Hundreds fill the aisles for dedication

LIBERAL -- The road to completion of a new church is a rocky one indeed – yards of carpet to lay, piles of bills to pay, and a multitude of prayers to pray — but when the pavement’s all been poured and the brick and mortar rise high under a large, embracing cross, all that’s left is celebration, celebration, celebration.

More than 1,000 people gathered Sept. 26 for the dedication of the new St. Anthony of Padua Church in Liberal, celebrating Mass together as a community in a structure other than the old St. Anthony school auditorium for the first time in 11 years.

As Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore, St. Anthony pastor Father Patrick Keyes, C.Ss.R., and several former St. Anthony pastors stood near the altar, the congregation effectively filled every inch of standing room, flowing into the gathering space where busy ushers rushed to unfold extra chairs.

"The psalm is a hymn to old Jerusalem," Bishop Gilmore said in English and then in Spanish, "God’s dwelling, the holy city, to which all come from afar (Mexico, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany) … In you, all find their home."

Mixed into the congregation like a pleasant spice were people dressed in their colorful native attire; Vietnamese in bright blue silk robes and caps, Indians in the traditional sari, and from the Philippines and South American countries, women and children dressed in colorful, festive prints.

"But I want you to understand that finding in terms of the Guadalupe event," Bishop Gilmore continued. "La Morenita [Our Lady of Guadalupe] asked for a hermitage (a shelter for the homeless), a home (a place of affectionate relationships), for a temple (a place where the sacred dwells). All of this resonated with those who had been made homeless by the conquest [of Mexico by the Spaniards] 10 years earlier.

"It should resonate with you Spanish-speaking people as well. You have also been displaced, been made homeless, been marginalized. Immigration itself has done that to you. But look around you today and understand the Virgin’s promise today: in you (this hermitage, this house, this temple) we find our home.

"It should resonate with you English-speaking people also," Bishop Gilmore added. "You are also being displaced, being made homeless, being marginalized. Immigration with its large numbers has done that to you. But look around you today and understand the Virgin’s promise today: in you (this dream of so many years) we find our home."

The dedication celebration was steeped in ritual and symbolism, from the handing of the architectural plans to the bishop prior to the opening of the church doors, to the blessing of the walls and the altar. In fact, just as when the Dodge City cathedral was dedicated four years ago, the lights of the church remained off until the blessing of the altar midway through the service, one of the symbolic moments that indicated when this structure officially became a place of praise and worship.

As Bishop Gilmore annointed the altar with chrism oil, Father Keyes and former pastors annointed the walls of the church. Symbolizing the bringing of the Gospel to the Americas 500 years ago, Hispanic youth lit candles in small alcoves surrounding the worship area. And as a nod to the multi-national, multi-culture congregation, representatives of several countries, one-by-one, placed colorful banners on the altar.

As two women quietly wept in the front row, Bishop Gilmore told the largely Hispanic congregation, "What you are sacramentally around this table of the Lord, you are becoming day by day in the streets, in the plants, in the homes of this town. You are showing us how it is done. You are a sign of hope for us all.

"We are as grateful for your witness as we are delighted with your lovely church. In you, O Church of Jesus Christ, may we all find our home."

Architect provides insight into Liberal’s church project

Paul Cavaugh: In looking back at my notes for this project, we began discussions with Father Henry Hildebrandt in 1997. By September of 1998, we had organized task force meetings to gather and discuss the space needs for the many groups in the parish. These meetings continued for some time while Father Hildebrandt developed some liturgical design documents for the parish’s use and a fundraising consultant was also engaged by December 1999. The results of that meeting caused us all to reconsider the direction of the facility design, and a smaller addition was developed and discussed for some time until Redemptorist Father Patrick Keyes came to St. Anthony in July of 2001. By January of 2002, Father Patrick had determined that St. Anthony needed a worship space that could hold 800 people with an adjacent daily chapel for 200 people and the required accessory spaces such as a reservation chapel, sacristy and confessionals. Design and drawing development followed shortly afterwards until the start of construction last year.

It was always our thought that the new church would be constructed on the west side of the campus at 15th and Calhoun Streets because of the available space and the desire to be as visible as possible to the adjacent trafficway. We felt that the structure should present a more dynamic massing than the existing school buildings at that site to identify it as a church, to indicate the evolving demographics of the church, and to indicate a different era of construction style. We felt the new structure should be significantly higher than the existing buildings for several reasons. We wanted the building to be a visual landmark for the community and to clearly say "This is a Church." We wanted the architecture to reflect the growing Hispanic influence on the personality of the St. Anthony population more accurately, also. We also wanted the interior of the space to be uplifting and draw your eyes upwards when entering.

PC: I try not fixate too rigidly on any particular style of architecture and focus, instead, on making the building "work" for the parish functionally. As I mentioned, we also try to have the building reflect the parish’s demographics and personality and, to that end, we incorporated southwestern materials and color palette.

A parishioner of another similar church project who seemed determined to come up with an architectural vernacular for our style of Church design once coined a term for their church building as "Kansas Prairie Gothic." I think that style applies very adequately in St. Anthony’s case but with a decided Southwestern influence.

PC: The stained glass windows. They were salvaged and purchased from another church and are of a superb quality and size. St. Anthony is fortunate to have obtained these windows and to be able to incorporate them into this new building.

