Saint Ann Builds A New Sanctuary
The most recent chapter in the history of Saint Ann Catholic Church began as almost every chapter in the church’s history began – the arrival of a new priest, little money, much prayer and a very determined group of people.
Since the parish had grown so large, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate could no long consider it a mission parish. In 1994 the order that after 55 years of service to Saint Ann their mission work was done. (For more on the early years of Saint Ann and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate read Wit and Wisdom of and About the Oblates)
Saint Ann officially became a parish of the Diocese of Raleigh. With tears and smiles the parish said goodbye to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and welcomed our first diocesan priest, Rev. Ernest J. "Ernie" Ruede.
Many changes were on the horizon. The building that served as both a rectory and parish office were converted entirely into offices. The parish purchased a condominium in the Clarendon House at 1100 Clarendon St. to use as the rectory.
The Daughters of Charity under the leadership of Sister Joanne Goecke, DC established the Saint Ann Neighborhood Youth Center to serve area neighborhood children who were considered at risk. This program pairs at-risk children with volunteer tutors from the local community. During Father Ruede’s tenure the church was refurbished. The pews and floors were refinished, and new carpet and paint were added.
Sacred ground
As the history of things at Saint Ann goes, growth continued and so did discussion of what to do. Church members were surveyed to see what they wanted to do. Several courses of action were considered:
V Keep the church and school on the current land and expand;
V Keep the church on the current land and expand but move the school elsewhere;
V Keep the school on the current land and expand but move the church elsewhere;
V Move the church and school elsewhere and expand.
After much passionate debate and discussion on the issue, a majority of the members expressed their belief that the location on North Cool Spring Street was sacred ground due to our history and heritage;, and that this location defined the parish more than anything else. A building fund envelope was added to the monthly collection envelopes. The journey was just starting.
Father Ruede departed in 1997 and Rev. Thomas "T" Davis, Father T, became our second diocesan priest. Father T contacted Shuller Ferris Lindstrom & Associates Architects; they presented Saint Ann Catholic Church with a three phase long range master plan in July 1998. The purpose of the master plan was to provide direction for the long term site and building expansion of the church and school. These long term goals were a framework to help guide the parish in establishing future plans and priorities. The ideas presented in the master plan were generated through a design and planning process between parishioners and the architects in association with Terry Byrd Eason Liturgical Design
Master plan
The goals of the master plan included:
V Respecting the history of the church and laying the ground work for growth and development for the next 25 years;
V Expanding the present worship space to accommodate 400-500 in a facility that incorporated, respected, and had the feel of the present small church;
V Addressing the immediate and long-range goals of the education program while making the best use of the site and its configuration to improve the function and image of the school;
V Physically tying the buildings together improving circulation and security, at the same time defining the entrances and individual identities of the components;
V Allowing the functional components of the plan to be phased in over time.
The biggest challenge was seeking approval from the Diocese of Raleigh for the Saint Ann Master Plan. Whenever a parish pursues development plans, the Diocese challenges them to look decades ahead. The diocese’s policy says that parishes should he located on eight acres and, if a school is planned, preferably 20 acres. After considering the special nature of our church community and our history, Bishop F. Joseph Gossman granted an exception to this policy.
Once again, as in all the past years with other construction projects when the challenge was issued, members of the parish opened their hearts, minds and wallets. The Blessings Received, Blessings Shared, Blessings Promised Capital Campaign began in November 1999. The campaign asked each member to prayerfully consider what monetary sacrifice they could make to help raise money to pay for the construction needs of the church.
The song "All Are Welcome," written by Marty Haugen, was sung frequently at Masses as a reminder of our building goal. The Altar Rosary Society began collecting pennies to donate to the Blessings Campaign.
And this became our community prayer:
Gracious God, send your Spirit upon us as we humbly submit to Your Holy will the building of Your Church at Saint Ann. Be glorified, 0 God and fill our hearts with true generosity and deeper prayerfulness, as we build a new house for all Your people. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen
Diocesan support
One of the most important meetings was in May 2000 when Les Griffin and Father Davis traveled to Raleigh to explain how the Parish would fund such an enormous construction project considering Saint Ann was a smaller Parish with limited funds.
A building committee was established and meet for the first time on July 12, 2000 to begin work on phase one of the master plan. Phase one addressed the church’s most immediate needs, which were expansion of the present sanctuary and permanent replacement of the temporary classroom building.
The sanctuary expansion would occur to the west of the existing church towards the social hall. The expansion would preserve the existing sanctuary, sidewalls and the original interior archway. The existing sanctuary would he used as a daily Mass chapel and additional seating for the main sanctuary.
Sense of place, history, spirituality
The sanctuary addition would accommodate 400 in a modified fan shaped seating arrangement. The exterior of the addition would compliment the present church built in 1940. Much careful consideration was given to this area, so the design would respect the present church and maintain the sense of place, history and spirituality that is Saint Ann Catholic Church.
V A gathering space would be added to connect the sanctuary and fellowship hall and also serve as the new entrance for the church and as overflow seating. Additional restrooms would he located off this area, and access would be provided into the play areas of the school yard.
V The school expansion would include the addition of two new classrooms, a multipurpose room, faculty lounge, conference room, and office space for the Saint Ann Neighborhood Youth Center.
