It’s been more than 30 years since parishioners of the
126-year-old St. Paul Mission in Hague have
worshipped in a proper church. In 1982, termites destroyed the building,
forcing the community into a parish hall that seats only 160, said Parochial Vicar
Father Andrew J. Heintz. During the summer tourist season, its standing room only
at their four Sunday Masses.
Since then, the parish has been saving money to build a new spiritual
home, from fundraising at the annual spaghetti dinner or the recent capital
campaign. Now, they have an architectural plan and hope to move forward with in
the next few years.
Architect James McCrery, a graduate of Bishop O’Connell High
School in Arlington, created designs for several diocesan upcoming projects,
including St. Paul. He described the new church as traditional, colonial style,
and “clearly Catholic but clearly Virginian.” The 300-seat church will have a bell
tower, stained glass windows and a statue of St. Paul in a nook above the front
door.
St. Jude Church in Fredericksburg is scheduled to be completed in 2018.
St. Paul is one of six parishes building a new house of worship.
St. Ambrose Church in Annandale, St. Patrick Church in Fredericksburg and St.
Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax are replacing existing structures, while St.
Jude Church in Fredericksburg and Corpus Christi Church in South Riding are
building permanent churches for the first time.
In total, there are currently $164 million worth of diocesan
construction projects planned, though $70 million of that is going toward the
new Paul VI Catholic High School building in South Riding. Several projects are
set to be completed in 2019 or 2020.
“It’s going to be a busy couple of years,” said diocesan Planning
Manager Bob Nashed.
The ambitious new projects are a necessity as communities outgrow
small, older facilities. But underneath the practical need, the pending church
designs show the great desire for more traditional church buildings.
“The church carries with it millennia of architectural tradition.
Only in the last 50 years has there been a willingness to set all of that
history aside,” said McCrery. “People like to be part of something new … (and there has been) a thirst for beauty that
has gone unquenched for a very long time.”
The prevailing theme for upcoming projects, Nashed echoed, is churches
built in the cruciform style, facing east with towering heights.
St. Patrick is replacing both its church and school to
accommodate the growing number of people in the Fredericksburg area. But the
pastor, Father John A. Zeigler, mentioned that the new structure will not look
like the old church — a relatively short, brick building with a steeple and
colonnade.
“(The new church) will be
a nice, very simple, elegant sanctuary. … It should triple the seating capacity (and be)
a traditional-looking Catholic church,” said Father Zeigler.
As with many of the other churches, raising money for the project
has been a years-long labor of love for parishioners. St. Patrick has been fundraising
since 2013, and now has $5 million pledged, said Father Zeigler.
But before the site plan and the budget, churches have to decide if
they can no longer put money into an aging structure or continue to celebrate
overflow Masses — in short, is there a compelling reason to build something new?
Starting in 2009, St. Ambrose hired professionals to conduct a
feasibility and planning study for the possibility of a new church, then discussed
the results in multiple town hall meetings. Five years later, the bishop
approved the plan to move forward.
With the new building, St. Ambrose Church in Annandale will be able to accommodate more worshipers.
The current church in the round design will be replaced with
forward-facing pews, a rose window at the entrance, vaulted ceilings and a cornerstone
taken from a crypt near the tomb of St. Ambrose in Milan.
A parishioner told Pastor Father Andrew J. Fisher with the new
church, “visitors should feel that they are entering a sacred place, somewhere
different from this world, a place that turns our hearts to thoughts of
eternity,” In addition to major construction, the diocese is working on several
smaller fixes. Some churches will update or expand rectories or parish halls.
Some want more traditional art or liturgical furnishings, or to relocate the
tabernacle to a place of greater prominence within the sanctuary. Others will
replace old lighting with LEDs and install more efficient heating and cooling
systems.
Whether big or small, the construction projects show the willingness
of diocesan Catholics to give time, talent and treasure to their beloved
spiritual homes. “It speaks well to a strong Catholic community here,” said
Nashed.
Church construction in the diocese
St. Ambrose Church in Annandale
New church and rectory
$10.8 M
800 seats
Estimated completion — 2019
Corpus Christi Church in South Riding
New church on new site
$17 M
1,200 seats
Estimated completion — TBD
St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax
New church and parish center
$16 M
1,200 seats
Estimated completion — 2019
St. Patrick Church in Fredericksburg
New church and school
$10 M
Seating capacity — unknown
Estimated completion — 2020
St. Jude Church in Fredericksburg
New church on new site
$5.9 million
700 seats
Estimated completion — 2018
Learn more: St. Jude’s recent groundbreaking
St. Paul Church in Hague
New church
$4 million
300 seats
Estimated completion — TBD
