Parish Council Meeting with Local Architect

On January 18th, 2015, the Parish Council met with Ray Kistler of Kistler Small and White, Architects. Mr. Kistler is the Ashland architect who assisted us in developing a site plan and in navigating the local Land Use Planning process. He helped us to secure Jackson County’s approval for our proposed Temple, a necessary step before we could purchase the land we had selected.

Ray, who is also a lay minister in the Lutheran Church, has been an Ashland architect for 25 years and although he was quick to point out that he has never built an Orthodox Temple, he is excited about the opportunity. He explained that it’s any architect’s dream to design a structure that will last hundreds of years! He has designed churches and displayed several examples of projects he designed where achieving the vision and expectations of the owner, within budget constraints, was clearly his objective.

During the conversations it became clear that Ray followed what Fr. Andreas was so excitedly expressing about the nature of Orthodox Worship and the integral part the Worship Space plays in that expression. The Church Council members were gratified with Mr. Kistler’s attentiveness to our desire to have more than a church; that our desire is for an Orthodox Christian Temple where the full expression of Orthodox Worship can take place to the Glory of God!

Ray shared with us that we are very fortunate to have acquired Jackson County approval in 2014 because the State of Oregon is poised in 2015 to place even more strict rules on Land Use to allow churches only inside cities. Glory to God! Again!