On Friday of last week, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebryesus (a really great name), declared that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency. Of course, the pandemic is far from over. Thousands of people around the world are still dying from it every week. WHO estimates that the real death toll from the coronavirus exceeds 20 million. If we are still alive, we can be grateful.

The pandemic touched all of our lives and our way of life. Although very few members of our worship community died from COVID-19, the virus altered our relationship with church and took its toll on our historic church building. As most of you remember, in the early days of the pandemic, health experts believed that the virus could be spread by touching surfaces that had not been sanitized. In the Archdiocese, strict protocols were put in place for spraying pews, kneelers, doors, etc. with a bleaching or sanitizing agent after each Mass. An amazing group of generous volunteered dutifully sprayed and wiped disinfectant after every time that the church was used, so that we could continue to gather for Mass.  As the months went by, a sanitizing agent was developed that did not harm wood; but by then the damage had already been done to our pews and the tables in the back of the church. The bleach wiped out the finish in a very uneven way, and (with no protection from the elements) caused the wood on some of the pews to split. So, the question became, “What are we going to do about the pews?”

The first thing we did was to wait. The pandemic was still washing over the city in waves; and with our understanding of how the coronavirus behaves still growing, no one could be sure that we would not be told to start spraying the pews again. Eventually it was time to make a decision about the pews (or I should say, church seating, since a more radical reappraisal of our worship space could have taken place). Both the Pastoral Council and the Finance Council got involved exploring possibilities. The Pastoral Council initially favored repair and restoration. Several vendors came to examine the project. One local firm proposed doing the restoration work on site; the other taking the pews, a section at a time, to their plant. When we then received estimates on the cost of new pews, the price of replacement was only slightly greater than the lower bid on restoration. If the pews we currently have were original to the church, there would be no question that I would have favored restoration. In fact, these pews are from the late 1950’s. The 1950’s and 1960’s were low points when it came to historic restoration. The focus was on streamlining and modernizing. The pews we have now bear no resemblance to the originals. So, the decision was made to purchase new pews. Lots of small decisions had to be made. How can we make the pews a little more comfortable without sacrificing capacity? The new pews will have a more rounded seat and an inch more sitting space. They will also be about an inch and a half further apart (We will lose one row of pews in the center sections). There will be space for wheelchairs (and baby carriages) in both the front and the back. While not mimicking the original pews, the new pews will be of a more historic design. This project will also involve replacing the tile flooring (from 1995) and the carpeting (from 2008). The work is slated to take place in January of next year. This will mean that we will be worshipping in the Parish Hall on one weekend and possibly two, while the church is being transformed. The work will have to be done carefully, since we are dealing with a 145 year old building.

As word began to leak out about new pews, several people have inquired about “donating” a pew to the church. The total cost of the pews themselves will be $121,000. We do have funds in the Restoration Account to cover the cost of the pews and the new flooring. However, this will take a big bite out of that Restoration Account, and we certainly welcome donors (This is the church, after all!). Divided among the number of pews, the cost of a full-size pew in the center section would be $2,880 and a shorter pew $1,440. The Finance Council is in agreement that we would not attach name plates to the new pews, but create a plaque in the church recognizing pew donors.

While this will represent a big change to our church building, we cannot forget that the “real” church is the people of God who worship in it, grow in faith, hope, and charity, and, empowered by the Holy Spirit, bring the good news of God’s love to a wider world. The cost of that is priceless.

                                                             Fr. Joe