Published: October 01, 2008 03:57 pm         

St. Joseph Catholic Church to dedicate new worship space

After years of dreaming and planning, the efforts of the congregation of St. Joseph Catholic Church will come to fruition when they dedicate their new worship space on Sunday.

A dedication mass begins at 10 a.m. with special guest the Most Rev. Kevin J. Farrell, bishop of the Dallas Diocese. A reception follows at noon.

According to the Rev. George Monaghan, priest of St. Joseph, the new facility gives the church tremendous growth and the ability to do things it couldn’t do well before. The former worship space will now become the parish hall, also giving the church more room to grow.

“We were so small that it was really hard to do weddings and funerals well — really to do any of the rituals well,” Monaghan said. “The other building was built in 1955 and really was just worn out.

“It’s something the people have wanted for a long time and have been working hard for a long time. It’s a marvelous reality for them. They’re terribly excited.”

Monaghan said there is a tremendous sense of pride and ownership among the congregation for the new building.

“They’ve been part of every step of it all the way through,” he said. “As the building was going up, they were able to walk through it and see the different stages.”

The new facility will also have will also have bells that ring not only on the hour, but to call people to prayer throughout different times of the day.

One of the most noticeable features of the new building is that it is a monolithic dome.

“It’s not geodesic, being different triangles put together,” Monaghan said. “It’s monolithic meaning as if out of a solid block. It’s solid concrete with a roofing membrane over the top of that. So it functions as if it’s out of a solid piece of stone that’s been hollowed out.

“It will withstand a tremendous amount of wind. It’s rated in excess of 300 mph winds.”

Monaghan also said because of the thickness of the concrete, the building will be very efficient to heat and cool.

But the unique design does present its own challenges, according to Monaghan.

“Not everybody’s use to working off circles,” he said. “It provides some challenge itself with that, but also a tremendous uniqueness.”

Monaghan was afraid of losing the intimacy of the old building when the church first started designing the new facility.

“The community here was use to a rather tight, intimate space,” he said. “I was afraid of them going into a big, non-intimate space. You just lose something in that. There’s a coldness.

“So even though we seat four times the number of people than we did in the old building, we still maintain that intimacy within this design — which I think is really key.”

The church will give tours of the new facility starting at noon and visitors are welcome to come see it.

“It’s nice when you’ve got the full spectrum of ages excited about it,” Monaghan said. “From the youngest to the oldest, (they’re) really excited and involved in the process.”

     

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