New altar, sound system part of $3.2 million project at Holy Family, Va Beach
The late President Harry Truman once said, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
Paul Battaglia, former finance council chair at Church of the Holy Family (CHF), Virginia Beach, said those words “hit the nail on the head” when speaking about the parish’s $3.2 million renovation to its sanctuary, chapel and sacristy.
“It took the will of all the members of the parish beginning with the original plank members of 40 years ago to the new members who wanted the worship space that would be welcoming to everyone for the next 40 years,” Battaglia said. “The building represents more than just a shelter. It shows the beauty and the warmth of our Catholic faith inviting everyone to feel and talk to our God.”
The parish, which has approximately 1,400 registered households, raised $2.2 million, the original estimate for the renovations, but increased cost of materials and their delivery meant CHF had to take out a $1 million note to pay over the next 15 years. The parish raised the majority of its funds through the “Moving Forward in Faith” capital campaign, which will continue until June 30, 2024, but it also received $758,000 from the Living Our Mission capital and endowment campaign that the diocese conducted from 2014-2016. In addition, CHF raised $16,000 in a golf tournament.
In 2018, the parish determined it needed to install better lighting and sound systems, and upgrade its HVAC system. However, the diocesan Building and Renovation Committee said funds from Living Our Mission could only be used if the parish made some changes in its worship space as well. For example, the altar needed to be more prominent, pews with kneelers had to replace the chairs, and a crucifix had to be placed in the sanctuary, said Battaglia, who was finance council chair during the renovation.
How it changed
Renovations to the church, built in 1981, began in November 2021 and were completed this September.
The original worship space was built in the style of an arena with seating sloping toward a small altar. The floor was made of concrete with an exposed aggregate finish, making it bumpy and slippery and therefore difficult to navigate, especially for persons with physical disabilities. The new floor has been leveled, and the aisles are surfaced with terrazzo while the pews have luxury vinyl tile under them.
The worship space can accommodate 520 people in the congregation plus 40 in the choir.
The new marble altar sitting two steps above the level of pews is the focal point. The altar is wheelchair accessible so persons with disabilities can serve as lectors or sing with the choir. The ambo, presider’s and deacons’ chairs and altar servers’ bench are also made of marble, and a wooden corpus of a crucified Christ was placed on the existing cross above the tabernacle, which came from the Little Sisters of the Poor after the religious order’s departure from the diocese.
Repairs to the foundation in the main worship space were made because the steel beams had rusted. The ceiling was lowered and replaced with drywall, which, along with a new sound system, has better sound resonation. The new sound system extends from the worship space to the narthex and the exterior of the building to facilitate liturgies that begin outside. The system includes Bluetooth, which hearing aid users can use to enhance the sound coming through the church’s system while excluding extraneous noise.
Several stained glass pieces were added to create a window portraying the sun above the worship space. Pieces of the previous stained glass panels were used in the window of the reconciliation room, which was reconfigured to improve sound isolation, to have a physical separation between confessor and penitent, and to offer face-to-face and traditional confessions.
The new lighting system includes more luminous and ecologically-friendly LED lights in the main worship space and chapel. Lights can be dimmed to conform to different times and different liturgies. Multiple lighting circuits allow for selective lighting, such as spotlighting a piano solo, rather than having to illuminate the entire area.
Among other changes that were made, a new baptismal font made from the same type of marble as the altar was installed, and the HVAC system was upgraded.
At the Mass on Thursday, Oct. 20, during which he dedicated the altar, Bishop Barry C. Knestout reminded the congregation during his homily that the new worship space, though “beautiful” and “important,” is “just the outside envelope” of one’s faith life. It is the “environment” in which persons build personal relationships with each other and with God, a place “where we bring our lives toward him in prayer and praise and grace, and in receiving that we are able to bring that presence to those around us.”
‘Minor’ resistance, then gratitude
At first there was “minor” resistance among some parishioners to do such an extensive renovation, but as they realized some improvements would make the worship space more accessible for people with disabilities or as they saw the beauty of the construction unfolding, many came around, Battaglia said.
“To me it’s a more traditional church that I grew up in,” Glenn Rodriguez said. “I think everyone that’s been in there has been pleased with the outcome.”
Ruth Spartz, a charter member, and her daughter, Paula Spartz-Sanders, also like the traditional style of the worship space, which they feel has a greater sense of “reverence.”
“It’s beautiful. It’s what I’ve been dreaming and praying for all these years,” Spartz said. “My heart is happy.”
Such was the case with Linda Baker, an original CHF member, who was “hesitant at first” but is “delighted now with the beauty” of the new space.
“We are family here, and that’s what’s most important, and being together in this new space will give us a chance to grow and be open and welcome new people,” Baker said. “Change is difficult, but change can be good. It’s all how you look at it, and this is where we can worship and love and be disciples of our Lord.”
Jill Broome, a parishioner for about 25 years, initially considered the changes to be too extensive, but once the project started, she said she changed her attitude and volunteered in various ways to help make the renovations successful.
“In the end, it was the right thing to do, and the result is it’s just gorgeous,” she said, explaining that the worship space is “warm and welcoming and beautiful,” and as part of the choir, she appreciates the new acoustics that make “an incredible difference.”
“It’s just wonderful. I am totally a person who has come around 180 degrees from where I started with this process,” Broome said. “I’m just so excited and happy to get to use the new space.”