High, natural light should be incorporated into the worship space to signify the higher source of power that we are there to worship and to make a connection with the earth and sky. The cross is meant to be a wayfinding icon for the surrounding community in their daily lives. They can find the cross above the other structures and trees and say "there is St. Anthony Catholic Church."

The center, large doors are meant to be opened and used only at the commencement and completion of Mass. Their opening and closing signifies the beginning and completion of a sacramental process.

Placing the font near the entrance to the worship space is a reflection of "entering the Church through Baptism." The movement of the font water from the rough, raw stone into the beautiful, polished basin signifies the transition of our soul from the worldly to the realm of sanctification through baptism by the living water.

PC: There are many references to the triumvirate at work in the design of this Church: three entrance doors into the worship space; three arches in the wall where the tabernacle is located; three windows in the exterior wall of the daily chapel. The design and location of the baptismal font was also discussed previously and conveys many subtle messages.

PC: As mentioned previously, the exterior color palette we used was primarily southwestern in basis. We wanted an earthy, reddish brown brick on the lower portion of the building to not only protect the building’s apron, but to also reflect a "grounding" and connection to the earth and to reflect a southwestern style and material of architecture. The brick color is "Inca" and was provided by Summit Brick Company in Denver. The interior stone is Cottonwood Limestone from the Born Stone quarry at Elmdale near Cottonwood Falls in Chase County, Kansas. The exterior stucco material is reminiscent of the stucco plaster of adobe walls. The red roof is also iconic of southwestern tradition of building color and materials.

PC: As you enter the gathering space, you will be facing the trio of doors into the worship space with the ceremonial doors directly ahead of you. There are shrines on either side of the gGathering space and the size of this space is large enough to accommodate many small gatherings of parishioners before and after Mass for community building.

When you enter the worship space, you will immediately see the huge stone baptismal font in front of you. Your eye will be pulled upward to the light coming in through the cupola in the center of the space and will be pulled, also to the stone wall where the tabernacle is placed beyond the altar. The stained glass windows will add sparkle and color to the entire interior of the space.

The front doors of the church, the ceremonial doors into the worship space, the baptismal font, the central aisle, the sanctuary platform, tabernacle, crucifix and adoration chapel are all on a central axis line through this new structure.

PC: A huge, solid block of limestone creates the font. A hand-hammered copper bowl sets in the top of the font. Water spills into a basin made of ceramic tile.

PC: These pieces were custom built by Mr. Robert Maneth, a parishioner of St. Anthony, and are placed with the altar slightly ahead of the ambo to emphasize the importance of the altar. The crucifix, which was transferred from the old church building, now hangs above the new altar location.

PC: The worship space is the largest space in the complex and is basically a 100 foot by 100 foot area. The main floor comprises 17,500 square feet and the Basement is 3,000 square feet.

PC: The adoration chapel is located directly in line behind the tabernacle and has stained glass windows in the wall between the worship space and the adoration chapel as well as stained glass windows in the exterior wall. These windows will enhance the spiritual environment as well as envelop the occupant in privacy and contemplation.

PC: Yes, besides the Joseph and Mary shrines near the front of the worship space, St. Anthony will have an Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in the daily chapel and a Santo Nino de Atocha shrine in the gathering space.

PC: The stained glass windows are the primary sacred art incorporated into this new building. Many of the other items of art are treasures the parish wanted to reuse from the older church, such as the Crucifix, Stations and shrines. The parish is also trying to recondition the St. Anthony statue for installation in an outdoor plaza area at the entrance to the Church complex.

PC: The process is always as important, to me, as the completed project. The friendships and relationships that have been built through the past seven years of working with the people of St. Anthony will stay with me always. I am humbled and honored to have been included as a part of such a tremendously talented, dedicated and hard working group of people. We accomplished so much, together.

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LIBERAL -- The people of St. Anthony Parish community in Liberal have at least one thing in common with those of the small, jungle communities Father Patrick Keyes, pastor, served for three years prior to coming to Kansas three years ago: They both are willing to give of their time and money to construct a church.

But that’s pretty much where the comparison ends.

For the past year, the Redemptorist priest has been asked time and time again by his Liberal parishioners, "Will the church be completed for the Sept. 26 dedication?"

Finished it was, and anywhere from 1,000 to an estimated 1,800 people showed up to give thanks on Sept. 26.

"I thought it went real well," Father Keyes said of the dedication and reception that followed. "I was really pleased. It’s just a sign of the dedication and love of the people for their church."

Like the people of the Brazilian fishing villages who donated their time, money and skills to build their churches one brick at a time, volunteers – from professional construction workers to those with no construction background – worked tirelessly to build St. Anthony Church.

"It was pretty impressive, the people who came after work to volunteer their time," Father Keyes said of the Liberal community.

In Liberal, volunteers were from all walks of life, from farmers, to plant workers, to computer jockeys. In the Brazilian jungle, where Father Keyes said rainfall is measured in feet rather than inches, people live entirely off the land.

"I once asked how people live, and I was told they live off the prow of their boat," he said. "They go out, catch enough fish for the day, and they’re done."

Among the work accomplished by volunteer labor at St. Anthony Church was the tiling of the floor, painting, masonry work, the laying of the sidewalks, and landscaping. Father Keyes stressed that there were too many volunteers to include names in this article, and offered his appreciation for each who helped.