|
Historic churches look
to new funding sources
Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 20, 2006
Detroit – Keeping one historic church in good repair is a challenge, but Fr. Mark Borkowski must try to keep up three historic Detroit churches – each more than 100 years old.
The historic three-parish cluster of Sweetest Heart of Mary, St. Josaphat and St. Joseph was recently chosen, along with 11 other congregations statewide, to participate in a year-long series of New Dollars/New Partner training by Michigan Historic Preservation Network and Partners for Sacred Places. The training seeks to teach historic churches how to access new sources of funding.
As pastor of Sweetest Heart of Mary, and administrator of the other two parishes, Fr. Borkowski has worked to build up the membership of each congregation, but has also reached out beyond that membership to find other possible sources of money for repairs and restoration work.
"It's quite a job, I'm going to tell you. Just managing a Catholic church is enough of a job, but with a historic one you have to be able to find contractors whose work won't compromise the historic integrity of the church," he says.
That means finding specialist plasterers and painters, as well as experts in repairing stained-glass windows and other decorative architectural features. "You can't just buy a can of paint and paint it yourself," Fr. Borkowski adds.
Doing it right takes money, and so Fr. Borkowski, associate pastor Fr. Paul Ward, and several lay people from the parish will be attending the New Dollar/New Partner training sessions, the first of which will be held at Fort Street Presbyterian Church in downtown Detroit Jan. 27-28.
Historic parishes are accustomed to raising money for repairs and restoration from their own members, but the experience of the sponsoring organizations has shown there are other institutions and individuals who might be willing to contribute for other reasons.
"These churches are not only living congregations, but they are also architectural treasures that some people value for artistic, cultural or ethnic identity reasons, or for the social outreach they provide," Fr. Borkowski says.
Besides attracting new parishioners – Sweetest Heart of Mary now has 431 families, St. Josaphat 137 and St. Joseph 238 – Fr. Borkowski launched a once-a-week food pantry supported by all three parishes in the cluster.
And when it comes to ethnic and cultural identity, all three parishes in the cluster figure prominently in Detroit's ethnic history. Sweetest Heart of Mary, built in 1892 at Russell and East Canfield, and St. Josaphat, built in 1900 on East Canfield at what is now the Chrysler Freeway Service Drive, each figured prominently in a major controversy within Detroit's Polish Catholic community.
St. Joseph Church, built in 1872 on Jay Street at Orleans, was one of 19th-century Detroit's two principal German ethnic parishes, and is the only one to still offer Mass in German.
As the financially healthiest of the three parishes, Sweetest Heart of Mary Church has seen the most renovation work. Back in October, Auxiliary Bishop John Quinn rededicated the church's high altar after a $35,000 restoration project that also included the reredos and super-reredos (the architectural features behind and above a traditional high altar, with niches for statues).
Two of the side altars have already been restored, and restoration of the remaing two is projected to cost as much as $26,000 each.
At St. Josaphat Church, which in 2004 became the site for the only authorized celebration of the Tridentine Rite Mass in the archdiocese, the communion rail was repaired and given a new marble top, as well as having its gates put back on. Prior to that a new roof was put on the building.
St. Joseph Church has seen extensive restoration work over the past decade.
Interest in historic preservation has become stronger in recent years, and many non-parishioners who have seen the renovation work are moved to help, Fr. Borkowski says. "People get very excited when they see how we have recreated the atmosphere as it was when the church was built. And that excitement that is generated is often followed by contributions," he adds.
For more information about the three parishes, access the Internet sites of Sweetest Heart of Mary Parish, St. Josaphat Parish, or St. Joseph Parish.
|
