April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
CLIFTON PARK
A new church for St. Edward's
A new church for St. Edward's
The groundbreaking has been a long time coming: "We've been in this process for about eight years," said Rev. Patrick Butler, pastor.
The project began that long ago with a joint meeting of representatives from St. Edward's, St. Mary's parish in Crescent and Corpus Christi parish in Round Lake. All three parishes knew they wanted a larger space for youth ministry in southern Saratoga County.
"The Saratoga County area is continuing to grow in terms of population," explained Elizabeth Simcoe, chancellor for the Albany Diocese. There has been a corresponding rise in the number of Catholics there over the last several years. Today, St. Edward's is one of the largest parishes in the Diocese, with about 3,800 registered households.
After the meeting with the other churches in its cluster, St. Edward's staff started to talk about what they wanted to do. At first, "we didn't really know how to move that [project] forward," the pastor remarked.
Parishioners knew that a larger space would be helpful for events like the post-liturgy hospitality hour -- currently being held each week in the church's hallway -- and youth ministry activities. They also wanted a more traditional-looking worship space, said Father Butler.
St. Edward's took a survey of parishioners, trying to learn what else people wanted to see in the next 15 or 20 years for their parish. "A lot of people really had some specifics," Father Butler said. "People wanted to make it more look like what we think of as a church."
The parish's master planning committee weighed the options of renovating the current church building vs. building a new one. But renovating the present church would have meant closing off a third of the space each week, and "we couldn't afford to lose a third of the parishioners," said Father Butler.
It was decided: A new church would be constructed. Father Butler agreed.
"We can use the new space for a large gathering area," the pastor said. "It would serve as the parish hall. You can do athletics in the space. We're looking at a theater area."
A new church would also give "more quality space for our youth ministry and faith formation programs."
Making sure young parishioners had a space in the new setting was important, said Sue Martin, a trustee and co-chair of the planning committee: "If we're going to ensure the future of St. Edward's, and probably the Catholic Church in general, we need to attract the youth."
Part of the goal to make the new church look more traditional will be achieved by using artifacts collected from area churches that have closed or merged in recent years, said Ms. Martin.
Windows from St. Patrick's and St. Mary's parishes in Troy will be incorporated into the new church's design: Ten from St. Patrick's and four from St. Mary's, when put together, will make up a nativity scene. The new space will also feature an organ from the former St. Patrick's Church in Watervliet.
Altogether, said Ms. Martin, the new church will have more than a million dollars' worth of artifacts -- a boon to the budget for the project that also preserved some diocesan history.
This isn't Father Butler's first time dealing with the stress of building a new church for a parish. He was at Christ the King parish in Westmere, Albany, in the 1990s when that parish constructed a new building.
"I'll be very happy when it's over," the pastor admitted.
A capital campaign at St. Edward's raised about $6 million of the $6.4 million needed for the project.
Mrs. Simcoe noted that "people working on a project really pull the community together. There's a sense of community pride."
Father Butler affirmed that, saying parishioners are "anxious to get it going. People have been very supportive."[[In-content Ad]]
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