TUSCOLA, Ill. (AP) - Come two months from now, parishioners at Tuscola’s Forty Martyrs Catholic Church will be able to establish a cozy new seating arrangement for weekend Mass.
The rest of the week, they can relax in their old pews - from the comfort of their own homes.
To help pay for its $200,000 renovation - and preserve the most cherished parts of the church - Forty Martyrs (est. 1925) sold the pews being replaced for $250 each.
The majority went - and fast.
“They really wanted the pew they sat in for generations,” said Andrea Spillman, religious education coordinator.
The ongoing renovation at one of Douglas County’s three Catholic churches covers the entire interior, and is just the second of its kind since Forty Martyrs was built 92 years ago.
“I wanted to maintain the integrity of the church,” Pastor Angel Sierra said. “And so we’re keeping the integrity with the (same) back altar, and as we discovered here, there’s a terrazzo flooring, so we’re refurbishing the flooring.”
In total, the project will leave the church with new paint throughout the building, new light fixtures, new pews, refurbished flooring and the installment of a Divine Mercy Shrine, according to a Feb. 20 letter to parishioners.
In 1925, the church, located at 201 E. Van Allen, was built for $40,000. The original donor names are still displayed on the stained glass windows today. The last renovation, done in 1978, cost the church $100,000, Sierra said.
The refurbishing of a church is a process, said Sierra, who has worked on six of them during his 37 years as an ordained priest.
“The main part of doing a renovation is from the people,” Sierra said. “They want to have the project done, and they want to pay for it.”
This project began last September, when parishioners were notified about the possibility of a renovation.
After a majority of members voted in favor, and the bishop gave his blessing, an eight-person committee was formed in October to make decisions.
“These people were willing to invest their time and talent and become good stewards of the church,” Sierra said of the members.
By November, donations started coming in. The church also had an additional $100,000 in savings, but Sierra noted they did not want to use the entirety of it for the renovation.
Construction began in the beginning of May, said Spillman, and Mass is currently being held in the Catholic school next door.
“It’s like a new, fresh start,” she said. “I’m amazed, being it’s the first of June and they’ve gotten this far.”
Sierra estimates the project will be completed in July, and people will begin to congregate back in their original building around then.
“This is very unique because people only do this, like, every 40 years,” Sierra said. “It’s not like an annual parish picnic where you would do year after year.”
In light of the process, Sierra said he has been reminding the community what the project is truly for.
“I want to make sure that what is being done is for the people of God,” he said. “The church is that center of faith. It’s where people are spiritually nourished and renewed.”
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Source: The (Champaign) News-Gazette, https://bit.ly/2sRWQBe
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Information from: The News-Gazette, https://www.news-gazette.com
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