Building on Faith
The Church belongs entirely to Christ. He is its Head, its Founder, and Saviour. He commands us to go forward and spread the Gospel, teach His truth and establish His Church throughout the world. In faith, we believe He continues to do His saving work in and through the Church.
In Matthew 16:18 the Church is compared to a building erected on the faith of the Apostle, Simon Peter, “..upon this rock I will build my church,” and the buildings we call churches today are very much the physical expression of the Church founded by Christ.
These buildings are magnificent bases from which to praise God and carry out His word.
In fact, church buildings are designed for worship. A church building may be small and simple, just large enough to hold a neighbourhood congregation, or it may be huge and complicated, containing different spaces for various religious activities and observances, as in a cathedral.
Regardless of the design, its purpose is what is most important, so it is a special event when God’s church is built. Calgary is within sight of experiencing such an event.
Five years ago we were a mission of St. Patrick’s Parish. In 1998, Bishop Frederick Henry announced plans for a new faith community to be centred in the McKenzie area of Southeast Calgary. For Catholics in the rapidly expanding communities of Douglasdale, Douglas Glen, McKenzie Lake, McKenzie Towne, Cranston, Chaparral, and the surrounding areas South and East, St. Albert the Great Parish provided the opportunity to come together in worship and grow in faith.
And faith our parishioners must have, because while there is considerable activity in the parish, there is still no permanent Church of St. Albert in which parishioners can gather and our faith community can grow. For almost five years, meetings have convened at Cardinal Newman School and for the past two and a half years at Monsignor Smith School where Mass is celebrated. On special occasions the Croatian Church of Our Lady of Bastrica in Deer Run has offered its facility. Our Pastor has also had increasing involvement in our schools enhancing the Catholic education of our children.
To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. It is time to build our church.
The Church of St. Albert the Great
As a spiritual home, the church is the focal point for services and guidance to the Catholic community. In our part of Southeast Calgary, that’s more than twelve hundred families and growing. There are presently three Masses each weekend, regularly attended by over 1,000 active parishioners. Each is filled to capacity.
As a way of life, a parish church is home and family to many people. People from many different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds live and worship together, and become the Body of Christ within our parish. Through an active faith life, the parish family continually attracts new members and inspires religious vocation from within our Christian community.
For countless others, the neighbourhood church is visible evidence of faith, hope and love at work in the community. When the bells ring it’s a reminder of God’s love and that there are people in the community committed to building the Church of God and who care enough to share His presence through their church building.
Although we are now focusing on the physical facilities of the parish, the campaign that will realize our vision is about much more than bricks and mortar. St. Albert’s is to be a place of inspiration that shows our community that the Church is strong, an important symbol in the community. This church will be a warm, welcoming, an inspiring spiritual and social centre for Southeast Calgary and the people it serves.
St. Albert the Great is indeed a special church. After almost five years it is now time to build our own place of worship where we can continue to expand our faith community and bring our people together in one location. We are prepared to undertake the challenge for this exciting and next chapter in our parish history – a campaign that will raise the necessary funds that will build our church, St. Albert the Great.
The parish family of St. Albert the Great has been entrusted with the sacred and awesome responsibility to build a church and all it represents within our community. We must succeed. We must “let our light shine” for the glory of God and the good of His people.
Our goals are to create a church that will be
functional for the worshipping faithful
a place of awe, glory and inspiration, where Catholics can fully experience the wonder of the gospel in a setting that inspires prayer and reflection
a beacon to the community
The physical structure that is the Church of St. Albert the Great includes
Worship space that can accommodate an assembly of at least 1,200 with an adequate Sanctuary, Narthex and choir space
Support facilities for worship such as the confessional Sacristy, meeting rooms and offices for our pastoral team and others
Educational, recreational, and social areas such as meeting rooms and space for social gatherings
St. Albert’s will not be a small church, but one designed with an eye to the future.
The population of South Calgary has experienced tremendous growth over the past several years and the forecast is for this to continue. We see its impact in the increased number of parishioners. Many are new to the area and others are members of St. Patrick’s and St. Bonaventure’s parish who will become part of St. Albert the Great Parish.
Additionally, the Diocese requests that new churches be built that can accommodate a larger number of parishioners than in years past. This enhances Church services and organization, and helps make the best use of clergy.
After serious review and consideration, our pastoral team and parish leaders have decided to enter into a major fundraising program that will build a church of some 48,000 square feet and able to accommodate more than 1,200 at Mass. The church will be built on about 4.2 acres of land in the Prestwick division of McKenzie Towne and be a landmark of this area.
Architects and planners, building committee members and our pastor have given great time and consideration to this church. St. Albert the Great is expected to cost approximately $6 million. This is a significant undertaking, but already funds have been committed that will position this campaign for success and our church will be built.
