True beauty stirs the heart. Just ask Bill McCutcheon about the first time he beheld the restoration of his beloved St. Benedict Church. Upon entering the quaint yet ethereal 19th-century church in downtown Greensboro, he could hardly believe his eyes.
“I purposely stayed away (during the restoration) and didn’t look at it at all. I wanted to be surprised. It’s enough to reduce you to tears,” said McCutcheon, a longtime parishioner who said he especially loves the sculptures of angels adoring at the tabernacle.
He wasn’t the only one welling up at the sight of the restored sanctuary of the 1898 church.
Lynne McGrath, a parishioner of 18 years, witnessed multiple parishioners with tears of joy in their eyes. “It’s breathtaking and truly elevates what we’re doing,” she said. “The atmosphere now matches who we’re worshiping.”
The $200,000 project included restoring the sanctuary, installing marble tile floors, painting, adding lighting, and new statues, including a refurbished 1921 Pièta found in the church basement. The project started June 5 and was ready for the vigil Mass on Sept. 16.
On Friday, Sept. 22, Bishop Peter Jugis celebrated Mass at St. Benedict, dedicating the new altar and blessing the tabernacle, presiding chair, lectern and statues. In his homily, Bishop Jugis explained that the dedication of an altar means setting it aside for its singular purpose. The ritual he performed included a blessing with holy water, anointing with sacred chrism and incensation. Father James Duc Duong, pastor, then placed the altar cloth.
“An altar is a place where sacrifice is offered. It’s not just a table; it is an altar,” Bishop Jugis said. “A true sacrifice is offered here – the sacrifice of Jesus Christ offered once and for all on the cross and made present here at this altar and every altar to the end of time – a true sacrifice, and therefore it can be called truly an altar.”
Besides Father Duong, participating clergy included St. Benedict’s retired former pastors, Monsignor Joseph Showfety and Father Robert Ferris. The Mass was truly a unique and moving experience because an altar is only dedicated once, which sometimes means just once in the life of a parish – or about once every 120 years in this case.
INSPIRATION FOR THE RESTORATION
After that first post-restoration vigil Mass on Sept. 16, like all other evenings, the church lights were left on a timer from sunset to 10 p.m., illuminating the striking beauty of the Gothic church through its large stained-glass windows. Yet unknown to the casual passerby, there was a difference that night. For the first time since the 1960s, the church’s interior once again paralleled its exterior splendor.
Noting that there was nothing wrong with the sanctuary as it looked earlier this year, Father Duong explained what the change means.
“The objective was to bring St. Benedict back to its original look from 1898. In the 1960s, the altar was removed and the sanctuary transformed to a much simpler look. Now we’re going back,” said Father Duong, who has served as pastor since 2004. “We believe the Eucharist is present there, and with this change we’re restoring sacredness and reverence. Often, people go to Mass for one hour, and they don’t feel anything. I wanted to change that.”
LED BY THE PASTOR AND PARISHIONERS
The restoration was the culmination of hard work and sacrifice from everyone at St. Benedict – and not just because Mass had to be celebrated in the parish hall over the summer.
“Every Christian can be called a spiritual altar offering the sacrifice of our holy life, the sacrifice of our good works and our charity, and the sacrifice of walking with the Lord to Almighty God,” Bishop Jugis said in his homily. “If we are a spiritual sacrifice, what dies in us is our old self. The old self always has to die, so the new light of Christ can shine forth in us.”
Christ’s light has been shining extra brightly through the people of St. Benedict this year, and the bishop told the congregation they can be proud of what they’ve accomplished in Our Lord’s name. The parish takes up a monthly maintenance collection for maintaining the church. Those funds, along with savings accumulated over many years, were used to pay for the restoration. Parishioners donated an additional $98,000 simply because they wanted to help with the historic restoration – there was no capital campaign.
Because the pastor, parishioners and local contractors did the work, the parish saved $100,000 based on the quotes for contracting out the entire project, noted Tom Garcia, restoration project manager and 20-year parishioner.
