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Our Lady of Loretto parishioner Jim Quinn receives a solo tour of the newly remodeled church by fellow parishioner Holly Lemos on Oct. 4. The Novato church built in 1963 completed a major renovation this summer after the church was shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Christina Gray/Catholic San Francisco).
Oct. 30, 2020
Christina Gray
Catholic San Francisco
For Our Lady of Loretto Parish, the closure of its church to public Masses from March to October had a silver lining; it expedited a planned-for church renovation that done later, would have taken longer and been more disruptive to church life.
"The timing could not have been better,” said Annie Troy, longtime director of confirmation and youth ministry in an after-Mass video shown to parishioners on Oct. 4. “We were able to take advantage of the closure to put our plan into place.”
Indoor Mass with restrictions resumed at the parish in late September. Parish leaders chose to formally reveal the project and the spirit of renewal behind it during the Mass on the Feast of St. Francis.
According to Troy, the physical renovation of the church built in 1963 is the first phase of a comprehensive parish overhaul launched two years ago by pastor Father Brian Costello who was diagnosed with cancer in February and died in July.
As one on a parish team called 'Rebuilt,' Troy and other members along with parish administrator Father Tony Vallecillo, are continuing the ‘physical and spiritual renewal’ envisioned for the parish by Father Costello.
"We had decided on this course of action prior to the lock down," said parishioner Wayne Richards, another member of the Rebuilt team. "With the church closed and inside services suspended, we accelerated our activities, taking advantage of the situation."
The video lovingly detailed each aspect of the renovation which staff and parishioners took literally into their own hands, including parish manager Patrick Reeder and his son.
Troy explained that the physical changes, lovely as they are, were not just an interior decorating job. Nearly every decision, she said, was made to usher in a new parish “culture” where both longtime parishioners and newcomers, both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking, feel welcomed, comfortable, engaged and inspired.
“Every change, every enhancement has been purposefully set in place to shine a light, to bring greater glory to God in and through his church,” said Troy.
The dark, 1960s-era vestibule has been transformed into an open entry hall with comfortable seating and warm lighting meant to be a visual invitation to join, to stay. The wall separating the sanctuary and the vestibule will be replaced with windows for the same reason.
TV monitors have been installed in the entry to message useful parish information; another set in the sanctuary will make Mass readings and song lyrics more accessible to all, but especially newcomers. Woodwork and pews were sanded and refinished to restore their mid-century beauty, and all manner of glass and brass was cleaned, polished or restored, among the many improvements.
Troy revealed the intention behind each decision the parish made when she described the new interior paint color as “Blessed Mother Blue,” the color of the mantle of the church patroness.
She said that while the shutdown afforded the parish the opportunity to refresh and revitalize the church building, parish leaders understood that, “Jesus wants more of us.”
When the Lord revealed himself to St. Francis in Assisi and asked him to rebuild his church, “it wasn’t just the building that needed attention,” said Troy.
“The church that is in ruins is our community around us, church-going or not, who the Lord calls us to love and serve,” she said.
Parish renewal began in 2018 under Father Costello’s leadership when a small group of parishioners and administrative staff with a “shared concern about the state of our parish” began meeting to discuss solutions, said Troy.
The problems were not unique to Our Lady of Loretto; declining Mass attendance, lack of parish involvement by young families and the aging and death of longtime parishioners.
Father Costello summed up the challenges facing the parish in a January letter following a parish survey completed by almost 900 parishioners in December 2019.
“Our active members are well into the retirement phase of their lives, and our young families, the future of our parish, are not actively engaged with the church,” he wrote. “If we stand by and do nothing about this current reality, I am afraid there will not be a future for Our Lady of Loretto Church.”
The parish renewal group took its name and guidance from a book by the same name, “Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter”(Ave Maria Press, 2013).
Authored by Father Michael White, pastor of Church of the Nativity Parish in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and Tom Corcoran, his lay associate, the book is the story of how they saved their parish from inevitable decline by “rebuilding parish culture.” They now help leaders at other Catholic parishes to do the same and traveled to Novato last year to help the parish identify its most critical goals.
In a May letter just weeks before his death, Father Costello identified them as: improving the Mass experience, particularly for newcomers or those who don’t attend Mass regularly; evangelization; upgraded facilities (the church) and improving engagment in parish life.
Troy, whose in-laws have been part of the parish community for more than 50 years said it will be tricky to find the right balance between “honoring our older parishioners who have built this parish,” while also opening our doors to those who have “never even considered entering a church."
Marin County is a place of opportunity in that regard. Here, she said, the the number of people who identify themselves as Catholic or are practicing Catholics is “staggeringly low."
“How do we bring people in who have stopped practicing their faith?” she asked, while attracting non-Catholics and staying true to the needs of aging parishioners.
Father Vallecillo, who took over Father Costello's administrative duties and hopes to be named pastor, sees that “the people here are very appreciative of stepping into a beautiful new church." As the parish moves into the next phase of its renewal, the physical renovation is a sign of hope for the future.
“But the next phase, evangelization, is the most important part of the process,” he said.