History

OUR RENOVATED CHURCH

Reading this booklet should provide an members of the Blessed Sacrament parish community with a sense of the renovation process for the church. The history, the process, the implementation, the plan, and the actual construction are all centered around the desire and need to make Blessed Sacrament a church for the present and for the future.

It is hoped that the article will serve as a source of education, understanding, and appreciation of all that was accomplished to renovate the Church of the Blessed Sacrament.

Sincere gratitude is extended to all those who participated:


  • The Parish Community

  • The Renovation Committee

  • The Parish Council

  • The Facilities Committee

  • The Staff

  • The Finance Committee.

THE HISTORY
The Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Johnson City, New York, was founded in 1945 by Fr. John Toomey. The parish, with terri-tory from both St. James and St. Thomas parishes, started with 800 parishioners. By the late 1960s, the parish had grown so much that Fr. Toomey had plans drawn to build a new church in the parking lot to the left of the present rectory. The old church was to be con-verted into a gymnasium for the growing Blessed Sacrament grammar school. Obviously, these plans never materialized and the original church remained virtually the same except for changes in 1978, routine maintenance, and upgrading, such as adding the air conditioning in the 1980s. But the congregation continued to grow!

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Anticipating the future of the Catholic Church. the Blessed Sacrament parish, and the physical church structure, Msgr. James Kane, pastor, decided, in September 1988, that it was time to form a Renovation Committee. This committee, after hearing all the facts and figures, was to make recommendations to the Parish Council as to how the Blessed Sacrament church structure should be updated to prepare for its future.

Members of the Renovation committee included:
Peg Buck, Co-chair
Gino Pazzaglini, Co-chair
Msgr. James Kane
Joan Chambers
Fred Claudia
Tony Citriniti
Ray Conroy
Jennifer Donovan
Kathy Ford
Mike Haas
Ron Heebner
Brian Murphy, Co-chair
Debbie Grassi, Secretary
Father John Cramer (June 1990)
Marge Kennedy
Bob Kennedy
Rick Lanari
Bill Mayers
Nancy McNamara
Sr. Maureen Rainone
Maureen Reynolds
Bob Wargo

A few names were added and removed from this list over the four years the committee met, but they remained a good cross-section of the parish community.

Before arriving at any decisions, the Renovation Committee studied many statistics and documents. They considered the demographics of the parish, including:


  • The number of families in the parish

  • The towns these families live in

  • The ratio of baptisms to funerals (to determine whether the parish shows growth or decline)

  • The Mass attendance on weekends, which had been tallied weekly by the ushers for the past five years

  • The future development of housing in Johnson City and the percentage of new homeowners who might be Catholic

  • Articles written for the Catholic Church about how to properly use facilities and space in a church.

After only a few months, the committee determined which needs were most vital to Blessed Sacrament. These include the need to:


  • Increase the Seating capacity to allow fewer weekend Masses.
  • Improve the main entrance and vestibule or gathering space to create a more welcoming atmosphere
  • Update the Sanctuary to be more liturgically correct according to the latest Church teachings, while keeping the use of the space effective and efficient.
  • Make the church accessible to persons with physical disabilities of all kinds making Blessed Sacrament a welcome place to all who enter.
  • Plan for a future that will someday leave Blessed Sacrament with only one priest
  • Improve the parking lot to make it more efficient.

With the Parish Council's support, on May 3Oth, 1989, the Renovation Committee presented these needs to the parish at a Sunday night meeting. The parishioners agreed with the needs defined above and strongly urged the Committee to proceed by contacting architects and liturgical consultants who would be interested in renovating the Blessed Sacrament church.

That summer, the Committee met almost weekly interviewing eight architects and three liturgical consultants. Feeling that Blessed Sacrament could achieve the most working with a liturgical consultant and a local architect, Robert Rambusch, a liturgical consultant from New York City, and the Binghamton architectural firm of Cummings, Pash, and Hadsell were hired. Bob Rambusch, and his associate at the time Larry Hoy, and Ron Hadsell worked quickly to prepare several possible floor plans for renovating the church. In the meantime, the Renovation Committee met with the Diocesan Building Commission several times in Syracuse. The Building Commission approves all plans to renovate churches in the diocese as well as the architects and contractors hired to do the work.

From April 1990 to April 1991, the Renovation Committee spent many hours with Bob Rambusch and Ron Hadsell defining and refining every detail of the renovation. They initially worked on the outside of the building, looking at (to name a few):


  • The new roof line

  • A ramp for the handicapped that worked well with the new entrance

  • Brick and concrete samples

  • Roofing material

  • The effect of the new addition on the school

  • A drop-off area in the parking lot

  • A center island in the parking lot

  • Landscaping.

