With additional space at St. Michael Catholic Church comes greater demand for usage and greater need for security. To that end, all doors accessing the church, social hall, gymnasium, offices, and meeting spaces will receive new locks on Monday, January 23.
In addition, the church has installed additional security cameras, and the process for accessing the building after hours will change.
"Our goal is to provide access for everyone who wants to use our spaces while improving security,” says Parish Business Administrator Dave Ferry. “We want people to use our buildings, but we also want to know who is in our space and keep children, youth, and adults safe while they are here.”
What does that mean for parishioners?
Access to the building will be controlled electronically. As recommended by our security company, there will be no physical exterior door keys, because if a key is lost or stolen, the security of our building is compromised. Parish staff will have electronic fobs to open exterior doors; all other ministry leaders, volunteers, or parishioners who wish to use the space will need to request a room and specify when the exterior doors should be programmed to be unlocked.
Meeting spaces must be requested in advance through our online eSpace calendar. Under the Services menu, users will select Program Doors, then complete a two-question form specifying the door and times to be unlocked (e.g., for a 6:30 PM event, the exterior door could be programmed to be unlocked 6:00-6:45 PM). Once you are assigned a meeting space and time, staff will program the specified door to be unlocked.
If you are meeting after hours, you will need to come to the office during normal business hours for a key to your meeting space. For safety and security, our interior spaces will be kept locked when not in use. Parishioners who have regular meetings in the same space will be issued an interior key they can keep; one-time meetings or events will be issued interior room keys to be returned to the office.
“We want our parishioners to feel welcome to use our space, but with the increased demand we are already seeing, it is even more important that you schedule things in advance,” Father Brian Park said. “The new locks and procedures mean that people won’t be able to show up after hours, unlock an exterior door, and grab an empty room. We will be tracking any issues that come up so we can adjust our procedures if needed as we move forward.”
Any previously issued church keys can be discarded after January 23; contact Cindy Woitalla at the parish office to schedule a time to pick up a new meeting room key on January 24 or later.