Revisions consider future

BY KATE BLAIN
ASSISTANT EDITOR

In dedicating their new worship space Dec. 16, the parishioners of St. Cecilia's parish in Warrensburg were also declaring themselves ready to face the future of the Church in the Albany Diocese.

Nearly seven years ago, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard asked parishes to begin considering the decreasing number of priests in any parish planning for the future.

St. Cecilia's parishioners realized that, someday, they might have only one weekend Mass available at their church -- and immediately began to prepare for that possibility. More room would be needed if there were fewer Masses for parishioners to attend.

Ready, set...

"When the Bishop said, 'Get ready,' we listened to him," Sister Linda Hogan, CSJ, parish life director, told The Evangelist.

Over several years, parishioners assessed their needs, determined a budget for redesigning the worship space, and consulted with Prof. Walter Kroner of the diocesan Architecture and Building Commission on an appropriate design.

The result was a new interior for the church, replacing pews with movable seating around a central, round altar that was built by a parishioner from some of those pews. There's also room for extra seating in the vestibule.

Changing church

The parish instituted several changes:

* Panels celebrating Advent now circle the walls, covering the Stations of the Cross for the season;

* when parishioners realized Mass-goers sitting in the choir loft would not be able to see well, they replaced porch-like wooden spindles at the loft's edge with glass panels; and

* a new baptismal font is nearly finished.

Pitching in

"We're still weary," reported Sister Linda. "Folks did a lot of the work themselves," from stripping siding and painting to landscaping and raising funds for the project.

She believes "it was clear that God was in" the redesign and that parishioners "knew we were going in the right direction."

She noted that the entire parish community participated in the project.

Back home

During construction, Mass was celebrated in the local Presbyterian church on Saturdays and at Alexander Funeral Home on Sundays.

Parishioners held a "homecoming" weekend in May when they moved back into the redesigned church, but they still had more work to finish before having the dedication.

The space "still feels like St. Cecilia's," Sister Linda said, but "we're ready for the future. If we had one Mass, we could do it. It would be crowded, but we could do it."

(12/20/07) [[In-content Ad]]