“To me, it’s special because we did it internally,” Garcia said. “We managed it ourselves, we used local talent and talent within our parish where available. We didn’t just write a check.”
The CEO of Southern Evergreen, a custom home builder, Garcia appears on WFMY News 2’s “Good Morning Show” as its residential home expert. He refers to his pro bono summer church project as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – the Super Bowl of renovations. A true Renaissance man, Garcia also has a degree in engineering and is a regular cantor at the church. He chanted the Responsorial Psalm and Alleluia at the dedication Mass, and his wife Kim served as lector, reading from the first Book of Maccabees (4:52-59) about the dedication of an altar.
Thanks to an unknown parishioner who photographed the church in the 1930s, Garcia and the rest of the restoration team achieved a remarkable re-creation in the restoration.
He used his computer to get a better look at the details in the photos. The zoom feature was particularly helpful in recreating the Miraculous Medal of the Immaculate Heart of Mary that adorns the top of the niche where her statue once again sits to the left of the altar. The medal has a special meaning to the parish: For as long as anyone can remember, St. Benedict parishioners have prayed the Perpetual Novena in Honor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
Parishioner and graphic artist Bob Nutt painted the corpus of the large crucifix that hangs above the altar as well as the Pièta sculpture on which he achieved the agony in Our Blessed Mother’s eyes as she weeps holding her crucified Son. Carpenter and parishioner Don Tredinnick crafted a new base for the statue.
The communion rail is the original, and the palms that sit in front of the altar are a nod to the ones in the 1930s photograph. Flanking the Italian-made tabernacle are sculptures of two cherubs, an idea of Father Duong’s.
Garcia and his team developed the overall look and design of the altar pieces in Greensboro with High Point’s Church Interiors. A millwork firm in Nebraska transformed them into shop drawings for the build-out. Once completed, all the parts were put on a moving truck and transported to St. Benedict Church. The parish’s carpentry crew did the final installation of all the pieces, and local artist Gwen Ware touched up the wood that is painted to look like marble and gold.
Ware and her husband Dave also hand-painted stenciling in three-foot increments around the church’s stained-glass windows. They carefully matched the paint with the colors in the windows using multiple layers and shades of blue and burgundy. “That’s why it really pops,” Garcia said.
The extensive stenciling even encircles two stained-glass rose windows in the uppermost part of each transept. These windows were brought from Munich to the United States for the Catholic Exhibit at the 1892 World’s Fair in Chicago, and later given to the church.
The sanctuary also includes 100-year-old recovered chairs and a wooden lectern and cantor stand with intricate carvings of liturgical symbols such as the crown of thorns. The lectern was originally crafted in the shape of a hexagon with one side that opened. For a more modern walk-up design, the back was removed and fashioned into the cantor stand.
Bob Hunt, a parishioner who owns Illuminating Technologies, created a new lighting design, which includes energy-efficient LED lights. These lights are now in the pendant lamps and those on the refurbished ceiling, which was lightly sanded and returned to its original color and sheen.
To the right of the sanctuary stands a statue of St. Benedict, the founder of Western Monasticism and patron of the parish. In his research, Garcia found out the mold for the statue depicted in the 1930s photo still exists, so the current statue is nearly the same as the original.
“The new sanctuary brings such joy,” said parishioner Leslie Ann Brown. “The statue of St. Benedict blows me away. It’s just so meaningful.”
A STORIED PAST
On the other side of the sanctuary is a statue of St. Katharine Drexel, a Pennsylvania heiress turned nun who gave away her millions to philanthropic causes including promoting Catholic education and championing the rights of Native Americans and African Americans.
In the late 1890s, Drexel donated $1,500 to St. Benedict Parish as seed money to build a church. However, she included an important stipulation: pew space must be reserved for black Catholics. With this declaration, more than 60 years before the famous sit-in at the Woolworth lunch counter just down the road, a glimmer of an integrated Greensboro in a then-segregated South could be found at the city’s first Catholic parish.
