FAQ’s

The new church and school of San Francisco de Asís will be on the southeast lobe of McMillan Mesa, located just north of Route 66 in the center of Flagstaff. Our buildings, parking areas, and road will take less than 23 acres of the 107-acre site, allowing us to preserve most of the trees and grassy areas.  

Become familiar with this beautiful setting!  To visit the site itself, take Ponderosa Parkway, turn left on Locust, right on Apple, and left on Hemlock to the FUTS parking area at the end of the street. Walk about 1/3 mile east and turn right onto the wide trail around the open meadow on top of the mesa.  Then follow one of the faint paths leading southeast toward the trees.  You will soon find yourself in a natural cathedral of ponderosa pines, singing birds, and wildflowers!

Our church is planned to be built by Easter 2013 and the school is planned to be completed by fall 2013/beginning of 2014.

Our new church is designed to seat 1,400 people.  

Nearly 1,600 households of varying sizes are officially registered in our parish.  Many more attend mass here regularly. Saint Pius X seats between 600 and 700, with additional seating in the entryway and hall.  This additional seating is especially critical during the summer and on certain holidays, when the number of people attending mass increases by 20% to 40%.

Our new school will initially have at least one classroom for each grade from Pre-Kindergarten to 8th Grade, as well as special-purpose rooms for a computer lab, library, and music. Each of these state-of-the-art classrooms will accommodate a maximum of 30 students.  Religious Education classes will utilize these rooms as well.  The design can be expanded to include more classrooms if necessary.

The administrative part of the new center will combine office space for the school and parish resulting in increased efficiency and easier coordination of activities.  

There will be several rooms of varying sizes for meetings and activities of parish ministries and groups.  They can be combined to create an ample fellowship hall.

As the building of our new parish center progresses, we will keep a close eye on costs and on “value engineering” (finding creative ways to reduce costs without compromising quality or capacity).  

Currently the project is estimated to cost a total of $18 million, which includes the land purchase, utility, access & grading development, church & school construction, as well as fixtures, furniture equipment & interest payments.  Included in the construction are numerous sustainable construction and energy features (solar panels, radiant heating, etc.) to help with energy efficiencies. 

The road will be a continuation of Ponderosa Parkway, running north from the stoplight on Route 66 up to the southern edge of the mesa, moving around the school and church buildings and then connecting to Ponderosa Parkway on the north side of the site.

The completed road will be in place once the church building is complete.

Just as the parishioners of Flagstaff have pitched in to help build our historic churches, we can participate in all aspects of building our new parish home.  Ask Fr. Pat or Mark Smith (Development Director) how you may be able to donate your time, talent or treasure.

On a muddy country road in medieval France, a traveler encountered a man struggling to wheel a cart laden with an enormous block of stone toward the town. What are you doing? asked the traveler. Oh, some people in town are paying me to deliver this stone to them, the carter answered. It’s heavy, though. What a miserable job! The traveler expressed his sympathy and continued on his journey. Half a mile farther down the road, he encountered another man with a cart, also burdened with a huge stone. What are you doing? the traveler asked again. His face alight with joy, the second man answered: I am building the great cathedral of Chartres!

There are many ways to give.

• Give online, by clicking here and choosing “Building Fund”
• Send a check to the SFdA, Attn: Building Fund, 2257 E. Cedar Ave. Flagstaff, AZ 86004
• Give at Church using the BFA envelopes found in the pews
• Complete a Pledge Form, (click here to view and download)
• For private gifts, contact Fr. Pat or Mark Smith at the SFdA parish office, (928) 779-1341

All contributions to the campaign are designated as “Restricted Contributions” and as such cannot be used for any other purpose.  Each dollar specifically designated to the San Francisco de Asís Building Fund Appeal is restricted to our campaign by the Diocese, the Internal Revenue Service, and the courts from a legal liability standpoint.  The monies cannot be used for any other need or purpose so long as a pledge card is filled out and checks are made out to San Francisco de Asís – Building Fund.

