Growing for the Future

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New Baptistery

New Ambry

New Carpet

New Roof

 Baptistery dimensions, floorplans and more pictures now available online!

Our ancestors, and indeed, perhaps even some of us, thought enough of future generations and of ourselves, to build a magnificent building on the corner of Brooklyn and Hale Avenues, in which the church might gather and bring their communal worship to our God. We are so very blessed to have a beautiful place to worship.

As we are all aware, nothing in life ever remains static. Though there are some things that we wish would always be the way they were, our scope of “the way it has always been,” is limited to our experience, and not the broader history of things.

As time passed, our Church leadership met in Rome, ultimately defining our status as Church. They saw fit to also renew the liturgical practice in our Church, restoring it to many of the former glorious ancient practices of our wonderful history. The Mass was returned to the common language because of an interest to instruct the people of the miraculous and enabling us to be better aware of, and use more lavishly, the rich symbols which make our liturgy beautiful and meaningful. The role of the Presider was redefined to bring greater clarity to the REAL action of the Mass, not losing the mysterious nature of miracle in our presence, but better illustrating the Scriptural implementation of the action of the Mass.

Sacraments in our Church are very dear to us because they are a defining factor in our relationship with our God. Sacrament is the best way that we have to experience the intertwining - relationship God chooses to have with us. The leadership in our Church, as they practice wisdom, recommend the full use of symbolic language by use of the rich symbols provided. Let water be very evident when we baptize or bless. Let oil flow freely as we anoint. Let the gesture of ‘laying on of hands’ be larger than life and with some gusto. Let bread be evident (large enough for all to see) and let it look like bread.

Baptism is the 'Door to the Sacred'. We are going to provide another door to the sacred by erecting a new baptistery at Saint Joseph Church.

Given that the sun descends in the west, making it dark in the world (i.e. bringing on the night), we will be able to descend into the pool from the west, the worldly dark, come through the door, and once baptized, ascend from the water, on the east side where the sun brings light, just as we are enlightened through the Sacrament of Baptism. Just before we approach the altar for Eucharist, we journey up the aisle and, calling upon the Holy Spirit of God, we Confirm in faith, the one baptized, sealing the Gifts of the Spirit in our new Christian. We continue our journey then to the Altar of God, the Altar of Sacrifice and the Meal provided by the Lord’s body and blood, to be nourished for the journey of Discipleship and Stewardship.

A new Ambry will be crafted using the pillar of our old baptistery as a base. It will be placed close to the font so that the Holy Oils will be close to the baptismal pool. Parts of the font itself will be marble taken from the sanctuary rail and used to conserve the marble placed in our keeping by our ancestors.

Of course, another very important part of the work with which we as a parish involve ourselves, is taking care of the building we have, so that it remains a gleaming testimony to our care for our place of worship not only for ourselves but for our posterity. We remember that if we put a decorative post out on our lawn, paint it white, and do nothing to it over the years, it will not look quite so white – but, in fact, very gray. Each year that passes brings a deeper shade of gray, until we notice that it is no longer white. We then go about in the spirit of renewing it to its former glory, we paint it white again, or whatever color we decide upon.

Carpeting in our house lasts for a lot of years. Carpeting, in a church building which many, many people use often, will last some years and then need replacement. We have been cutting and trimming the carpet in our parish church for a few years now as it continues to wear thin and unravel. This is one of the parts of the project that certainly needs to be completed.

Keeping a roof over our heads so as to stay dry and keep the pews dry is another one of the obligations we have as a parish. Nothing is supported by the government, so all of the repairs and improvements that are needed must be borne by us. Please be ready to make your pledge to provide for yourselves and for your children and their children, as have our ancestors done for us.

A beautiful church certainly would have all of the liturgical pieces matching each other and the architectural flow of the church itself. In answer to the call for symmetry and poetry in our church, a new Presidential chair and matching chairs for the servers will be designed and crafted. A new Ambo, from which the sacred scriptures are proclaimed, is also being designed and crafted so that all liturgical pieces will match the rest of our beautiful edifice.

These renovations will cost approximately $400,000 but will make our parish church more useable and certainly more beautiful.

This year, St. Joseph parish has received permission from Bishop D’Arcy to conduct this campaign in place of the Annual Bishop’s Appeal. This means that our 2008 Annual Bishop’s Appeal goal is folded into our “Growing for the Future” campaign. Our Bishop’s Appeal goal for this year is $53,000.
The total amount of the “Growing for the Future” campaign is $425,000.

Please contribute to this important effort as you are able and pray for the success of our project. Please contact the office for contribution details.