Joy at Holy Spirit: Rochester Parish Celebrates Renovations

By LYNN FARRELL

Holy Spirit Parish in Rochester was filled with great joy on May 19 as Bishop Robert Barron blessed the church’s recently completed worship space, completing a vision and desire that goes back 30 years. Pentecost is the feast day of Holy Spirit. Joy, as Bishop Barron spoke about in the homily, is a sign of the Holy Spirit.

The church was built under the guidance of its first pastor, Fr. Dale Tupper, who joined Bishop Barron and current pastor Fr. Tom Loomis to celebrate together with the parishioners.

The space was originally built with the dual purpose of worship and a gymnasium for the school. What started as a simple renovation plan to cover the concrete floor and move the tabernacle into the church grew to include a raised sanctuary, a stone wall stretching to the tall ceiling, and the addition of liturgical art. The end result is a finished worship space - something new to the second-youngest parish in the diocese, now more than 30 years old.

The entire parish was engaged in the process, led by a committee of 12 parishioners who worked closely with Fr. Loomis to follow the guidelines laid out by the diocese on building and remodeling church space.

“The goal of the project is to find the best possible way to celebrate the Eucharist in this space, along with weddings, baptisms and funerals. We want to offer something that people want to be a part of,” Fr. Loomis said.

Early in the project, Val Schute of River Architects was called at the suggestion of previous pastor, Fr. Don Schmitz. Schute was able to take the voice of the parishioners, gathered through parish surveys, and translate that into a design authentic to the values of the parish while meeting the guidelines set out by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

As the project took shape, the search began for an artist for the crucifix and stained-glass window. Holy Spirit Parish is fortunate to have two new pieces of world-class liturgical art.

The bronze corpus of the crucifix was cast in Italy by Canadian figurative artist Timothy P. Schmalz. The compassionate face of Christ in this corpus was one of the reasons it was chosen for Holy Spirit, especially because many children will view this both from the parish and the school. A body that is racially neutral was also an important factor to speak to the value of Holy Spirit Parish to be welcoming to all.

In describing his work, Schmalz said, “I am devoted to creating artwork that glorifies Christ. I describe my sculptures as being visual prayers.” Schmalz is world renowned with works in Rome commissioned by Pope Francis, and the only piece of permanent sculpture to be added to St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican since the time of Bernini, more than 400 years ago.

The stained-glass window depicts the Holy Spirit with multiple levels of symbolism. It sits in an oculus less than five feet in diameter, but it stands out boldly next to the modern rough-cut stone from Biesanz Stone Co. in Winona. The dove represents the Holy Spirit, sent down from God. The flame represents the presence of the Holy Spirit in action in the life of believers. The blue background represents the waters of baptism, another symbol of the Holy Spirit. The mouth-blown glass window was created by Emil Frei & Associates from St. Louis, MO, after meetings with a group of parishioners and Fr. Loomis to learn about the parish, who they are, and who they want to be.

Thanks to the generosity of parishioners and friends of Holy Spirit, just over a half million dollars of necessary funds were raised and pledged faster than expected, a voice of support for the project and a desire to see it happen.

The entire parish then lived through the three months of active construction, celebrating Mass in a taped off portion.

“Working with Benike Construction was a delight. They provided an on-site supervisor that helped ensure that the space was safe and clean at the end of each week,” says Greg Kapraun, chair of the Design & Materials Sub-Committee. “They truly went above and beyond expectations.”

Music has always been an important part of Holy Spirit Parish and the new space includes an area custom designed by the architect for this ministry. For the Pentecost celebration, it was filled with a multigenerational choir and instrumentalists that invited the participation of the congregation.

Bishop Barron concluded with a call for evangelization: “You are my agents of evangelization. Invite your family, your friends, your co-workers. Be that agent of the Holy Spirit to bring people back.”

There are many reasons to invite people into Holy Spirit to see this new space and a community that is alive with joy.

Lynn Farrell is the Chair of the Finish the Sanctuary and Floor Project at Holy Spirit Parish in Rochester. All photos are courtesy of John Weiss.