From Our Pastor

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish—Care for the House of the Lord

Thank you for your generous response to the Care for the House of the Lord project. We are pleased to provide a more detailed update as we enter the construction phase. The original scope of our project included: rebuilding the altar to address structural issues and install hardwood flooring, repairing structural cracks on the east and west walls, new carpeting and paint for the church, chapel, sacristy, narthex, cry room, usher/scrip room and restrooms, refinishing pew cap rails, backs and ends, reupholster pews, kneelers (qty. 61) and freestanding chairs/kneelers (qty. 80) and the installation of an inductive hearing assistance system (Hearing Loop System). The campaign was combined with the Catholic Services Appeal (CSA), so that the parish would meet its CSA obligation in a timely manner and the Diocese would administer the payments toward the campaign.

Active construction within the church will occur in the October 1st – November 16th timeframe. During this time, weekend Masses will be held in the Family Life Center. School Masses will be held in the ABVM School Gym. Volunteers will be needed on Saturday afternoons to set up chairs in the Family Life Center and on Sunday evenings to place the chairs back in the storage closet. Please email us if you can help with this team effort!

Your CSA gifts and pledges above our CSA contribution to the Diocese met our goal for the Care for the House of the Lord project. Thank you! This is truly a blessing to care for our most sacred spaces. We can proceed only to the extent that families have completed their CSA pledges. As of July 31st, total payments equal $269,000 and unpaid pledges equal $110,000. After our CSA contribution to the Diocese, this left $137,000 available for our use immediately. The project is being broken into two phases to allow families time to complete their pledges.

The areas that will be restored in Phase I include: rebuilding the altar and installing hardwood flooring, repairing structural cracks on the east and west walls, new carpeting and paint for the church, chapel, sacristy, narthex, cry room, usher/scrip room and restrooms, refinishing pew cap rails, backs and ends, and installation of the inductive hearing assistance system (Hearing Loop System). Phase II includes reupholster pews, kneelers (qty. 61) and freestanding chairs/kneelers (qty. 80).

Please be faithful to your CSA pledge. If you can complete your pledge soon, it will be very helpful to us in managing the project cash flow and to ensure we are able to pay our subcontractors in a timely fashion. We need to collect approximately $37,000 by the end of October to pay for the Phase I components and then another $42,000 to begin Phase II. The stained-glass windows require restoration. This element was not within the original scope of the project. When we have successfully concluded Phase I and II of the project, we anticipate being able to complete restoration of the windows if our contingency fund is not exhausted. The contractor, Kolenda Art Glass, has suggested initiating this aspect of the project in January, 2019.

Again, our sincere gratitude for your faithfulness to our parish family. Our hope is that the Care for the House of the Lord project can be completed before Christmas and we know with your help this is possible!

Father Tony Pelak  (frtpelak@grpriests.org), Wayne Gagnon (RGAproperties1@gmail.com) & Mary Panek (marypanek@charter.net)

Pray With Us

Eucharistic Adoration: Thursday, 7:30 AM – Friday, 7:30 AM in the Chapel

Chaplet of Divine Mercy: 3:00 PM every Friday in the Chapel

Rosary: 5:00 PM Saturday, 8:30 AM & 5:00 PM Sunday (recited before Mass)