A few of the original pews line the back of the church near the Pièta.
“We keep them because they are precious to us, and we use them for overflow seating at Sunday Mass,” Garcia noted.
However, the origins of Catholicism in the city date back even further than St. Katharine Drexel’s donation. The first Mass was celebrated in Greensboro sometime around 1870. In those days, Catholic services were offered in the homes of practicing families who had moved to Greensboro. Seven of the families banded together to raise money for a church. In 1877, Bishop James Gibbons of Richmond, Va. – later Cardinal Gibbons – laid the cornerstone of St. Agnes Church, which was under the care of traveling Benedictine monks from Belmont Abbey until a resident Benedictine pastor was assigned in 1888.
In 1899, the parish sold the church building to the city, and it was turned into the city’s first high school. The year prior, the parish had purchased land on the southwest corner of North Elm and Smith streets and started construction of the church that stands today, naming it St. Benedict after the order of the monks who faithfully served the spiritual needs of the city’s first Catholics.
Soon major Catholic ministries started to form. A parish school opened in 1926, merging 30 years later with St. Pius X School.
Father Vincent Taylor, the fifth pastor of St. Benedict who later became the abbot of Belmont Abbey, was instrumental in bringing to the city one of the directors of the Sisters of Charity, which eventually led to the opening of St. Leo’s Hospital in 1906. It served the Greensboro community for nearly 50 years and was the first hospital in North Carolina to have telephones and steam heat in every room.
CATHOLICISM IN GREENSBORO TODAY
As the oldest Catholic church in Greensboro, St. Benedict gave rise to the city’s vibrant Catholic community of today, which includes four additional parishes and two parochial schools: St. Mary’s Church, Our Lady of Grace Church and School, St. Pius X Church and School (a mission of St. Benedict’s until 1960) and St. Paul the Apostle Church. The city is also home to the Franciscan Center and Catholic Gift Shop as well as Room at the Inn, a licensed Catholic maternity home started by St. Benedict parishioners and former pastor Father Conrad Kimbrough.
St. Benedict Parish is comprised of about 270 registered families. Reflecting the growing diversity of the Greensboro area, parishioners come from all over the world, including Nigeria, Togo, Croatia, and the pastor’s native Vietnam. St. Benedict also offers daily Mass during the weekday lunch hour to serve Catholics who work downtown.
“We are small but tight!” Father Duong proudly exclaimed at the reception after the dedication Mass.
The major renovation work is complete, but maintenance such as the repointing of bricks and electrical work continues.
“St. Benedict is a special parish, going all the way back to a nun who made it so all Catholics no matter their color could come to Mass. We have a beautiful history, and we wanted to have the altar and the rest of the church match that history,” Garcia said.
“We want to make sure St. Benedict is here for another 120 years.”
— Annie Ferguson, Correspondent. Photos in galleries provided by Cophia Knick, Barbara Markun and Cristina McCutcheon
HICKORY — For St. Aloysius parishioners Mike and Theresa Bennett, Sept. 6 is a milestone: Today they celebrate their 80th wedding anniversary, and they're still having fun.
"Marrying Theresa is my joy," says Mike, who will turn 99 in November. “The first time I laid eyes on Theresa, I knew she was the girl I was going to marry.”
The couple met at the “bandstand” in Au Sable Forks, N.Y., the popular spot in town where musicians played the latest tunes and people came out to enjoy the evening.
Theresa reminisces, “I could tell right away that Mike was a good person and he was very handsome.”
On one of their first dates, Mike took Theresa to a restaurant, which was a new experience for her. She didn’t know what to order. Finally, she chose a grilled cheese sandwich. Theresa and Mike chuckle as Theresa recounts the story – she does not like grilled cheese sandwiches.