Their sights then turned toward the inside, which proved to be even more difficult. Not only did they have to consider the material con-tents of the building, but the liturgical contents as well, such as:


  • The location of each liturgical item (such as the altar, the baptismal font, the tabernacle)

  • The arrangement and style of pews

  • The location of the choir area

  • Stained glass windows

  • Access to the basement for the disabled

  • Flooring samples

  • Wall colors and textures

  • Fabric and vinyl samples

  • Types of wood and sample finishes

  • lighting fixtures.

Keep in mind that all these items had to coordinate well with each other while being acoustically, structurally, and liturgically correct. And every item had to conform to Johnson City fire laws and building codes. In the process the Renovation Committee also looked at how this entire project could be financed. A project of this size would require more than good will. The original estimate to renovate Blessed Sacrament church was $1,175,000. In the end, the job would cost $1,250,000. Msgr. Kane decided it would be best to form a Finance Committee to help with this tremendous effort.

FINANCES
The Finance Committee's first assignment was to study the parish finances. With $300,000 in savings, a major fund drive would have to be held to raise the balance.

The Finance Committee's second assignment was to hire a professional fund raiser for assistance. John McCabe, from Scranton, guided the successifil campaign with leadership from the following parishioners:


  • James McCabe, Co-chair

  • Frank Fitzsimmons

  • Robert Ford

  • Jan Jakubowicz

  • Frances Hardt, Co-chair

  • Elizabeth Joggerst

  • Eugene Nosowicz

  • Dorothy Rose

In the fall of 1990, more than 150 parishioners participated in the pledge appeal by contacting each parishioner and family personally.

They presented drawings of the renovation proposal and a pledge card asking for a four-year financial commitment from each person or family. At the end of the campaign, when all pledge cards were added up, Blessed Sacrament parishioners had pledged over $1,000,000! in the end, if all parishioners who pledged make their payments, the parish will be free of debt in four years! Such a generous response from the parish family was a boost for all that the project was proceeding in the right direction and that it had the support of the parishioners.

The Renovation Cominittee held an informational meeting on April 28th, 1991, to present drawings and blueprints, answer questions, respond to concerns, and reassure themselves that they had the support they needed from the parish to proceed. The general feeling of those in attendance was "let's get on with it." So, after receiving the the consent of the Parish Council, we did!

CONSTRUCTION
With solid architectural plans and finances in line, it was time to put a contract together. Architect Ron Hadsell combined the structural plans with the decorative decisions to build the project. The contract was sent out for bid in April 1991. when the bids were returned and analyzed, Anthony J. Cerasaro, inc. was hired as the general contractor. A starting date was set for May 1991 with a completion date set for December 15th, 1991.

On schedule, construction started with trucks, a backhoe, a bulldozer, and steam shovel to dig the hole for the new foundation. At this point, the church was still being used for daily and weekend Masses, but due to the extent of the construction, it would soon have to be vacated. A Facilities Committee was formed to find storage areas for every item in the church and to determine if certain items were even needed in the new church.

The last weekend of liturgies in the old church was June 29th and 3Oth, 1991. After the Noon Mass, volunteer parishioners, along with members from the Facilities Conirnittee, dismantled the old church. On this last weekend everything was moved out; some items were sent to storage, and some were donated to new homes:


  • Our old pews were donated to the Transfiguration Monasteryr in Windsor.

  • Our altar, baptismal font, ambo, tabernacle, and table, to St. Therese in Munnsville, NY; pastor Fr. John Donovan.

  • Our light fixtures to St. John's in Bainbridge, NY; pastor Fr. Don Bourgeois..

During construction, the parish moved weekend and holy day liturgies to the Azon Corporation off Oakdale Road in Johnson City. This was made possible through the generosity of Mr. William Bordages, President of the Azon Corporation. Masses were held in Azon's new multi-purpose room, which proved to be more than adequate and comfortable for our needs. Parishioners again volunteered to set up and tear down chairs and direct traffic with yellow plastic baseball bats each weekend while we were "comfortably inconvenienced" at Azon.

Daily Masses were celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital
Chapel, thanks to the hospitality of the Daughters of Charity and
Mr. Michael Guley, President. This chapel provided a beautiful
and prayerful atmosphere for daily worshippers.

As construction progressed, the foundation was poured, for the new basement, steel beams were erected for the new tower, and the structure of the new Eucharistic Reservation Room took shape.