As is normal practice, sixty percent of the cost, or $3,600,000 will be assumed by the Diocese as a loan that we are encouraged to repay over the next ten years. Our parish is responsible for raising the remaining forty percent, or $2,400,000 before beginning construction.
Fundraising initiatives over the past fifteen months have raised $1,200,000 of that amount. Most of these gifts have come from within in our parish. The Bishop has pledged $200,000.
This campaign for $1,000,000 is designed to complete financing and realize our vision for St. Albert’s Parish.
Support for this program will be sought from within our parish family. Campaign volunteers will visit every member of our parish and ask for financial support to ensure the Church of St. Albert the Great is built. The campaign will take place beginning in March 2001, and conclude three months later in June. The campaign will seek a commitment from every parish family through
cash donations,
pledged gifts over three years,
gifts in kind,
other types of gifts such as securities, real property and other assets.
The reason the active campaign timeline is short is to have the remaining $1 million raised so that ground can be broken and construction underway by the end of October 2001. This is critical to capitalize on some incentives from the builder, keeping the cost as low as possible while still having the building we want.
Diagrams and architect’s renderings included here and reproduced in campaign materials are in the parish rectory and we also have a scale model to show what the new church will look like. All of this is to help parishioners envision what they will find when they walk through the doors on their first Sunday for Mass in the fall of 2002.
Key elements of St. Albert the Great include:
Worship Space
An assembly that can accommodate 1,000 on the main level and 200 on the mezzanine
Narthex that can be put to use for overflow seating
Sanctuary for up to 50 people. Such a large space could provide a day chapel
Choir area for 20 members, in addition to an organ, piano and music stands
Support Facilities for Worship
Two separate confessionals
Sacristy including vesting, preparation and storage areas
Provision for a weekday chapel, crying room and choir vestry
Additional Support Spaces for Worship
Office space for pastor, general office, youth worker, receptionist
Boardroom, copy room, coffee station
Educational, Recreational and Social
Two meeting rooms for 150 – 200 people each
Three to five rooms for 20 – 50 people each
Kitchen and servery
Library
Charlet Ryberg made the following Pulpit Announcement May 19. Charlet and husband Kelly are Campaign Volunteers.
My name is Charlet Ryberg. I have been a member of this Parish for nearly three years.
It is with great courage that we are conducting the $1 million Building on Faith
Campaign. I can speak from experience.
If I were to tell you that my family was building a house, we’d excitedly explain the floor plan, the structure and the size. We’d be busy picking out the flooring, paint colour, fixtures and features that comprise a house.
Well, let me tell you that we are all building a House where love, forgiveness and compassion are the features. The floor plan is large to accommodate our growing parish and its needs. The Word of God, prayers and music burst forth like an Entertainment Centre to provide colour for all our sacraments at weekday and Sunday Masses. The celebration around this table is the Eucharist.
We’re building a House of God but it will only become a home when we as parishioners come together to give our time, talent and treasure.
I certainly agree with Father Kevin and our Campaign Leaders when they say the goal is to create a church that will be:
I am happy that I was asked to give my time and money to build our church. I feel that our family is part of something very unique and very important. We have made our gift and let me tell you about the visit that was made to us.
The visiting team took time to answer questions about the Church. They didn’t pry into our personal finances but considerately asked us to pledge a gift. My family had discussed our gift before the visit and we were happy to commit to a pledge over three years.
It was our decision to make and it will be yours too.
The results of our Campaign have been astonishing so far. We have raised $495,000, almost half way to our goal of $1 million. Those who have given have made commitments ranging from $1,000 to $100,000. Gifts can be pledged over a period of time and are a family decision that reflects individual circumstances and situation.
We’re not done yet. Open your doors to volunteers who want to visit with you and talk about building the church of St. Albert the Great. And when you’re asked to give think about your commitment to build our new church and help our parish grow.
If you’re waiting for a visit, it’s because we still only have about 50 hard working individuals who are visiting parish families and their time is limited. One of the campaign’s objectives is to visit with every family, and with over 1,400 families in the parish we need more people to volunteer. When you are asked to volunteer, make sure that you say YES! Or, give your name and telephone number to one of the Campaign volunteers or call the Parish Office. Do it today. You’ll be well supported in giving your time and you will be helping to build God’s church.
In today’s world, there are very few opportunities for people to come together and create something of lasting value. We have such an opportunity now that requires each of us examine ourselves and our commitment to building God’s church.
St. Albert the Great is our spiritual home; focal point for the celebrations that draw us together in worship and praise of the Lord, a place where teachers can share their knowledge and influence a new generation, a symbol of our faith in the community, and sanctuary for those seeking peace.
Our new church is the sum of its people and visible proof to the neighbourhood that God’s work is being done in the community.