Bishop Gerald Barnes will dedicate the new church for Queen of Angels Parish in Riverside and dedicate the newly renovated church at St. Adelaide Parish in Highland on April 23. The following day he will bless the new multi-purpose building for Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Winchester.
“Just one, alone, is a big event,” says David Meier, Director of Construction and Real Estate for the Diocese. “All of these are years and years in the making. To have this all happen in one weekend is a real blessing in our Diocese.”
The new worship spaces will meet important needs for each parish. Blessed Teresa has owned property at Whisper Heights and Winchester Road in Winchester since its founding in 2006, but has held Mass at the back of a nearby Moose Lodge while it raised funds to build a church. The 12,500 square foot building will serve as a worship space and also includes partitions so that faith formation classes can be held there. The parish will eventually build a separate church building on its property.
Queen of Angels has long outgrown its 240-seat church constructed in 1958. The new 22,900 square foot, 1,600 seat church, which sits up on a hillside, is now the largest Catholic church in Riverside County. Meanwhile, St. Adelaide has added 4,100 square feet to its Baseline Street church and will double the seating capacity from 500 to 1,000. Both parishes have for years been forced to hold Mass in their parish hall to accommodate larger crowds than their church could hold.
Because both the Queen of Angels and St. Adelaide buildings will be used only for liturgical events, Bishop Barnes will do a dedication ritual, which involves consecrating the new altar and, in the case of Queen of Angels, the walls of the church. The Blessed Teresa building will be used for multiple functions and thus will receive a blessing from Bishop Barnes. View Schedule