On Sept. 6, 1937, the couple were married before the last blessing at the 7 a.m. Mass. After Mass, they hopped into Mike’s car for a honeymoon to adventurous New Hampshire. While they were there, they could visit Theresa’s sister.
Life wasn’t easy for the newlyweds, who were trying to manage on $17 a week. A few years later, World War II brought on more financial hardships for the country, but they tightened their belts and were happy to be together.
Finances got easier for them after Mike landed a job with General Electric, which tripled his income.
While Mike was at work, Theresa took on the challenge of raising their five boys. She enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom, caring for her family.
The couple packed up and moved each time Mike was promoted at GE. In the mid-1970s his job brought them to Hickory, where he was sent to set up a new GE plant.
Years later Mike retired from GE and the couple chose to remain in Hickory, where they have a lovely home with a beautiful view of Lake Hickory.
Besides their five sons, they have 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Their successful marriage is the epitome of a lifelong commitment to each other and to their Catholic faith, they say.
Their secret to remaining happily married for eight decades?
“Don’t go to bed angry," Theresa says. The 96-year-old adds, "You can’t be too independent in a marriage. You need each other and you should do everything together.”
Mike chimes in, “Theresa is right."
— Bobby Spears, correspondent
CHARLOTTE — On a hot Sunday afternoon you can hear the music before you see the packed cars of young men cruising into Our Lady of Consolation Church’s gymnasium parking lot. The metal doors to the gym are bolted shut.
A look of slight disappointment sets in. “Hey, man, I know you’re in there. Open up!” someone yells while gently knocking. A roar of laughter mixed with relief surrounds the crowd as Coach Morris “Rocky” Whitaker swings open the door. Whitaker smiles, wipes his brow, and demands the group to dress out while he cheerfully high fives each person.
Ten minutes later, the group of six turns into a group of 20, with more people trickling in after that. Some are coming for the first time. Some consider this gym their home – a Sunday routine with their children, their wives, their grandchildren. Basketballs bounce on the newly renovated gym floor.
Whitaker finishes sweeping, and a young man hands him a dollar. “Remember who helps you sweep,” he jokes.
“Got to keep these lights on,” Whitaker replies with a grin.
“Some dudes bring in a dollar every week, some bring nothing and then one day they give over $10. It depends. It’s really not about the money,” Whitaker explains. “You see that guy right there, Jazrael? He’s grown up here. He’s bringing his kid around here now. See her? Ebony just graduated. You gotta talk to Award – he’s something else, he’s been here for a while. There’s another one ... oh yeah, Marcus, he’ll tell you.”
As Whitaker points, he’s interrupted with shouts from across the court. “Hey, Coach! Watch this guy right here…”
Balls are bouncing, three-pointers swishing and all types of pre-game “smack” talk is getting thrown down. The crowd gets larger, bleachers fill up, chairs are dragged out for newcomers.
Whitaker looks at his watch, then grabs his clipboard. “They’re waiting for me.”
He chooses two captains, including Ebony, the only girl on the court.
Award explains, “So it goes like this: you got the winners and the losers. The losers are on the left, the winners on the right. We play four on four. If your team wins five in a row, you get your picture taken and put into the Hall of Fame.
“I’ve been coming to this place since I was 25; I’m 33. It means a lot to me. Good atmosphere. Competitive, but in a controlled environment. Not like street ball, when you got bros yelling and fighting more than playing.”
Whitaker points to names from a list displayed on a poster for the Annual Benefit Concert held once a year to support the OLC Sports Leadership Initiative. The latest concert was held Aug. 20.
“These guys all came up through here, all going to college, graduating. Some have full scholarships,” he says. “This one, he needed a book – $250 for a book. Can you believe that? One book! We got him that book, though.”
His hand moves slowly across six photographs above the list of names. “These are the ones that passed. This one here, this is my son, Morrison Whitaker. This one had an illness, this one was in a wreck, these two went out one night and never came back.”
His finger drops. A caption on the flyer states, “The OLC Sports Leadership Initiative is inspired by the memory of Morris Whitaker and the SLI family.”
