Our kneelers are a great example of what we mean by “stewardship,” sacrificial generosity born of ownership and investment.
Mickey Creighton, a Clemson sophomore and accomplished carpenter, suggested that the church might be better with kneelers. He came by and told me what he wanted to do. He did all the measuring, design, and getting the basic materials. He and his dad built the kneelers and did the installation.
Along the way, another Clemson student, Brandon Delspina, read about the project and made a generous financial contribution in memory of his Randall. When the time came to pad and cover the kneeler tops, Gail Anderson, secured the foam and vinyl and measured it all over for the different sections.
Various parishioners, especially our Clemson students, answered the here-and-there calls for the muscle needed to get the padding/covering right and tight, and moving the kneelers here and there as they came together.
I’m deeply grateful to one and all for a tremendous effort.
And as sit on the back porch writing this, I’m watching the women from our Christ Renews His Parish (CHRP) weekend head home. Again, an event made possible by stewardship in action: the team of parishioners who met regularly for many months and spent two days prior readying our facilities, and the CHRP alums who provided meals and logistical support. It was, and always is, an event made possible by generosity of time and talent. Now, on to the men’s weekend, Feb. 27-28!
This week we meet to provide McMillan Pazdan Smth with our take on how the new church will be sited. With that in place, MPS can move forward to siting other elements of the project: a parish center, an education/meeting building, and parking and thoroughfares.
The electrical work for the new Chapel bell was completed last week. A mason now has to do some drilling in the tower to accommodate the bell beam. That work is being coordinated with Verdin, the bell-maker, whose technician will then come and do the installation. We want these two steps to be back-to-back in order to optimize our rental of equipment needed to finish the job.
Finally, the building sitting on 114 Wigington is almost down. The property will be spruced up and steps will be taken with the city to join the 114 parcel with our 209 Sloan parcel (both zoned the same) and our parking expanded. I’d like to see all this completed before the start of summer.
-Fr. Dan
