UPDATE! As of March 2009,pledges have reached the

goal of $5 million.

Contributions may be sent to 

Shadyside Presbyterian Church

5121 Westminster Place

Pittsburgh PA  15232-2116

A Letter from Our Pastor

When someone enters your home, they learn a lot about you. The way you decorate

and furnish the rooms, the art and photographs that hang on your walls, and even the

way you maintain the house tells people who you are and what you value. The same thing

is true about our church home. A church is certainly more than a building. It’s the people,

centered in Jesus Christ, who make up the church. But every church expresses its

personality and values by how they organize and maintain their building.

Our building is a grand and beautiful testimony to our devotion to Christ. The great

lantern that sits above our sanctuary is a physical witness to our mission to be the light of

hope to the community around us. Our grandparents who built this facility wanted people

to follow that light into the congregation where they would find a ministry that can restore

the human spirit. But after all of these years, our church home is now in need of some

significant renovations.

We need more adult classrooms in order to be a learning environment. We need

better accessibility so that a child or adult with disabilities doesn’t have to go outside

to move from the sanctuary to the lower level of the church. We need an easy place

for visitors to find our fellowship after church. We need a gracious place to have receptions for

weddings and funerals, and an improved facility for church dinners. Our youth need a cool

place that can be all theirs. And like every house, we need an obvious front door for people

to use during the week.

Hospitality is incredibly important in the ministry of Jesus Christ. We have to ensure that

our facility is able to receive all people with all of the love and grace that is at the heart

our congregation. That’s what this building program is really about. But this is your church

home, and we need you to help us build our community.

Grace & Peace,

The Rev. Dr. M. Craig Barnes  

Pastor, Shadyside Presbyterian Church

UPDATED PLANS FEBRUARY 2009

At the Westminster entrance, a new porte-cochere and the enclosure of the cloister-courtyard will welcome people to the church, encourage gathering for fellowship after worship and make getting around the church easier and clearer.  The porte-cochere identifies our main entry for activities other than worship and provides welcoming shelter.  The cloister arches will be glazed to make it an all-weather passageway to and from the sanctuary, gathering spaces and the chapel-office level of the church.  A stairway and ramp lead to the atrium with its skylights, windows and new connection to the parlor.

The present Parlor windows will transform to doorways that join it to the atrium for a spacious yet intimate place to gather small and medium sized groups.  A small kitchen facility will offer hospitality in this location.  The chapel configuration is being reconsidered to maintain its worshipful character while improving its usefulness for such activities as choir rehearsal and Christian education.

The atrium also establishes a strong south-north axis in the church.  This will be the main path to reception, ministry offices and activities on the lower level.  In fact, the careful placement of openings and windows creates a line of sight along this axis all the way from the south to the north ends of the buildings.  A hall on this axis ends at the head of a new stairway to the first level, terminated by a window into the renovated Parish Hall.  The existing elevator continues to provide alternate access to the first level.  The balance of the upper level will include a practical reception area and reconfigured workspaces and offices for the staff.

The Parish Hall will take on a warmer, more comfortable ambiance for large gatherings, meals and continued use by the Nursery School.  The floor and ceiling will be improved to match the high quality wood and stone finishes that already exist on the walls.  A fireplace and removable carpeting are other possible features.

The stage will be transformed into an education-meeting space at the same level as the Parish Hall.  The wall between these rooms will include a wonderful large window, matching in size and location the one that already exists on the stage.  Adaptations to the kitchen will improve its function in proximity to the large gathering space.

Also visible from the lobby at the base of the new stairwell, renovations will create a better Nursery School/Christian education facility, a Youth gathering room and more functional meeting/education spaces.  The stairwell is a circulation hub that will occupy a new roofed-in space created just outside the present Nursery School entrance.

These plans serve the specific goals of our church outlined above as well as our overall vision to Build Community in Jesus Christ, within our wall and well beyond.

Read the May 2009 

BUILDING COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

 HERE

Both the leadership of the church and our architects recognize the historic architectural significance of our Richardsonian Romanesque building.  The proposed renovations will occur within the existing building footprint, and the new features will be designed to blend compatibly with the historic building materials and details, as our past additions have done.  For a look at how our building has evolved through additions over the years, visit this page or this one.

The goal of the congregational contribution to the campaign is $5 million.  Of this total, $180,000 will be directed to three significant mission projects.

This project cannot be funded through our regular annual giving.  It calls for capital commitments over and above our regular pledges.  As the first major capital stewardship campaign at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in many years, this represents the only opportunity that many of us will have to make a significant contribution to improving our church home.  The size of our gifts will vary considerably according to our means, but should represent the sacrifice that we each can make in response to God’s blessings to us.

Shadyside Presbyterian Church has served as a beacon in the community throughout its 142-year history. Through worship, education and outreach, we have shared the love of Jesus Christ with generations of parishioners and neighbors, both near and far. This ministry has been blessed with a valuable and inspiring tool - our landmark building - a legacy provided to us through the foresight of our grandparents and great-grandparents. Today, we have an opportunity to forge our own vision for our church, and to leave our own legacy for the generations to come.