Not long ago I chronicled the exceptional renovation work undertaken in my diocese at Holy Name of Jesus Parish. Now, in a move even more ambitious, our own Fr. Dwight Longenecker (shown above) has broken ground on a new church for his parish in Greenville, South Carolina, and it’s a beauty.
Here’s the present church for Our Lady of the Rosary:
Here is what will be:
Thelocal paper reports on the groundbreaking:
Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church recently broke ground on a new $5 million facility. Its new, 15,788 square-foot church is being built next to its existing one at Augusta Road and James Drive. It is scheduled to be completed in late summer 2016. Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church is a family-based parish with a K-4-8th grade school, an active ministry to the needy in the community, a vibrant youth work combined with traditional worship and devotions. The Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston, Robert Guglielmone, and parishioners gathered to mark the official start of construction on the new church. “This is an exciting day for our church, one that has been in the making for nearly 60 years since the founding of our parish,” said Father Dwight Longenecker of Our Lady of the Rosary. “The parish has been working on and off on building this much needed facility for nearly five decades but the time is right now, as we are growing with Greenville.” The church was designed by Green and Associates and will be built by Cely Construction. It will be a Romanesque—style facility featuring recovered stained glass windows from the Wilbur H. Burnham studios. The windows were purchased from a previously closed Catholic church in Pittsfield, Mass., and are currently being refurbished for use in the new church.
Keep this parish and its busy pastor in your prayers as they embark on this tremendous project!
Want to donate to support this new church? Visit this link.
UPDATED: Fr. Dwight sent along some additional pictures of the church in Pittsfield, which is providing the windows. See below.
And today we celebrate...