Bishop Will Dedicate St. Mary’s Renovation
Christmas is coming a little early this year for St. Mary’s Catholic Church. No, the holiday Mass schedules aren’t being shuffled around. But the congregation will celebrate a gift they gave themselves through fund-raising efforts.
On Sunday, Bishop William Skylstad will dedicate the church’s just-completed “gathering place” fellowship lobby and two new wing additions to the church interior, upping seating from 600 to 800 people.
The ceremony begins at 11:15 a.m. at the church, 304 S. Adams Road.
That latest work, completed just a couple of weeks ago, was the second phase of a renovation project totaling $1.5 million. The first phase of the project opened up a year ago, but will be included in the dedication ceremony.
The work was ambitious, and included a lot of space-swapping. Room for 11 religious education offices opened up in the old church rectory. The parish priests then moved into a new duplex built on the church property.
Access for people in wheelchairs was also improved, and a new roof was put on the church. The space where the old religious education offices were is now a computer center for St. Mary’s School. The old rectory basement, formerly a garage, now contains a small chapel for day Masses and a youth center.
Diana Sanderson, director of religious education at the church, said the center is definitely property of the St. Mary’s youth. “The kids made it really theirs,” she said.
That they did. It’s not the boombox. It’s not the ping-pong, pool or foosball tables either. It’s the walls.
They’re covered with art. Paint handprints cover the walls next to kids’ initials. An airbrush painting by one of the youth members covers one wall. An Amy Grant poster is hung on one side of the room, while handscrawled “The Beatles” is on the other.
Sanderson said that project has really upped church attendance by teens. Attendance in general, though, was getting a boost of its own - there are 1,600 families attending the parish. Back when she first joined the parish in 1973, there were 700. The larger sanctuary, office spaces and youth center were sorely needed.
“We were finding that (even with) six Masses each weekend, we were having more and more people,” Sanderson said.
Centennial Christmas
Open Bible Church of the Valley, 905 N. McDonald Road, will stage the last performance of “Centennial Christmas” Sunday at 6 p.m.
The play, about Christmas in a late-1800s Montana town, has a cast of nearly 30. According to director Dave Henderson, the plays is part comedy, part tragedy and part musical. Admission is free.
, DataTimes