“Here is the church, here is the steeple, open up the doors… and see all the people.”
Three churches - Queen of Angels, St. Adelaide, Highland and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Winchester were, indeed, packed with people the weekend of April 23-24 as Bishop Barnes dedicated and blessed the new and remodeled structures. It was the first time in the history of the Diocese that three new churches were celebrated in one weekend.
Though much of the attention went to the new and beautifully designed buildings, Bishop Barnes used the nursery rhyme to drive home the point that the people, themselves, are the church.
“The beauty of this place, with all its architecture and design, is meaningless without the beauty that resides in us,” Bishop Barnes said during his homily at the Dedication of St. Adelaide Church, held the afternoon of Apr. 23.
The Baseline Street church saw a major expansion that included a new plaza and sidewall extension that doubled seating capacity from 500 to 1,000. Bishop Barnes joked in his homily that the oft-lamented orange carpet in the church was gone. Parishioners liked the design and extra room.
“I like the simplicity of the altar. It’s not too ornate,” said Nina Young.
Connie Robles remembers discussions about expanding the church shortly after she began attending there decades ago.
“We didn’t imagine it would be like this,” she said looking around before Mass. “It’s so big.”
The people of Queen of Angels waged a similar long-term campaign to replace their 250-seat church on Jones Avenue with a building that would hold their growing community. On the morning of Apr. 23 they celebrated the opening of a towering 1,600 seat church that is the largest Catholic church in Riverside County.
“It gives me great hope to see this grand structure,” said Josue Garcia. “Just looking at it and seeing how tall it is, it reflects the people.”
The Queen of Angels Dedication was the most extensive of the three Masses as Bishop Barnes anointed the new walls of the church and the altar. The celebration began with an opening prayer in the parish hall and procession up the hill to the new church. After prayer and acknowledgements outside the church doors Bishop Barnes handed the ceremonial keys to Father Miguel Ruiz, SVD, and the parish pastor led the way into the 22,900 square foot steel reinforced building.
Children were invited to sit at the foot of the altar throughout. Despite its massive size, the church still wasn’t large enough to hold all of the people who came to celebrate.
“It’s finally come true,” said Maria Copak. “I’ve been a parishioner here 30 years and we’ve been planning it that long.”
For the people of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta the move into a new home was perhaps even more monumental because it is the first building raised by the parish since it was erected by Bishop Barnes 10 years ago. Until Apr. 24 the people there had celebrated Mass in the back of a local Moose Lodge. “It gave us a chance to build that small community feeling,” parish secretary Susan Fennessy said of the makeshift accommodations.
Father Tom Burdick, VF, pastor of the parish, said when it came time to move into their new building he felt joy and excitement among the people. “It was almost unbelievable to the people who have been here for the entire ten years,” he said.
Said longtime parishioner and minister Olivia Obregon, “it’s been a time of patience, hope and prayer... and a lot of hard work.”
The multi-purpose building will be used for celebrating Mass and also has retractable walls so faith formation classes and other gatherings can be held there during the week. The parish will continue its capital campaign with the goal of eventually building a separate 2,000-seat church building, Fr. Burdick said.
The three new church celebrations in one weekend underscore the continued growth in the Diocese as many faith communities have long outgrown smaller churches built in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. The Diocese has seen the opening of four new churches in the last four years, coinciding with the decision of the Diocese to assume the role of general contractor for all new church building projects. Coupled with design templates established by the Diocese, this has dramatically reduced construction costs and made a new church building attainable for working class communities like Bloomington (2012) and Mecca (2015).
There are six more parishes in the Diocese that have reached at least as far as the schematic design and permitting phase of building a new church. They are Our Lady of Soledad, Coachella; The Holy Name of Jesus, Redlands; St. Mary, Fontana; St. James, Perris; St. Anthony, San Jacinto; St. Mary Magdalene, Corona; and St. George, Fontana.