PATIO

Our grounds crew takes such wonderful care of our campus.  Anything from tree removal, to re-seeding fields, to moving heavy furniture … you name it, they do it.  They noticed that the space north of the parish hall is essentially unused.  When the weather is nice, we have a lot of groups that don’t have an exterior gathering space.  Especially with the explosion of our Youth Ministry, there’s not really a dedicated spot for fraternity.  Plus, we have so many weddings here, but hardly any have their reception here.  An outdoor space that is capable of having tents could really bring people here.

I almost wanted to name it, “St. Joseph’s Patio.”  This is not set in stone, but I thought we could get a St. Joseph statue to complement our Mary in the front courtyard.  Submit ideas or if you like that to the Parish Council!

In short, the grounds crew proposed this patio to fill these needs.  While we don’t have details (like if we’ll have firepits or pergolas), this area can truly become another place where the community can connect.

Communion Rail Installation

I was approached about this idea when I moved here in the summer of 2022, but I expressed that I would not be initiating such a change till getting to know the parish.  Then, when we hosted an Open Forum for all parishioners and parish leaders in October of 2023, that’s when this topic came back clearly and consistently.  Since then, I’ve reached out about every three or four months in my pastor portion of the bulletin.  Also, since the start of 2024, I’ve asked the Parish Council, Evangelization Team, and Stewardship Council to reach out to everyone they come in contact with as well as small group leaders for around a year and half.  The vast majority had positive to very positive responses, with a couple of good questions that were brought up.  I’ve listed those questions and answers on the FAQ’s that are posted by the projects.

While we had an amazing donor who covered the actual cost, there is still the installation cost and the design cost from the architects.  Your support will go here.

Aging Facility Systems

When we began with this campaign, I had in mind the HVAC systems in the oldest part of our facilities.  Their expected life is around 25 years … but we are currently at 30 years of operation.  Thank you to all the volunteers and facility managers who have done the maintenance to give them this extra life!  However, they are starting to deteriorate from the inside out. 

One more.  Unfortunately, our Fire Suppression System is starting to fail too.  I don’t know who all was there at the 5pm mass on November 22nd, but we had another false alarm go off.  The company says that this too is starting to need a full replacement.  We have no bids yet, but this campaign would fix that!

Ornamentation

The design of our church is absolutely amazing.  The space, size, and layout point to the grandeur of God.  Plus, the crucifix is absolutely striking being the focal point of the church.  You walk in, and you experience the greatness of God.

That being said, parishes also use beauty and symbols to allow people to further delve into spiritual realities.  We would simply call this “ornamentation.”  Holy images or details that can be used to not only enhance beauty, but also teach people the history and splendor of the Church that Jesus Himself founded.  While there are absolutely no plans at the moment, perhaps this campaign could give the parish freedom to examine some ideas:

The space behind our crucifix is a concrete block wall, could something highlight the crucifix even more?

The altars and ambo were a more economical granite stone design, could something elevate the sanctuary even more?