“We do the benefit concert once a year to raise money for the gym. We made $2,600, enough to go on for another eight to nine months and sponsor some kids for summer camp.”
Whitaker may understate the importance of the benefit concert, but it is a genuine experience with inspirational music and unique talent. His nephew, Matthew Whitaker, has been one of the performers. Born blind, he began playing the piano when he was 3. He is nationally renowned for his ability and has even played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Back on the court, a commotion erupts. “You’re traveling!” “Tell him, Coach!”
Co-Coach Randy Dupree quickly resolves the situation and gets everybody playing again.
“This has been my life every Sunday for the last 20 years,” Coach Dupree says proudly. “I keep them from getting in trouble. We’ve seen a lot of kids come through here. We even got one playing for the Raiders. Word gets out about this place. People come in here from all walks of life, but we just take ’em where they are and coach them.”
Player Kiki Burton adds, “Education is important. I graduated from North Carolina Central. Coach wants these guys to go down the right path, get an education. I used to work at the detention center. I would always recommend this place to the released. I have been coming here with my dad since I was young and it is just such a positive, safe spot.”
LaMarcus Taylor has played since he was in middle school and now his son, Little Marcus, is playing today. “At first, this was like a getaway place from my problems. It was a positive outlet and I enjoyed coming. The first time it hit, like, wow, this place is it, was when a situation occurred. Someone took something, stole something. Coach stepped in in a way I have never seen. He sat us down and taught us about positivity and family. I looked around and I thought to myself, ‘This is how a man acts. This is how I want to behave as a man.’ Ever since, we’ve been family. It started in the gym. Now, it is outings and dinners, everything. We see each other all the time. My son asks me about this place every Friday. He loves coming here almost as much as I do.”
Whitaker stops the game for a second and announces he wants to snap a group picture. Quickly the teams gather in the middle of the court while he directs who stands and sits. He tells them, “Believe it or not, guys, we are making a difference in this community!” He holds up a copy of the Catholic News Herald. “They want to write a story on us. We are changing people.”
The group glows with accomplishment and satisfaction, not because of the story, but because of Whitaker’s compliment.
Each Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m. you can find Whitaker and the rest of the OLC Sports Leadership team in the gym with the players and a few well-worn basketballs, and a growing list of people with bright futures.
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent
Want to support the OLC Sports Leadership Initiative?
If you are compelled by the work of the OLC Sports Leadership Initiative, please send donations to: Our Lady of Consolation Church Sports Leadership Team, 1235 Badger Ct., Charlotte, N.C. 28206.
MOORESVILLE — Father Mark Lawlor was officially installed Aug. 31 as pastor of St. Thérèse Church, the third largest parish in the Diocese of Charlotte.
Father Lawlor comes to the Mooresville parish from St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte, where he was pastor for the past 14 years. He is the first diocesan priest in 47 years, following the relocation of the Jesuits of the Province of Maryland who had served the parish since 1970.
During the installation rite at the start of the Mass, Deacon Joe Santen read aloud Father Lawlor’s official letter of appointment. Bishop Peter Jugis and the congregation then witnessed Father Lawlor make his profession of faith, renew his oath of fidelity to the Church, and sign the official Church documents of his new office.
During his homily, Bishop Jugis welcomed everyone who attended the installation Mass. The parish’s new parochial vicars Father Paul McNulty and Father Henry Tutuwan were present, as well as Father John Eckert, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury, and Father Lucas Rossi, his parochial vicar. Deacon Myles Decker of St. Thérèse Parish also assisted at the Mass.
“When a pastor arrives at his parish for the first time, there are a multiplicity of demands that are suddenly thrust upon him, a lot to do and a lot to learn immediately as he begins his ministry,” Bishop Jugis said.
St. Thérèse Parish, which has more than 4,000 families, is more than twice the size of Father Lawlor’s former parish, he noted. “You can imagine the multiplicity of demands that are placed upon his shoulders that he has to address.”
