SAPPHIRE — It was a joyful Sunday in the small mountain town of Sapphire for members of St. Jude Parish as they gathered June 28 with Bishop Michael Martin to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new church.
The parish launched a capital campaign two years ago because the community is rapidly outgrowing its picturesque fieldstone church along U.S. 64.
A standing-room-only congregation attended the 9 a.m. Mass celebrated by Bishop Martin, who confirmed five young people and then joined Father Jason Barone, pastor, for a groundbreaking ceremony adjacent to the existing church, which was dedicated in 1972 by Bishop Michael Begley.
“This church has been such a source of grace and goodness for the local community here,” Bishop Martin told the crowd gathered for the groundbreaking. “Over the next few years many of you will drive by on this road and you will see the construction, the dirt being moved, and you’ll say ‘I was there when it was blessed.’”
Bishop Martin encouraged the people to take the holiness they receive from attending Mass at St. Jude out into the larger world.
“What we need to do is take what this building means out into our community, to be the Church in the world, to be the living stones in our workplaces, in our marketplace and in our homes in particular,” he said.
Father Barone said breaking ground for a new church is a significant milestone for a community that has only been a parish for four years. St. Jude, formerly a mission of Sacred Heart Parish in Brevard, was elevated to parish status July 5, 2022, and Father Barone, formerly its administrator, was elevated to pastor.
According to statistics compiled by the parish, Sapphire and its surroundings are expected to grow by 10 to 13 percent by 2030, as more retirees and year-round residents move into the area. Several large residential communities are being built nearby, and the number of seasonal visitors continues to increase.
The existing Church, which seats about 200 people, currently averages about 125 attendees at winter Masses and more than 400 during the summer.
“I’m extremely proud of this little community,” Father Barone said. “Just a few years ago we were a little mission, and now we’re a big boy parish building a church. I’m very proud of all of you who have made this a reality and humbled you have trusted my leadership of this project. I want to thank our Lord, our most Holy Mother and St. Jude, our patron.”
Funds for the new church are being raised through a campaign called “Building Our Future Together.” So far, about $11.3 million has been pledged, with a goal of about $13.4 million for the new church.
Construction drawings are nearly complete, and construction is expected to begin in the fall, according to Emmett Sapp, director of construction and real estate for the Diocese of Charlotte. Once completed, the new church will seat about 300 people on the main level and 28 ib the choir loft.
A rich history
The new Church will be a far cry from the early days of Catholic worship in the Sapphire Valley, where Mass was first celebrated in 1964 in the meeting room of the Sapphire Valley Inn. In 1969, the congregation outgrew the meeting room. One of the original members, Gene Howerdd, became ill and prayed to St. Jude that if she could recover, she would do everything she could to raise funds for a Catholic chapel in the Sapphire Valley and have it named in his honor.
Father Charles Mulholland, then the pastor in Brevard, petitioned the Bishop of Raleigh for permission to establish a mission, call it St. Jude and begin planning to build a church. Permission was given. Howerdd set out to complete her pledge, which she did by gifting several acres along U.S. 64 for the new church property. Father Mulholland’s brother, a professor at Catholic University, arranged for architectural students there to submit designs for the chapel as a class project. One – an octagonal chapel of fieldstone – was chosen as the perfect complement to the mountain setting.
Construction of the current church started in 1971 and was completed in 1972. Classrooms, a parish hall and offices were added in 2001. Once the new Church is completed, plans call for the current Church to be turned into a parish hall
This is not the only construction project on Father Barone’s plate. He also serves as pastor at Our Lady of the Mountains in Highlands, about 30 minutes away. Ground was broken for a new church there in summer 2024 and construction is nearly complete. Bishop Martin is slated to dedicate the new Highlands church over Labor Day weekend. Flooring and pews will be installed after the dedication.
The cost of the Highlands project is expected to be about $15.8 million, Sapp said.
The architect on both projects is McCrery Architects out of Washington, D.C.
R.W. Allen Construction out of Augusta, Ga. Is the contractor for the project at St. Jude, while J. Davis Construction of Greenville, S.C. is the contractor in Highlands.
As Father Barone noted, “It’s all for the glory of God, who will not ask us how many churches we built but how we built up the living stones in the image and likeness of God.”
— Christina Lee Knauss
