Church plans expansion
Gathering hall should be ready in fall
Looking toward its 50th anniversary in July, St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church in Atlanta is adding on to its building with a “gathering hall.”
“We’re looking to the future is the reason for the building,” said the Rev. Dan Gonzalez, church rector.
The gathering hall will be a large room at the present entryway to the sanctuary. It will be a place where members can visit before and after services.
“We’ll meet our visitors here too,” Gonzalez said. “Hospitality is very important to us.”
The new addition will also have a bathroom, room for the choir or mothers with children, and a sacristy, which is a small room where servers and the priest can dress before service and in which the vessels and implements needed for the service can be stored.
The brick wall, which is currently the back of the sanctuary, will be opened to allow for expansion.
“The gathering hall will be bright and cheerful with the large windows we’ve designed to use, and I’ll see to it that lots of greenery is added,” Gonzalez said.
Also included will be a portico from the hall to the parking lot, which will allow the unloading of passengers during bad weather.
The pastor said the church has been saving its money during the recent years and investing much of it with the diocese. This has allowed the fund to grow because of the better rates of interest obtained here than can be found with commercial banks.
“We’re still primarily an elderly congregation, but we are having more children than ever, and we think this new gathering hall is good stewardship for us. We aren’t sitting on the money we have, and we invite the public to join us.”
The church was established here in July of 1955.
“In my mind when I first arrived in 2012, I thought the church should be growing, and we are, even if some of our people don’t always think we are. Our Hispanic services are always full, for example. Our vision is for the future.”
Church officials had been planning to have the gathering hall completed by the time for the arrival of the bishop June 28 to bless the church on the 50th anniversary. But bad weather during this past winter has delayed this, Gonzalez said.
“We’ll have our anniversary celebration and look to completing the gathering hall perhaps by September,” he concluded.