V The final step of phase one was to acquire the remaining property between the church and Cross Creek, so as to allow for the expansion of parking and a new drop off driveway and connection through to Ann Street to be completed in phase two of the master plan.
Just as Father Ryan was a godsend to our parish forefathers, Father Davis had been a godsend to the current parishioners. His expertise was very instrumental in laying the groundwork for phase one construction. The parish realized his mission had ended when he received the call to return to his home parish in Jacksonville, N.C. where his mother was still a parishioner.
In June 2000 as we bid Father Davis farewell, we greeted our third diocesan priest, Rev. Joseph "Joe" Yaeger. Father Yaeger was not a stranger to Fayetteville, and he only had a short distance to travel since his previous assignment was at Saint Patrick Parish across town.
In October 2000 Father Yaeger, Joyce Moreaux, Francisca Bradley, Les Griffin, and Bill Pollitt met with the diocesan building and real estate commission for a review of the general plan and design concept of phase one. This commission oversees the design process of construction projects to ensure that all liturgical requirements of the current rite of the Roman Catholic Church are met.
Parishioners reflect on the building process: "St.
Ann Expands So All Are Welcome."
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After receiving approval of the general plan and design concept, this information was present to parishioners in November 2000. After many questions and much discussion, especially concerning where the Blessed Sacrament Chapel would be located so it would he visible from all areas of the new sanctuary, a final meeting was held with the building and real estate Commission in January 2001.
Blending of the soil
The building committee decided to build the school addition first and on May 17, 2001, parishioners, Saint Ann school students, teachers, staff, and friends gathered for the groundbreaking and the Blending of the Soil, presided over by Father Joe. In a desire to he a faith community that includes all, each of the school families were asked to bring some soil from their own homes to he mixed in with the foundation soil of the new school building. Each grade collected and blended their soil. A representative from each class blended their soil after the groundbreaking ceremony.
Not long after Father Yaeger had broken ground, parishioners learned his mission with Saint Ann was complete, and the parish members bid him farewell in June 2001. In July 2001 the journey continued when the diocese entrusted the parish to another kind of Oblate, Rev. Thomas "Tom" Malloy of the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales (OSFS).
Player, Inc. Contractors presented a cost estimate to the parish in September 2001. This required a return trip by Father Malloy and Les Griffin, finance committee chair, to the diocese. Originally the plan was to build a shell of the building and finish the interior at a later date at a cost of $1.1 million. After careful consideration, the decision was made to complete the project all at one time. This increased the project cost to $2.4 million and once again required diocesan approval. Construction started in November 2001.
All Masses were moved to the social hall. The three Sunday Masses at 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. were combined into two, at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. A special community prayer was written and recited at every Mass after the Prayers of the Faithful. And the Rosary was prayed after all Masses.
In December 2001 the first steps in construction including site work for the school and demolition of the old church began. The stained glass windows and the arch in the original church were boarded up and sealed off to protect them during the construction phase.
In June 2002 stain glass artist Marianne Downs Behle from Warwick, NY visited the parish to gather information and present a review of her work. In July 2002 she was commissioned to create the stained glass windows for the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
25 years of service
As construction continued parishioners took time to celebrate an important milestone when our auxiliary priest, Father Omoviekovwa Nakireru, celebrated his 25th anniversary of ordination in December 2002.
Father Nakireru had spent 16 of those 25 years serving at Saint Ann. Former parish priest Father McHugh first met Father Nakireru, a native of Nigeria, upon Father Nakireru’s arrival in Fayetteville to take a job at Methodist College. Father McHugh eventually invited Father Nakireru to help serve the Saint Ann community where he continues to serve to this day.
New sanctuary dedication
On a beautiful Palm Sunday morning April 13, 2003, anxious parishioners gathered in the social hall. The day for which they had waited had finally arrived. The two usually scheduled Sunday Masses had been combined into one celebration at 10 a.m. Father Malloy and Father Nakireru both presided at this special Mass.
After the blessing of the palms, the parishioners processed from the social hall, through the new gathering space which connected the hall to the new sanctuary. The new worship space was breathtaking, especially with all the bright morning sunlight streaming in. The congregation not only filled all the seats in the new sanctuary, hut almost every seat in the Morning Chapel was filled as well.
With Bishop Joseph Gossman (center) presiding, past and
present pastors and priests who
served Saint Ann concelebrate the
special Mass dedication the new sanctuary. They are
(from left): Fathers Omoviekovwa Nakireru;
Harry Winter, OMI; Thomas Malloy, OSFS;
Thomas Davis and; Ernest Ruede.
The new sanctuary was formally dedicated on June 15, 2003. Read about the dedication Mass in the article that appeared in the NC Catholic: "St. Ann Dedicates New Sanctuary."
Diverse community
Many parishioners entertained thoughts that with such a large gathering and few empty seats another expansion project may one day, once again, be on the horizon. Until that time, parishioners will offer prayers of thanksgiving and enjoy their beautiful new Sanctuary where they can look past the altar into the Morning Chapel and remember their history and heritage from where they came.
Today, Saint Ann Parish is culturally diverse Catholic Community. Besides serving as a meeting place for Korean Catholics, who have since moved on to form their own Catholic community, Saint Ann has provided a place for Vietnamese and Filipino Catholics to worship in their own cultural style. Every Sunday, the 8:30 a.m. Sunday Mass uses the African American Catholic Hymnal and a style of worship traditional to black Catholics.
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