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By the end of October, 1991, the major construction on the outside of the building was complete, and the work now concentrated inside. Rooms were enclosed, walls were plastered and painted, the choir and altar areas were constructed. Finishing touches included installing the floor tiles and parquet flooring of the altar, staining of doors and other woodwork, installing the stained glass windows, vividly painting the ceiling, and mounting the light fixtures

While the original goal was to be back in the church for liturgies by the weekend of December 15th, 1991, the church was not quite finished. The contractor needed at least until the 15th to complete final details. This meant it would take another week or or so to arrange and install the pews, the refurbished electronic organ, and the other liturgical flirnishings. After everything was installed, the organ had to be tested with the new speakers. This required that the church be totally silent, so all construction needed to be finished. And the church needed a thorough cleaning to prepare for the first liturgy, which was now planned for the Christmas season. Again, parish volunteers turned out with mops and brooms in hand to clean the floors, wash the windows, vacuum and dust every inch of the new church.

Although there was much more work to be done, especially in the basement, the first liturgy dramatically took place on Christmas Eve at the 5:30 Vigil Mass. Anxious parishioners and welcomed guests started arriving more than an hour before Mass. Their curious eyes wandered across every inch of the building as they waited for Mass to begin. The renovated church, whose number of seats was increased from 336 to 540, was filled to capacity with very little standing room left. It was heard that the ushers stopped counting at 750! The congregation responded to Msgr. Kane's Christmas greeting with joyous applause. what a special gift for Christmas -- to be back "home"!

With final touches yet to be put in place, on Sunday, February 23rd, 1992, at 2:00 pm, Bishop Joseph O'Keefe celebrated the Dedication liturgy with a full church of interested parishioners, invited guests, and others from the local community. At this time, the baptismal font and Eucharistic Reservation Room were blessed and the altar was consecrated. A reception sponsored by the Women's Guild followed the ceremony in the church hall.

FEATURES OF A RENOVATED CHURCH
It was the intention of the Renovation Committee to provide a worship space that would be inviting, spiritual, practical, and exciting, while suiting our needs for the future. Many features of the new Blessed Sacrament Church bring this about.

Physical Features
This picture shows a blueprint drawing of the church with the physical features listed below labeled.

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The Outside: One of the hallmarks of the Blessed Sacrament parish is and should be hospitality. The outside was planned to be inviting as soon as an individual enters the property. To make the outside hospitable, the following features were incorporated:


  • A landscaped island at the front point of the parking lot to help establish parish boundaries

  • A drop off area to alleviate congestion

  • Flowered and landscaped areas

  • A refurbished shrine of Mary, incorporated into the new side-walks of the church

  • Lightning rods to protect against storms

  • An upper outdoor patio level

  • New signs identaying the buildings and the mass schedule

  • A new lawn.

The Gathering Space: One of the goals was to improve the entrance aita. The spacious gathering area provides a sense of hos-pitality for all liturgies and special occasions, such as weddings and funerals. This area is now large enough to form receiving lines and

processions without interfering with those entering the church for services.

Conveniently located to the right of the Gathering Space are the entrance to the Respite Room (or cry room), the elevator to the basement, ladies' and inens' rooms, and the Sacristy. To the left of the Gathering Space are closets to store the ushers coats and to hang the coats of parishioners for those who wish to use them during Mass.

The Sacristy: while it may seem unusual to have the sacristy located so close to the front door, it is quite practical. The presider, altar servers, and lectors walk down the main aisle from the gath-ering space to the altar for each Mass. Having the sacristy and robing areas off the gathering space is very convenient and elimi-nates the need to walk down the stairs through the basement as was the practice in the past. It is also very welcoming to someone entering the church to be able to find a priest so quickly.

Handicapped Accessibility: Again, one of the goals was to make the church accessible to persons with physical disabilities of all kinds. This was accomplished by including:
 A curb cut-out from the parking lot to the sidewalk and desig-nated parking spots for the handicapped
 An outside ramp from the sidewalk level to the main entrance of the church
 Spacious restrooms on the main level of the church
 A MI-sii:e elevator to the basement
 Hearing receivers (available in the sacristy) for those who find it difficult to hear.

while the Renovation Committee made sure that the church would be accessible for wheel-chaired persons, it also wanted to help those who had minor physical problems as well. For example, a flAil-size elevator was installed, rather than a chair lift, to help those who might have difficulty climbing stairs. Even the angled pews provide seating with extra leg room and more room to get in and out.

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\!_Sound:. Critical to any worship space is hoth natural and amplified sound. To achieve the best sound possible, an acoustical engineer recommended that the walls be reinforced, the floor be tiled, but the seats of the pews be cushioned. The church would also need ade-quate speakers for the enlarged worship space and numerous elec-trical and microphone outlets for greater flexibility. These recommendations were all implemented and resulted in an acous-tically efficient worship space.

