How Close Is This Church to Reality?

Readers of this blog have been following the progress of an exciting new church building project at Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Greenville, South Carolina.

In the heart of the Bible Belt we are building a church that looks Catholic to proclaim our Catholic faith with vigor, joy and confidence.

Why is this important?

Because Our Lady of the Rosary is also the title of Our Lady of Victories. The devotion was established after the Battle of Lepanto where Catholicism–under the threat of Islam and secularization–prevailed through the power of the rosary.

This is why we want the church to look Catholic–to proclaim to the world that the Catholic faith is not the same as every other religion.

In the Lower Church there will be a beautiful shrine to the Divine Mercy. This shrine will feature images of Pope St John Paul II and St Faustina. Our church campus is situated just a few hundred yards from an I-85 junction, so we hope and pray that this shrine will be a source of great outreach to many who are traveling up and down the interstate.

In the final months of this year we are embarking on the final phase of our fund raising to build this church and I have asked readers to help by making donations. Our parish only has 550 families and we are situated in a part of Greenville with very challenging socio economic conditions. Around our church there are broken families, broken lives, drug addiction, gangs, prostitution and homelessness. In addition to our new church project, we are expanding our work with the poor in the community–partnering with other professional caring agencies to minister the love of Christ to those in need.

The new church is an important part of the project because as we build the church our existing church–a simple warehouse type building–will be renovated to become a new community center offering a new early learning center, and we hope, a day care center for the elderly as well as being available for a range of community building uses.

Through this blog I have been asking people to help with donations, but one of the questions readers have is, “Is this just a dream or is it really going to happen?” Naturally people do not want to invest in what is no more than a good idea.

Here’s where we stand:

1. We have completed the Dioceses’ plan for new building projects
2. The architects are working now on the last phase of drawings–the construction drawings.
3. The construction drawings will be completed in January
4. The job goes out to bid in February/March
5. Final approval from the diocese means a groundbreaking in May/June
6. Finances: This is a $5m project. Isn’t it amazing that we can build this beautiful church for such a low cost?
7. We have just under $3m in the bank
8. We can borrow $2m from the diocese
9. We want to borrow as little as possible so we are trying to raise $650,000 before the end of the year
10. If we do this we have  “green light”
11. We already have about half of that in cash or promised.
12. CAN YOU HELP US REACH OUR TARGET?

If you would like to help please go here to make an instant donation.

If you would like more information, or would like to learn about some beautiful naming opportunities in the church or Divine Mercy Shrine send me an email at dlongenecker1@gmail.com