This is the question most parishioners ask when they first see the concept drawing of the interior of our new church building.  The word to keep in mind is “concept”.  The artist attempts to show the entire space from a single viewpoint.  This results in a loss of volume.  The 3-D space is flattened and the vertical dimension shortened giving us an unusual perspective.

When you look at it again, keep the following in mind: The peak of the building will be some fifty-five feet high, soaring almost five majestic stories above the altar.  In the nave, where the congregation gathers, will be seating for over a thousand people.  That area, including the sanctuary, is over twice the size of the interior of St. Pius.  Additional seating for another five hundred will be added in the two arms of the transept.

The drawing appears to bring the ceiling down and fills a third of the view.  However, the lights and the clerestory, or long row of upper windows, will shine down, drawing attention away from the rafters and illuminating the altar and the ambo, which is the proper focus of our Eucharistic celebration.

The floor will slope gradually from the entrance to the sanctuary, enabling the parishioners to better hear and see the celebrant, the readers, and the choir. The pews are set out in a semi-circular format to bring the people closer to the altar.  When the transept is complete, the building will have a traditional cruciform shape.

Since Father Pat arrived he has chosen a course of renewing the spirituality of our parish through several avenues.  His focus has been on the spirituality of mass, the message of Jesus, and reaching out to those who may fear the future or worry about the past.   He is leading by example so that the future of our parish, via bricks & mortar and spirituality, will be deeply rooted in nurturing our faith lives. This will be done by invigorating the existing ministries, allowing new ministries to start, and to foster an environment of willingness to address our needs both physically and spiritually.  Part of that growth process includes a new building.  While the physical structure is not the end to the means it benefits us by having a place to accommodate our many and growing groups.  It will provide a new school to better foster an atmosphere of learning and growth in faith by those who will lead our church tomorrow.  It will give us a peaceful, contemplative and large enough place to pray and celebrate the central mystery of the Eucharist.   So far the process has focused on bricks and mortar and the campaign but after the campaign focus will shift to the esthetic and spiritual when parishioners come forward and join new committees and groups to bring our long-term vision into focus.  It will be a shift from “what we could have been” to “what we are now” and how we are going to use the new church and school to define our ministerial works and tailor the physical environment and endeavor to create an environment where the building will support our growing and different avenues of faith calling.  The atmosphere Fr. Pat is fostering where all are accepted, loved, and focused on the Gospel message will center and stimulate growth among the existing ministries and will attract new spiritual growth through new programs and new ministries.

Due to your generosity in responding to the Capital Campaign, it is now time to develop just such a ‘road map’ for our project! There are a number of guidelines for us to follow:

From purpose to procedures, the building of a Catholic church is unlike any other kind of construction. Our basic reference will be Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture, and Worship-the Guidelines of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (published December 2000 and available on-line at www.usccb.org/liturgy/livingstones.shtml   This 80-page document sets forth Catholic teachings regarding construction projects.  Chapter Four outlines the community building that must be a key part of the process.

The Diocese of Phoenix Office of Buildings and Properties also provides guidelines.  These cover practical concerns such as bids and contracts. Our diocese has one of the busiest building programs in the country and a great deal of valuable experience.

Other resources include periodicals such as Faith and Form, a journal of religious art and architecture. Case histories and advice from other parishes are published in professional journals and posted on the Internet. Because there are so many Catholic churches being built in the country today, there are also many consultants who have expertise in specialties from liturgy to project management.  Many of these offer free advice on their websites or are available for consultation by phone or through visits and workshops.  Form/Reform, a national conference and trade show, offers programs and seminars on the full range of issues concerning architecture, environment and art for Catholic worship, and parishioner involvement.

In addition, Catholic teaching is that we are to be a light to our communities and caring neighbors to all.  The City of Flagstaff has voter-mandated guidelines that are the result of extensive citizen input and years of experience in dealing with the consequences of both good and not-so-good planning and design decisions.  We will anticipate and incorporate our city guidelines into our plan, as well as work toward ensuring a harmonious relationship with our future neighbors on McMillan Mesa.