Can a few more feet of lobby space
change a parish community? That’s what several diocesan pastors are hoping. Churches
including St. William of York in Stafford, St. John the Beloved in McLean and
Church of the Nativity in Burke recently have completed lobby renovations. New
narthexes for St. Lawrence Church in Alexandria and Holy Spirit Church in
Annandale are in the works. Communities are hoping the changes are more
than superficial.
“Our churches were really growing in the
’70s and ’80s and the architectural style of the period led to a narthex with a
front door and an entry door — enough room to stop the cold air, and that’s
really all that was going on,” said Andrew Shulman, director of the diocesan
Office of Planning, Construction and Facilities.
“These pastors have recognized that
typical Catholics — they’re going to Mass, they're coming through that little
tiny narthex and they’re leaving. It's just a space to walk through,” he said.
“But if you put 60 feet between those two doors and have a place to pause, have
a cup of coffee, interact with fellow parishioners, (visit) the Knights of the
Columbus table — all these things are now happening in the narthex that used to
just be a weather enclosure. It has absolutely changed the dynamic of the pre-
and post-Mass experience.”
Nativity was one of the first parishes
to renovate its narthex, and the change has been dramatic, visually and
communally, said Shulman. “It’s white, it’s bright, high ceilings, lots of
glass, a little place for a coffee stand, lots of tables around for different
ministries,” he said. “What used to be just a weather enclosure has become a
place of interaction, of repose, of community building.”
New lobbies also give a facelift to the
church and make room for more amenities. St. Lawrence’s $2 million expanded
narthex includes a cry room, bigger bathrooms, more storage, an updated
baptistry, more Americans with Disabilities Act compliant confessionals, a
center aisle entrance with a brighter, naturally lighted narthex, according to
Deacon Michael A. Waters, who also serves as parish office manager.
“(The renovation) is intended to make
the church entrance more welcoming and reverential, to provide useful indoor
gathering space in inclement weather and greater outdoor gathering space in nice
weather,” he said.
More than new narthexes are being built.
According to the Office of Planning, Construction and Faculties, there are a
total of 59 projects in the works or underway totaling $138 million. Though
months or, in some cases, years from completion, St. Mary of Sorrows Church in
Fairfax, Corpus Christi Church in South Riding, St. Paul Church in Hague and
St. Patrick Church in Fredericksburg are in the midst of construction on new
churches. St. Ambrose Church in Annandale is finalizing architectural plans for
a new church, said Shulman.
St. John Bosco Church in Woodstock
recently renovated its church hall, restoring it to the look of the original
structure built in the late 1800s. Among other projects, Good Shepherd Church
in Alexandria plans to build a chapel for private prayer, baptisms and daily
Mass.
While those are some of the bigger
church projects, all kinds of things are in the works, said Shulman. “There’s a
lot of steel up in the air for the Diocese of Arlington.”
Maraist can be reached at zoey.maraist@catholicherald.com
or Twitter @zoeymaraistACH.