As announced two weeks ago, this Sunday, immediately following the 11:00 A.M. mass, we will be removing all the pews in our church to give way to another capital project, which is to replace all the pews with new ones. The new pews are not exactly brandnew, but at least they are good ones. In case you are wondering why we are replacing our pews all of a sudden, I will explain to you how this plan unfolded.

When Jim Garvin, Director of Engineering and Facilities Management Office of the Diocese of Greensburg, came to visit last month and assess our proposed DLA project, the construction of the children’s liturgy room below the sanctuary, Jeff Polana and George Bender were around discussing the details of the plan and its location. However, after they were finished, Jeff Polana gave Jim Garvin a tour of the church and made mention about the condition of the pews, indicating that some of them needed repairs, as they are very old. Then Jim Garvin shared information regarding the Epiphany Church in Monessen, PA that is in the process of closing and doing their inventory. We immediately called the pastor, Fr. Michael Crookston, and expressed our intention to visit his church and see the pews. He agreed to our visit. And so, we made the trip to Monessen with some of the men from our parish. Upon seeing the pews, we could not believe that the sizes and the numbers perfectly fit to our church. Without a second thought, we expressed our interest to Fr. Mike that we would take them all. With a $100.00 donation per pew, he agreed.

This is how we got involved with the plan of replacing our pews and acted quickly so as not to miss the good opportunity, which I would say providential, and it works for us.

Another plan came up - putting a vinyl flooring down before the pews were installed back to its place to save the cost of replacing the carpet in the next three to five years. Again, this was considered as both the pastoral and finance councils of our parish were consulted. We informed Bishop Malesic and he approved the project.

Now we are into execution to make our plans into a realization for our good and the next generation. All help will be highly appreciated whether it be moving out the pews from our church or going to get the pews from Monessen.

I thank you for all your generosity. May God bless you!