**When the parish does the Parish Penance Service twice a year (Advent and Lent) the place is a mob scene - lines out the door with 10 or a dozen priests hearing confessions. We have about 1800 families registered in the parish.**
This is sounding good to me......actually great!
AT the Advent and Lent services we have five or six priests and people out the door. Can’t imagine what it would be like if we had the 1800 families, rather than our 1000. We used to be the smalles parish in the Salem-Keizer area, but I believe our little church is climbing up the ranks. We are currently putting in a sprinkling sytem and re-roofing the church.
Can’t do any major building because of the Portland Archdiocese still have funds tied up. (Even though we have the land!)
Amazingly enough, I grew up right around the corner from our current parish - a block and a half away - even though I was an Episcopalian then. The parish loaned space to a startup ECUSA congregation at the time, and a friend's family were members there. I have seen the parish grow from its start in 1967, when they had this hysterically ugly little round white prefab building that was known locally as "The Great Pumpkin". It was so ugly, but I have looked in vain for a picture of it on the internet! The parish would build a building, then when they built the next one they would recycle the old one into something else. Now we have a beautiful traditional Romanesque-Revival (H.H. Richardson) -styled brick sanctuary (seats 850). The old sanctuary is now the parish hall, the old rectory is the parish offices, the church bought two adjoining suburban houses and converted them to a rectory and housing for the sisters. The Great Pumpkin was wrecked out and the parochial school now stands on the site.
Is 1000 families really considered small? With 35 registered families (not all attending), what does that make my parish? What's truly disheartening is that the RC Churches have absorbed Maronite Catholics into their folds. If they would just send them back to their own Church, perhaps we could complete the rennovation of the future Church quicker. We all believe St. Ann is guiding this parish to its future home.
We will soon be unveiling the sign from NYS OPRHP (Parks and Historic Preservation) at the future Church (the sign is mandated by the state). I suggested to Father that we turn this into a media event. In whatever spare time I can find, I will write up the Press Release and put together a quick fact sheet on the Maronite Church. Given the number of RCs whose parishes in Watervliet were closed by Hubbard, you can be sure I will bold the text that says a Roman Catholic may participate in and join a Maronite Catholic parish.
The rectory is nearly finished and we are hopeful to get Father moved in before winter. Once he is there, the work inside the Church should progress more quickly. He will also be a physical reminder to area Catholics that this Church is coming to their neighborhood. With St. Ann's guidance, perhaps some of them will even volunteer their time to assist with the work. Please keep us in your prayers.