It was July, 2012. I had been here about a week when someone handed me a big thick book with lots of colored pictures in it. It was a two hundred page study of the physical structures of Holy Trinity parish.
Fr. William Michatek, your pastor, had wisely hired a professional architecture firm to set a “roadmap of renewal” for the parish buildings.
It showed a weather distressed church roof (100 yr. old slate), stained glass windows leaving their lead casings, protective window panels turned yellow by the sun, scary cinder parking lots with lots of pot holes and no lighting, the path to Phillips Rd. ready to ruin your tail pipe, no fire alarm system, etc.
These past six years Holy Trinity has been busy making these things right. We do this not just for ourselves but for those who will follow to worship here.
The bulletin this Sunday is here to say . . . we’re not done yet. There is much more we need to fix here. Let me elaborate.
Due to an increased need for meeting space, class rooms for the growing religious education program, the physical education needs of the Star children (our school tenants) and a midsize gathering space for parish functions – – – we are going to renovate what we have called “The Old Gym”.
Have you seen that space? We store the Star Christmas food and gifts there. It’s the blue colored room that looks like some dark boxing club down in the Bronx. It’s scary!!
This very week we have contracted with Bero Architects to design a multipurpose room that would house those several needs. Our Facility Committee (the people who made the church roof and parking lot happen) will be watching over the plans for this new undertaking. I think it will be a great addition to the life of this parish.
There’s more . . . . .
When was the last time you painted your kitchen/ bathroom/ or living room? I bet it’s been within the last twenty years, right? Know when we last painted the interior of Holy Trinity Church? ……………. 1968. That’s 50 years ago.
At that time, fashion had it, that you whitewashed a church space to accentuate the prominence of the pulpit and altar and the font. That’s what we have here at Holy Trinity; a white room with an altar. And the white walls have, over the years, taken on soot from the candles and peoples breath. (Yeah that’s right, your breath!).
Our beautiful dome depicting the Blessed Trinity was nicely cleaned a few years back so this would be untouched. But the rest of the church needs freshening and perhaps a new color scheme.
Now don’t get nervous. We all love this beautiful church. Any proposed changes will be shared with you via schematic drawings when the time comes.
So how will we pay for all this? In part, through a gift given to us a few years ago that insures the work of evangelization be continued in the parish (the classrooms mentioned above).
The rest? Well we don’t have the figures yet as to the cost of either project. I will let you know in the months ahead (early summer perhaps) what we are facing. I promise you here and now we will undertake no debt to accomplish these projects.
So now you know what lies ahead here at Holy Trinity Parish.
God bless you this week . . . . and then pass it along.
Fr. Tim
