St. Paul – present sanctuaryIn almost every instance where a church building has been renovated during the episcopacy of Bishop Matthew Clark, the church has became plainer and much less Catholic in appearance. In the case of St. Paul’s (Webster) proposed renovations, the changes may actually prove to be an upgrade. Most people familiar with St. Paul church would probably agree that it’s hardly recognizable as a Roman Catholic church. The reasons include the lack of a crucifix, the hidden tabernacle behind the sanctuary, the lack of statues and non-abstract Catholic art, and the strange hexagonal altar placed on the right side of the sanctuary. St. Paul has developed designs for the expansion and renovation of their parish. From the look of things, the structure appears to be much more Catholic than what they have now. That’s not to say that you’ll be blown away by what they’re proposing; but it does look like a step up from what they have now.
Here is their current church design [features- hexagonal altar on right side of sanctuary, hidden tabernacle in room behind sanctuary]:
Here is the proposed design (2D and 3D representations):
As can be seen, there do appear to be a few changes for the better. The sanctuary would be redesigned to include a rectangular altar on the central axis. The adoration chapel would be moved from behind the sanctuary, where it is currently hidden, over to the right of the sanctuary with glass windows. Also, there appears to be a cross (hopefully a crucifix) on the back wall of the sanctuary.
Tags: News and Media, Orthodoxy at Work
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Fr. Stan Kacprzak, the pastor at St. Paul, was the pastor at Our Lady of Mercy in Greece when that parish renovated around the turn of the century. In fact, the new OLM church was dedicated and Fr. Stan moved to Webster all within a matter of weeks.
Now it looks like Fr. Stan's 12 years at St. Paul might be up just as their renovation is completed and he'll once again be moving on – perhaps to renovate elsewhere?
St. Thomas More was renovated a few years ago under Fr. Chase. He did a beautiful job! He restored the pews, installed beautiful orientals over the restored hardwood floors in the sanctuary and he actually added more artwork. The mosaics on the altar and the new pulpit are just beautiful. I always love the first thing you see in that church is that huge crucifix. He brought back the old statue of St. Joseph and hung it in the front next to the statue of Our Lady. He also had a new statue made of St. John Fisher and hung it across from the statue of St. Thomas More. I think his renovation was very good.
Compared to most other renovations, I'd have to agree. So many pastors think they have the skill required to do these, but they don't. They became priests, not interior decorators.
one local priest believes exactly as you do on this matter, Gen…
Mike, you are mistaken about Father Stan. He does not want to undertake another renovation.
This is on their website:
The master plan will not be implemented until the people of St. Paul?s decide to do so. With Father Stan able to remain at St. Paul?s no longer than 2014, it is not something that will take place until sometime after 2015 at the earliest.
Anon. 6:11,
Thanks for the clarification. I guess I should have dug a bit deeper for details.
Back in my OLM days with Fr. Stan, when the parish got to the drawings and model phase we were several months away from starting the capital fund drive and maybe a year to 18 months short of the onset of actual construction. I incorrectly assumed the same was true here.