Seating: New pews were called for to replace the old original pews. The old pews were too few in number and the wrong lengths and style to work in the new chuich. A new design pew with a padded seat cushion and no side panel was chosen for its warmth and openness. Attractive chairs are also included, giving the flexibility to add and take away seats according to special occasions and liturgies. The new design of the worship space allows all worshippers to be closer to the altar for celebration with no section having more than 15 rows of pews. And the extended space allowed stating to increase from 336 to 540.

The Sanctuary Tower: The center and main sections of the worship space were designed to extend the worship space skyward and give a sense of exaltation in the church. The bright geometric painting on the tower ceiling is remmiscent of many medieval cathedrals. Installed in three of the four walls of the tower are new stained glass windows which provide a beautiful spray of color on the inside tower walls on a sunny day. while the center picture of each window is new, the surrounding sections were fabricated mainly from the glass taken from the windows that were removed from the side walls of the church for the renovation. The spiritual depiction in the windows, from the Old Testament, is described on page 18.

The Choir Area: Good liturgical design recommends that all worshippers be part of the celebration, including the choir. In Blessed Sacrament, this was achieved by eliminating the old choir loft and designating a space for the choir. Using chairs in this area provides the flexibility to accommodate the numerous types of music ministries in the parish.

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The Respite Room: This room, formerly called a cry room, sets aside a space where an individual may go in time of necessity or emergency. It is intended for a parent to take a crying child, an individual who cannot stop coughing, or a person who feels faint, for example. It is not intended for regtilar use, but a place of respite -- a change, to respond to a particular situation or problem. Sometimes the need to use this space is anticipated even before Uturgy begins, and the room is available.

The Church Hall Extension: A basement was built under the new addition. This new space, which is broken up into a large reception room and two small meeting rooms, allows us to enend hospitality to funeral luncheons, diocesan workshops, and study groups. lt also provides needed meeting space. The new elevator in the gath-ering space conveniently empties into a hallway connectmg all the basement rooms together.

The Church Grounds: The shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary takes on an added prominence outside as it stands at the new entrance of the church. The sidewalk leading up to the main doorways encom-passes the shrine. The shrine was reftirbished with new tile on the base, and the statue was cleaned and repaired. The cedar benches were built by Bob Wargo of the parish. Many plantings in the landscaping, designed by Michael Haas, have a sp~tual theme, such as the day fillies and the dogwoods. The lawn was stripped and reseeded by Tom Elifich. The parking lot was resurfaced and striped for more organized parking.

Spiritual Features

This picture shows a blueprint drawing of the church with spjrit~ features listed below labeled.

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The Baptismal Font: The font, which has always been an irnpor-tant feature in the Church, is placed in the gathering space -- sym-holic of our entry into the Catholic community and the reception of the other sacraments. The font is made of solid carrielian granite with a tower or upper pool for infant baptisms. It is also to be used as the central holy water font for those entering the church. The lower pool, following 2,000 years of Catholic tradition, allows for the option to pour or cover new Christians with the baptismal waters. Water can flow from one level to the other and can be warmed.

The Eucharistic Reservation Room: Perhaps the most dramatic change in the church is found in the location of the tabernacle. It is now placed in the Eucharistic Chapel, or Eucharistic Reservation Room, which is located off to the fight of the altar nen to the Room of Reconciliation. This change follows the direction of the Bishops' Conference of the United States and its Liturgical Com-mission. The practice of reserving the Blessed Sacrament in a sepa-rate room is not new. Such practice is evident in St. Peter's in Rome, St. Patrick's in New York, and most cathedrals. This is really the more traditional practice.

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™_Our Reservation Room is a separate and important architectural feature on the extension of the church. For a parish that is dedi-cated to the Blessed Sacrament, it is indeed fitting that a distinct place of adoration exists to enhance the prayer life and devotional life of the parish. The room has a Gothic-type faceted roo{ stained glass windows depicting the Eucharist (transferred from the chapel of Blessed Sacrament's convent), and a sanctuary- lamp that marks the holiness of the eucharistic reser~ration room.

The tabernacle itself is brass, enthroned on a granite-topped table and carries on the theme of the architecture of the room itself.

The A Liar: The altar is the focal point of the church interior. It is the solemn table for the sacred meal and the place of sacrifice. The altar is solid carnelian granite. The altar is the repository of our history. It is the table around which we gather for the meal which is at one and the same time the expression of our common life and source of that life.

