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The Pastor's Column
Coming Soon… God willing!
As we have brought the Easter Season to a wonderful conclusion, it is time to begin a new season. This won’t be any Ordinary Season. God willing, it will be Capital Improvement Season. Green is the right color as we will be spending plenty of it to get work done! At this moment our parish team is working diligently with designers, engineers, architects, artisans, Archdiocesan officials, the city, the Paulist Fathers, and parish leadership to begin the projects outlined in our parish campaign Inspiring Hope, Building Legacy.
Once we get the necessary approval from the city and the Archdiocese, this new season of renewal would begin. It would be staged in three phases. In Phase One, we will repaint the church and replace the boiler that serves the church and parish center. We understand the critical need for reliable heating in the winter and to replace our nearly 30-year-old system. However, the most visually impactful part of our overall project will be the painting of the Church which will enhance our worship now and into the future. We seek to paint the Church to reflect the joy of the Gospel we experience in our celebration of the sacred liturgy, to express our awe before our God, and to remember those whose legacy we seek to carry with us as we journey forward with the Lord.
As you can see in this current rendering of the renewed church, there is vibrant gold above the high altar. Over our heads, we will have an illuminated night sky in the ceiling that will allow the stars to shine like never before. Thanks to new digital technology, we will be able to add stenciling to the archways which embrace us, bringing back a classic element from the 1890s. We will enhance the lighting in the church building, completing the work that was done five years ago. We will also fix the lighting on the exterior of the church. If we can begin Phase One by late June, we hope and pray we can complete this work by Christmas!
Our church will look so beautiful when it is done! This is what we need to keep reminding ourselves while the work is in progress. We will have to endure extensive scaffolding in the church. We are working with the contractors to make the church as accessible and visible as possible, but compromises will need to be made. While we fully anticipate that the Church will be open for weekend and Sunday Masses, we may need to move some daily masses to the auditorium as the scaffolding is being installed for the safety of all involved.
By January 2027, we hope to start Phase Two. The critical part of this phase is to substantially replace our Air Conditioning system in the Church. Like the heating system, it is also at the end of its lifespan. During this phase we hope to make important upgrades to the auditorium, including renovation of the restrooms and creating additional meeting spaces that can be used even as the auditorium is rented.
Finally, Phase Three would focus on the Parish Center. The key element is the addition of a new kitchen on the first floor. This new kitchen would allow us to reopen our soup kitchen operations as well as support the food service needs for other ministries. We also need to do some needed structural work in our 25+ year old Center. This includes reconfiguring space to add meeting rooms, addressing leaks in the building from top to bottom, upgrading the fire alarm system, and replacing the entry doors. We will do as much as we can with the resources we have raised through the campaign. (Note: never too late to make a pledge to the campaign, enhance your pledge, or expedite the payment of your gift. For more info contact us at development@stpaultheapostle.org)
As of this writing, we have not been given the green light by the Archdiocese to begin any of this. (Pray for them!) So, I can’t tell you exactly when this will start. Because this is New York City, the go ahead might come tomorrow and work may commence abruptly, or it may be delayed without any good explanation! I wanted to give you a head’s up now, so we can begin to get excited about the future and not be surprised or upset when things start to happen or the waiting drags on!
This much I am certain: Thanks to your amazing prayerful and financial support of the capital campaign, in the fullness of time, our church will shine anew, welcoming the next generation of parishioners through our doors and into our community so we can all give glory and praise to our God who bestows on us all that is good!
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