Building Renovationspart of the Faith Into Action program

All you ever wanted to know about building renovations at the American Church in Paris.


Sanctuary 
Building the faith: bricks and mortar of renewal
By Alison Benney

      For the next few months, the savvy worshippers at the ACP will be those who attend the 9 am or 1:30 pm services. Why? Because that is when more pews will be available in the sanctuary, versus the 11 am service when 300 worshippers will be sitting on folding chairs in the chapel and theatre.
       Yes, as part of the ongoing process of renovating the church, we will be worshipping half-in and half-out of the sanctuary in January. Then starting in February the front half of the church will be closed and the service will move to the newly-cleaned back of the sanctuary. The whole job could have been done in one swatch of time, four months, but only by closing off the sanctuary completely. Fortunately the Property Committee found a flexible company that agreed to work in increments to allow for uninterrupted worship in the church.
       While that is a blessing, it produces an oddly bereft feeling to see our church laid out in ceiling-high scaffolding and sheets, and feels almost embarrassed to have our housecleaning open to public scrutiny. But if all goes well the work should be accomplished by Easter, says Daniel Grout, Chairperson of the Property Committee, and one of those overseeing the work. That means that we will then – and excuse the pun – be celebrating a double resurrection!
       Not that the church ever stopped functioning, but at over 70 years old it was certainly creaking at the joints, with leaks from the terraces and cracking plaster. Furthermore, our beautiful organ is badly in need of cleaning and maintenance, and restoring the pipes before dusting out the cobwebs and plaster didn’t make sense. So with funding from the ACP Faith into Action program, the workers were called in.
This is, in fact, just a part of the impressive renovation work that has been accomplished in the church building the past few years, from top to bottom. The Associate Pastor’s apartment got brought up to standard, the elevator replaced, the back stairway modernized, the garden-level classrooms enlarged, and the basement gym is almost entirely renovated.
       What’s next? In July the company that built the organ will dismantle all the pipes, cleaning them individually, reset them in the organ and re-tune it. Attention will then be turned to the library, the staff kitchen, the theatre (flooring and stage), and the ventilation of the downstairs classrooms. Not to mention that the city will eventually require us to clean the outside of the sanctuary.
       So, as Pastor Alex has been urging, change your habits and attend an earlier or later service. After all, the new year is a good time for a bit of renewal, as much in faith as in seating.

Gymnasium
Theater