chair of the Planned Giving Committee as well as a past two-term member and chair of the Operations Council. Partner with Hinkle Law Firm and practices in estate planning (wills and trusts) and planned giving. Parishioner since 2008.
Billy Lubbers - Past vice chair of School Council. Active on Facilities Committee since 2019. Dealer principal with Lubbers Chevrolet. Parishioner since 1995.
Evan Lies - Owner, operator and licensed plumber of David Lies Plumbing since 2012. Specializes in commercial and residential plumbing, new construction, repair and remodel work. Has been involved in several projects for St. Francis and is working on the restroom remodels. Parishioner since 2010.
Dana Leivian - Interior designer and owner of design and construction business since 1998. Works on residential and commercial projects. Has assisted in several parish remodels and does mural paintings, several of which are displayed throughout the diocese. Parishioner since 1982.
Andy Dalbom - Construction scheduler for McCownGordon Construction, where he is responsible the planning, scheduling and resource loading of projects from pre-construction to completion. Before his current role, spent 15 years as a construction superintendent for new hospitals and other medical projects. Parishioner since 2019.
These dedicated members of the Facilities Committee will coach us through this process, but they are not alone. The Facilities Committee reports to the Operations Council, which will oversee all funds given to Rebuild My Church, ensuring that they will be applied only to the projects for which have been approved. The Operations Council, in turn, will stay in monthly communication and collaboration with the other four parish councils: Pastoral, School, Stewardship, and Communication.
The Faith Forward building plan and the implementation through the Rebuild My Church campaign is a team process. It will take all of us, pulling together, working together as a parish family, to make this effort a success.
Thank you to all those parishioners who have participated in the planning, execution and funding of our building projects on our campus. We pray that St. Francis will continue to guide us as we use our campus improvements to serve our mission for many years to come.
Pat Burns, Director of Stewardship & Finance