Repainting the Sanctuary

The long-awaited repainting of the sanctuary has begun! The painters have been hard at work on extremely tall scaffolding painting all of the plaster surfaces in the sanctuary, including the ceiling. For decades, the sanctuary has been painted in an off-white color that did little to accentuate architecture and ornate plaster detailing. The new paint scheme includes warmer color tones specifically selected by an architect who specializes in historic church sanctuaries. He also selected the colors for SLU's St. Francis Xavier College Church, and Second Presbyterian in the Central West End.

Below are some before & after photos showing the progress so far:

BEFORE:


AFTER: The archway now is painted with great detail, with gold leaf on the medallions:


BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER: The warmer brown around the windows will allow the stained glass to stand out more, while the "almond cream" pillars and arches will create the appearance of a collonade along the side walls:

New Sanctuary Sound System

In Mid-October, an all-new sound system was installed in the sanctuary. It consists of new main speakers for the sanctuary, in-ear monitors for the worship band, new wireless microphones for the pastors, and special microphones mounted on stands for the choir. The system has been fine-tuned for Memorial's sanctuary and should eliminate issues with interference and garbled sound that had plagued the old system for years. We are grateful that God has provided for this new system, which will help us join together in worship more fully, being able to hear and receive the Word more clearly.

Senior Pastor's Office

We start this week on refurbishing Pastor George's office. Cat Geyer, interior designer, has been working with George and the Capital Campaign to select new carpet, furniture, desk, lighting, and paint colors. Much of the old funiture is very outdated and mismatched, having been cobbled together over the years from different parts of the church. We look forward to providing our Senior Pastor with a refreshed, updated, and beautifully coordinated new office.

New A/C in the Rear Auditorium and Large Parlor

Work is underway to replace the old air conditioning system in the rear auditorium of the church. This old system has been a problem and a hindrance to ministry for decades and we're thankful to have the opportunity to finally replace it.

Because the air handling unit was just sitting in the corner of the room exposed, whenever the A/C would come on during a meeting, the booming sound of the system would dominate the room and interupt or obscure anything taking place in the auditorium. This system also served the large parlor just as poorly, with the loud sound coming through the ducts and disrupting meetings and classes.

The old system was also poorly designed and very inefficient. It was impossible to cool the large parlor without having the whole system running and also cooling the rear auditorium. The air circulation was poor and there was only one thermostat on the auditorium side of the wall, so the system would not shut off even when the parlor cooled down and it had to be operated manually much of the time.

We found that a good solution was to install a stand alone "split system" in the large parlor with a whisper-quiet air handler, while installing a new, quieter, and more efficient conventional air handler in the rear auditorium. It will be enclosed in a new utility closet that will be insulated to muffle the sound, with additional supply vents to reduce air sound.

Below is the area where construction is occuring:

Here is the new air handler already in place and blue tape on the floor where the new closet will be built. You can also see the coolant line coming from the new split system in the large parlor on the other side of the wall:

The original baseboard is being removed from the closet interior so that it can be used on the outside of the new closet:

The old air supply and return vents in the large parlor have been patched and will be replastered:

Below is the new whisper-quiet air handler in the parlor. When the system turns on, the fin opens wider and even oscillates to help with air distribution. It operates by remote control and will be a huge improvement over the old system.

The Chapel in the News

The Chapel's first hosted art gallery show got a great review in The Vital Voice, a secular St. Louis newspaper. The headline of the article, "Going to the Chapel: New art venue paints a selfless picture" is very encouraging as the volunteers at The Chapel seek to be a welcoming presence serving artists & musicians selflessly.

We enourage you to read the article at the link above...

The Chapel...in action

As we continue work on additional building projects, it's exciting to see completed projects bearing fruit. The Chapel has already hosted many concerts and events since its grand opening in June, and the first full art gallery show opens this Saturday (Aug. 16) at 6pm.

Friday's concert at The Chapel featuring John Hardy & the Public resulted in a review with photos on the RFT website (CLICK HERE TO VIEW). Despite some unexpected sound problems caused by a short-term problem with two of the speakers, the event still garnered a favorable review.

The purpose of The Chapel is to enable us to serve musicians and artists in St. Louis, helping to lower the walls of suspicion between artists and Christians. The Chapel is off to a great start, and it would not have happened without sacrificial giving to the Beacon for the Gospel in St. Louis Capital Campaign.

July Update

Exciting progress is being made on the Campaign this Summer, with a new sanctuary sound system to be installed this Fall, including all-new microphone and speaker systems. New quiet and efficient air conditioning will replace the old systems in the rear auditorium and large parlor by the end of August. We are currently soliciting feedback from the congregation on proposals for repainting the entire sanctuary, and input-gathering will also begin soon on renovating the basement Fellowship Hall. Renovations in the Matthews Wing classrooms are also ongoing.

These improvements are made possible through God's provision and your sacrificial giving to the Capital Campaign!