St. Michael's finishes renovation project

By JULIE KEANE, Globe staff reporter
December 16, 2004

KINGSLEY - Parishioners at St. Michael's Parish can celebrate their new renovated church this holiday season after many hours of planning, hard work and fundraising.

"It has been about 30 years since the last renovation," said Father Thomas Topf. "We decided to start the process about two years ago. We had our own finance campaign and we feel really glad with the way it turned out."

The finished project consisted of repairing the roof and installing three handicap accessible restrooms. A new reconciliation room was constructed in the back of the church. All of the pews were sanded, stained and varnished. Fiberglass sheeting was also applied to the church walls to prevent cracking. The church ceilings, walls and altar were painted along with decorated in gold leaf. All of the stations and statues in the church were also painted. There was new carpet laid throughout the church and new lighting fixtures were installed in the sanctuary.

Father Topf said there where two critical groups involved in the renovation - the leadership team and the decorating committee.

The six parishioners that were a part of the decorating committees made the decisions about color schemes, the carpet choice and other various decorating options.

The leadership team consisted of the parish directors and three other people who took care of the financing aspect of the renovation.

"The financial drive was conducted by the parishioners themselves and was primarily headed up by two women, Helen Hagan and Barbara Crabb," Father Topf said. "The financial goal was $200,000."

Although that goal has not been met yet, Father Topf said the parish is three-quarters of the way to meeting their target number. The financial campaign was mirrored after the Diocesan Centennial Campaign with a three-year pledge plan.

While the church was being painted and renovated, parishioners celebrated Mass in the parish hall for about three months. During that time, Riehle Brothers Decorating from Cresco, Iowa came to paint the church. Father Topf said the parishioners also helped out a lot during the whole process.

"Parishioners first came in and took all of the pews out and moved them to a building downtown," Father Topf said. "Then they took the carpet out. When the decorators came, the parishioners were extremely kind to them. They brought them food and prayed for their needs. When the decorators were finished, that is when the parishioners really got involved. They cleaned, brought the pews back and put the new kneelers in the pews."

Father noted that one parishioner worked for hundreds of hours making the new hymn bookracks for the parish.

"I was particularly impressed with the lay leadership and the general support for this project," Father Topf noted. "They really took hold of it and followed through until the end. Throughout the project we had the glory of God and future generations in mind.""