The Need

At Holy Cross, our lives are built on the foundation of prayer, and the daily commitment to seek Christ in one another, in the stranger, and in ourselves. As Benedictines, hospitality is at the heart of our spirituality. In a very real way, our spiritual lives are not possible without our guests. It is in them and in one another that we seek and serve Christ.

As our guests help us seek Christ, we offer our guests an example of a life that gives primacy to being over doing. We witness to a way of living that is based not on personal accumulation, but on growth toward wholeness in community. We seek to provide our guests not only with rest and renewal—but more importantly—to remind all of us that our lives are larger than we are. We encourage our guests to ask questions about the meaning of their lives and to seek answers that will lead to greater fullness of life and to service in our broken world.

Throughout our long history, we have lived into the philosophy “open doors and open hearts.” We need your help to keep our monastery, church, and guest house thriving for this and the next generation of retreatants, spiritual seekers, and those called to live the monastic life.

We invite you to open your hearts and join us in this journey.

Enhancing our worship experience

Total need for Worship: $740,000

As St. Augustine’s Church enters its second century of service in 2021, our worship space is in need of restoration and refreshment. Over time, we have maintained and updated our buildings as funds permitted—but much remains to be done. Efficient heating and cooling systems are essential to our long-term ecological sustainability. Maintenance is required throughout the church to enhance the worship experience.

Window Replacement and Energy-efficient Systems

Ductless mini-split air conditioning and heating units will cool the church in summer and complement the existing radiant floor heating system in winter. Energy-efficient new windows will include screens to keep God’s critters in their preferred environment.

Mini-split cooling/heating system: $12,000

Window replacements: $72,000

Stained Glass Restoration

The stained glass windows at the back of the church will be removed, renovated, and repositioned to ensure proper conservation. Amount needed: $26,000

Sacristy Renovation

Our current sacristy is in daily use and lacks adequate and appropriate storage and display space to handle altar vessels, linens, and vestments. We will thoroughly overhaul this working space to include upgraded plumbing and electrical systems and proper storage. Amount needed: $58,000

Partition Wall

When the church was built, there was no building beyond it; now the Monastic Enclosure sits to the north. We have never built a proper hallway between these two spaces, so brothers must walk through the church to access the Enclosure. We will install a glass and wood partition between the side hallway and the church to reduce noise from this foot traffic and preserve the quiet prayerfulness of the church. Amount needed: $22,000

Bell Tower Weatherization

The bell tower needs to be weatherized to remedy water infiltrations. This will become increasingly important as the air-tightness of the building increases. Remediation will involve putting scaffolding around the tower to access its walls. Amount needed: $430,000

Painting of the Church

A fresh coat of paint will enliven the visual appeal of our church. This project will require expensive scaffolding throughout the edifice. Amount needed: $72,000

Bell Tower Hallway

The bell tower hallway requires renovation of the ceiling and walls. We will install a new drop ceiling and replaster the walls. Amount needed: $36,000

Electrical System

For safety, the electrical sub-panel controlling the church will be replaced and relocated. Amount needed: $12,000

Deepening our hospitality

Total need for Hospitality: $810,000

St. Benedict says in his Rule: “Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ.” In so doing, we open our guest house doors, and our hearts, to visitors from across the country and the world. We invite all to participate in the monastery’s mission of prayer, worship, and service. To continue to extend hospitality to all, the Middle House section of the guest house will receive a long-overdue renovation. To increase accessibilty, a modern elevator will be installed in our main guest house.

New Elevator

We will improve the safety and accessibility of the main guest house by replacing our “vintage” elevator with a no-threshold modern elevator that serves an additional floor. This project will require electrical upgrades, removal of the old elevator, and the enclosure of current floor openings. Amount needed: $470,000

Middle House Tile Roof

We will place a renewed roof on the Middle House where aging clay tile is failing day by day. We will remove current tiles, identify and replace deteriorated timber, install a new felt sub-roof, and relay tiles, adding new tiles as needed. That roof is already properly insulated. Amount needed: $120,000

Middle House New Bathrooms

We will replace the old communal bathrooms in the Middle House with three smaller individual-use bathrooms, as in the main guest house building. Amount needed: $120,000

Middle House Electrical System

The Middle House electrical system needs replacement. Proper sub-panels on each floor with additional capacity to each room will also be added. Amount needed: $50,000

Middle House Fire safety System

To enhance our fire safety, we will add an automatic fire suppression sprinkler system to guestrooms and offices. Amount needed: $36,000

Middle House Common Room

The Middle House second floor common room is an important meeting room for visiting groups. We will insulate this room for sound traveling to and from the church. The furnishings of the room will be improved for comfort and efficiency. Amount needed: $14,000

Building our endowment

Total needed for Endowment: $1 million +

A significantly larger endowment will secure the Monastery’s future. An enhanced endowment will allow us to reliably support elder brothers and brothers in formation, while continuing to offer affordable hospitality to retreatants. Additional endowment income will also allow for ongoing maintenance, capital improvements, and the diversification of our ministries.

Endowment Growth

The Monastery has an annual operating budget of $1.2 million. Our financial reserves are too small to enable the ongoing capital improvements our buildings and grounds need to be open, welcoming, and safe. Through this campaign, we will add a dependable source of support for future operations and ministry by growing our endowment fund by $1 million. This increase will bring the total endowment to about $1.75 million. An endowment of that size will contribute approximately $87,500 in additional annual income. This will be an excellent start towards greater financial resilience.

Over time, our community hopes that endowment income will provide increased revenues that are sufficient to meet capital and operational needs. Amount needed: $1 million

Q&A