ALBEMARLE — After a recent morning Mass, the Family Life Center of Our Lady of the Annunciation Church was abuzz with excitement over a new prayer garden being built just outside the parish office.
The garden, being built in stages by parishioners, will include a picnic shelter, large fountain and two observation decks. But the main feature of the space is a new statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The entire project is being spearheaded by a cadre of parish volunteers known as “The Misfits,” men and women who use their building and design skills to repair, renovate and beautify the Albemarle church property at little to no cost to the parish. Over the past decade, the Misfits have remodeled, redesigned and reinvented the entire parish rectory, dining hall, offices and chapel. They have worked tirelessly on everything from small projects, like repairing a leaking toilet, to huge undertakings such as remodeling the entire dining hall.
Their latest effort is this prayer garden, and they’re tackling it with enthusiasm. The space will be used mainly for prayer but it will also host luncheons, picnics, RCIA classes, yard sales and other parish functions.
Over the usual coffee and donuts after Mass, parishioners looked over the plans for the garden.
“The garden was an idea of one of our parishioners,” noted Father Peter Fitzgibbons, pastor. “The Sacred Heart, the fountain of divine love, the font of mercy for all of us by the cross – who can say more?”
“St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (instructed us to) have a devotion to the Sacred Heart as a source of love and might for our salvation,” he said. The prayer garden will be a beautiful and quiet place for people to meditate on Jesus’ love for them, he said.
In between sips of coffee, parishioners greeted Father Fitzgibbons and Lori Storms, parish chief of staff, with updates on the project. A parishioner who is also a welder showed her plan for an iron grate that will eventually hang behind the Sacred Heart statue. While everyone marveled over the delicate design of the metalwork, Storms’ husband Adam described how the group will handle electrical issues on the project.
The group’s volunteer spirit is a source of strength and positivity for the parish community of around 150 families. Whatever it takes, they agree that everyone comes together to get the job done – whether it be through physical labor, craftsmanship, artistic ability or through donating money.
“If we have an issue in the parish, there is a parishioner that can solve it for us,” Storms said.
The Misfits found the Sacred Heart statue in the Tonini Church Supply Co. catalog. They chose the unpainted version of the sculpture, to match a statue of Mary that the parish already had, but the Misfits knew they could go one better.
Father Fitzgibbons pointed across the room at “head Misfit” Bob Miles. “He painted the Sacred Heart, just the heart, and clear-coated the rest of Him.” He added proudly, “It is going to last forever.”
The group also found the fountain online, “a great deal – one of those ‘godfather offers,’” Storms said. “We were going to go smaller, but that one was just the one.”
They hauled the thousand-pound fountain to its spot in the garden, lowering it carefully into position using ropes.
They also dug two-foot trenches through rock-hard Carolina clay in the summer heat to provide for the electrical wiring.
This active participation by his parishioners is a sign of their love for God, Father Fitzgibbons noted, stretching his arms wide as if to embrace his entire parish family.
“You know how much I asked for in the budget for building expenses? Zero. I didn’t ask for a penny,” he said. “We told them what we were going to do and the parishioners bought and did everything, because they want to beautify the house of God. People just came up and said, ‘Here.’”
— Lisa Geraci, correspondent