The parishioners of St. Austin are continuing their journey of faith to ensure that the mission of Christ will continue for generations to come. We were blessed to inherit wonderful parish facilities – our church, school and priests’ residence - from those faith-filled St. Austin parishioners of the 1950’s who planned, sacrificed and built for the future. Those buildings have served us long and well, but we are outgrowing them, and their age is catching up with them. Our time has come, and the call to us is clear: with the same generosity and forethought of those who went before us, we must prepare for the future, renewing and expanding our parish facilities.
Many factors were studied as we considered how best to carry forth Christ’s mission and to plan for the future of St. Austin. The Strategic Pastoral Plan of the Diocese of Austin released in January 2003 reported that the current population of 400,000 Catholics in the diocese will double in the next 20 to 25 years. Our parish’s own steady growth, witnessed by our increasingly crowded facilities, is proof of that forecast. In addition, the purchase of property at MLK and San Antonio presented an opportunity to address the long-standing issue of parking.
The parish Planning and Development Committee, with the guidance of the diocesan director of facilities planning and the assistance of the architects of Overland Partners, Inc., developed a long-range Master Plan in 2003 to ensure the best use of our property and to ensure that parishioners will have facilities to continue Christ’s mission for the generations to come.
In 2004, we launched our Built of Living Stones capital campaign to help finance the first phase of the Master Plan –multi-storied parking structure on the property we purchased at MLK and San Antonio with retail space on the ground level. Generous parishioners pledged almost $5 million over a three-year pledge period. Visit the Parking Garage page for updates on this project.
Future phases of the Master Plan provide for a new, expanded education center that includes space for 3 and 4-year-olds, as well as grades K through 8. The long-range plan includes a new church that will seat 900-1,000 people with plans for our existing church to become a Great Hall, where our parish will continue to honor that space as we gather for spiritual, artistic and community events.
Subsequent to the introduction of our 2003 Master Plan, property south of our Church became available, and we have purchased two parcels of land there. Some revision of the Master Plan will be necessary to incorporate this new land into our future plans to perhaps provide space for parish offices and a priest residence.
Hear God’s words from John 15:
We are called; we are chosen – working together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will bear fruit for generations to come.