But above all this day-to-day work, a pastor must remain focused on three essential duties, Bishop Jugis emphasized: he must teach, sanctify and lead his parishioners.
A pastor has the responsibility to teach the faith, the bishop said, so making the profession of faith at his installation – in front of the bishop and the entire congregation – is important. “He is telling the faithful he will accept the faith, embrace the faith, profess the faith in their midst and lead them in the profession and practice of that faith.”
A pastor renews his oath of fidelity to the Church, the bishop also explained, to demonstrate publicly that he will be faithful to what the Gospel demands, faithful to what the Church teaches, and faithful to the practices and the discipline of the Church.
“These are very significant statements for someone who is placed in such an important position – the care of souls, the salvation of souls, the most important job on the face of the earth, salvation,” Bishop Jugis said.
At his installation Mass, the pastor – not the deacon – proclaims the Gospel, the bishop noted. “That signifies that the pastor is ultimately in charge for passing on the teaching of the Gospel, the teaching of Christ and the teaching of the faith in his parish.”
Besides his teaching role, the pastor must also offer the sacraments of the Church to the faithful, Bishop Jugis said.
“It’s appropriate that an installation of the pastor takes place at the Mass, because the Mass is the most important work of the priest. It’s the most important work of the parish. It’s the most important work of the Church. It’s the offering of the Sacrifice of Jesus for the salvation of the world to give honor and praise and glory to Almighty God in heaven.
“All of the ministries of the Church really take their power, their force and their strength from the altar, from Jesus, His Real Presence here.”
At Mass we are transformed by receiving Christ in the Eucharist, he said. We become more Christ-like; we grow in faith, hope and charity; and we are called to share that faith, hope and love in everything we do outside of church.
“You might look at the altar, or the Eucharist, Jesus’ Real Presence, as the bright sun shining in the universe of the parish,” he suggested. “There are rays emanating out from that Eucharist, from that sun, into all of the ministries of the parish, giving light and the warmth of Christ’s love to all of those ministries.”
Lastly, a pastor is responsible for governing the parish, the bishop said. Beyond making sure that everything is organized and that the buildings are cared for, it means he is also charged with getting to know the parish’s families.
In conclusion Bishop Jugis joked, “Do you think that is enough?”, eliciting laughter from the congregation.
“I think it is. But you know, he doesn’t do it all by himself – because you are here. He depends upon all of you to lend your support and to assist in the vitality of the whole parish life, that it keeps moving forward and shining as a bright light of Christ here in this section of our diocese.”
At the end of Mass, Father Lawlor recalled advice he received from a professor in the seminary: when a new pastor arrives, he should learn the parish’s history.
“I have always followed that in my previous assignments,” he said, and over the past seven weeks he has been doing the same thing in Mooresville. He read the parish’s history, listened to longtime parish employees, and made a pilgrimage with both parochial vicars to the old church building on Main Street.
“I know, in my brief time here, of the great dedication and talent and perseverance we can see in the work of the Church here,” he said. “I thank Bishop Jugis for the confidence he had in appointing me here.”
He quipped, “I would have been happy to have gone to a small parish in the mountains...,” then he continued earnestly, “I, without hesitation, accepted the assignment that was presented to me.
“I have learned in my 22 years as a priest that in every assignment there are unexpected graces, really bountiful graces, and I can see that is the case here in Mooresville.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
This year the Church celebrates Catechetical Sunday on Sept. 17.
The 2017 theme is “Living as Missionary Disciples.” Those who the parish community has designated to serve as catechists will be called forth to be commissioned for their ministry.
Catechetical Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of their baptism, in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. Catechetical Sunday is an opportunity for everyone to rededicate themselves to this mission as a community of faith. Below are stories of parishes that are trying new catechetical approaches for youth and adults.
Resources online
At www.usccb.org: Download resources including prayer cards, and read more about how encourage people, especially young people and families, to become missionary disciples