Reprinted
courtesy of
Wednesday,
June 29, 2005
By
Diana McFarland
News
editor
Until
Sunday, it’s been standing room only at Good Shepherd
Catholic Church in Smithfield.
The
crowded conditions came to an end June 26, when parishioners celebrated
Mass in the new sanctuary, located on the west side of the church. The
new worship space was dedicated at a special 2 p.m. service by Bishop
Sullivan, and includes a baptismal font and fountain, room for overflow
seating and small services and a room dedicated to the Tabernacle,
which holds the blessed host. The two stained glass windows, 6-foot
Tabernacle and alter lectern were constructed by Good Shepherd
parishioners.
With
seating for 550, the brightly lit sanctuary with white-washed walls
replaces the cramped multi-purpose room that served as a worship space
for several years.
“We’ve
been in the temporary space way too long,”
said parishioner Daniel Falbe. When Falbe first came to Good Shepherd
seven years ago, there were barely enough people to fill the
multi-purpose room.
Good
Shepherd Catholic Church began 20 years ago with only 20 families. The
group met on Saturday nights at Christ Episcopal Church in Smithfield
and used the services of a borrowed priest. Today, the parish has grown
to include 250 households, and 90 percent of the members are
transplants from other areas — mostly Pennsylvania and New
Jersey, said Pastoral Coordinator Joanne Gordon.
With
more seating available, Gordon anticipates a weekly increase in
attendance once word gets out that there’s a place to sit.
The
turning point came on January 7, 2001, Gordon said. Christmas was over,
but mass remained standing room only. It was then that the church
leaders decided it was time to build a larger sanctuary.
“It
seemed like people were moving here,”
she said.
With
$65,000 in the bank, the church hired a professional fundraiser and set
to work. After years of collecting donations, pledges and fundraising,
parishioners broke ground on the new sanctuary last summer. The final
cost for the new facility is estimated at $1.7 million.
Everyone
helped pay for it, Falbe said.
The
church still relies on the services of retired and military priests to
perform Mass, weddings, baptisms and other special church functions.
The rest of the work is handled by a legion of laypersons led by
Gordon. The church switched to the more lateral hierarchy a few years
ago due to a shortage of priests in the area. Gordon said reaction to
the new structure is mixed — some prefer the opportunity to
serve in a larger capacity while others long for the days when the
parish priest and nuns did much of the work of the church.
Good
Shepherd will resume it's regular 9 a.m. Sunday Mass schedule July 3.
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