The altar was consecrated by Bishop Joseph O'Keefe of the Diocese of Syracuse on February- 23rd, 1992. The relics of St. John Neumann and of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda. St. Charles Lwanga and St. Matthew Mulumba are encased in the leg of the altar.

The relics of saints are associated with the altar because the early Christians celebrated the eucharist at the grave sites of martyrs to honor them. In the fourth century, churches and altars were built over tombs, and out of this association came the later medieval practi~;c of enclosing relics in the altar.

The Processional Cross.- Major processional functions begin with processions and often the processional cross leads the way. Our new cross combines gold, red, and black colors to highlight the wood-carved corpus of Christ.

The Ambo: The Ambo is the altar of the word, where Christ is made present through Scriptural Readings. The Ambo is composed mostly of wood elements and a granite front, recalling its unity with

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©the Altar as the Mass is both Word and Sacrament. A small con-cealed step can be flipped down for use by children.

The Paschal Candle: The Paschal Candle is a sign of the risen Christ and is lighted during the Easter season and for funerals and baptisms. The white wood color of the base is symbolic of resur-rection and newness. The four plaques on the base use a tree design to symbolize the four seasons of the year which are a strong reminder of our life cycle from birth to death.

The Sculpture: Traditionally, from the earliest days of church archi-tecture up to the Middle Ages, the Image of Christ as Lord Almighty (Pantocrator), Living and Resurrected has always been an

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important part of the life of the church. In the Sanctuary where Christ is made living and present in Word and in Sacrament, His image becomes a main axis feature. It depicts Christ modestly enthroned holding in his hands the bread and cup. Thus, in our church, which is dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament, the majestic Christ sculpture is seen at the site of consecration of bread and wine into his body and blood welcoming a" to join in his feast.

The Trinity: High above the altar is the circle contaiffing two symbols: the triangle, which is symbolic of God the Father, and the dove, which is symbolic of God the Holy Spifit. These two symbols along with the sculpted statue of Christ below renew our faith of three persons in one God.

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ùñ\­_The Tower Windows: The three rose windows in the crossing tower reused much of the glass from the windows that were removed as part of the renovation. There is an Old Testament theme in each center panel which foreshadowed what the Eucharist would be for us:

 Nourishment -- depicted in the red window, is symbolized by manna in the desert that was given by God to the chosen people on their way to the promised land. The Eucharist nourishes us on our spifitual journey to our promised land.

 Presence -- depicted in the gold window, is symbolized by the' ark of the convenant. In the Old Testament, the ark symbol-ized the presence of God for the chosen people. The Eucharist is the presence of Jesus for us.

 Healing -- depicted in the blue window, is symbolized by the fish and the gourd. In the Old Testament, Tobias was healed by the fish. We are healed by the Eucharist.

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The Room if Reconciliation: This room has only one purpose --the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is a place set apart for privacy and thoughtfiil prayer and dialogue with the presider. The option of face to face or anonymous celebration is incorporated into the furnishings of the room.

The Ambry: Each year, during the Chrism Mass at the cathedral, the bishop consecrates tinte oils which are used in the adminis-tration of some of the Sacraments. These three oils are contained in clear glass receptacles. The glass receptacles are placed in an ambry. These oils remind us of our pilgrimage in a life of holiness as Catholics -- our beginning through Baptism (oil of Catechutnens and oil of Chrism), our maturing through Confirmation and

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ligÅ_Priesthood (oil of Chrism), and our weakness in life (oil of the Sick). The oil of Chrism was also used for the consecration of the altar.
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The Devotional Wing: The area of worship to the left of the altar contains many devotional aids that not only have relevance for the renovated church, but were also part of the old church:

 The Crucifix
 The statue of Mary
 The statue of Joseph
 The Stations of the Cross.
The Stations of the Cross, originally located in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament Convent, are hand-carved wood made in italy.

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A_CONCLUSION

~bis booklet is intended to give Blessed Sacrament parishioners and visitors an idea of what it took to renovate this church and a sense of what is contained in the renovated church and, where necessary, why certain items are located where they are.

Every decision was made in an effort to enhance the hospitality and spi#t of the Blessed Sacrament parish. No decision was made rashly (the Renovation Committee, which has attended more than 80 meetings, can attest to that!). And yet, the church is not fin-ished. Small things will continue to change for years to come as we get comfortable in the new space. Meanwhile, it is hoped that everything in general and, in particular, the items of devotion or worship win be a source of edification and an aid to worship for everyone who enters the Church of the Blessed Sacrament.

It is important to know that none of this could have been accom-plished without the intense support of the parish community who showed this support through their financial backing as well as their tremendous sp~t of volunteerism throughout the entire process! Thank you all!

February 19, 1993