Mary, Queen of the Apostles Adorns Church

Front of Church after trees cut down

After cutting down trees in front of his Church, Fr. Jim Stenger called Henninger's for ideas to make his brick A-frame building look "more like a Church" from the street while honoring Mary, the patron of his Church.  Fr. Stenger's Church was the result of a merger of Assumption of Mary Church and St. Peter the Apostle Church and the new Church had been named Mary, Queen of the Apostles Church.  So Henninger's set out on some ideas for including Mary while including the Apostles while keeping costs in check.  Complicating the matter, the new design needed to be able to make it through the weather in Cleveland, meaning that wood, plaster, or anything else that would be affected by rain, snow, or any other possible weather.

The first thought was to incorporate a mosaic on the front of the building, but the size needed for the mosaic to be noticed from the street would have resulted in the creation of nearly 54 square feet of mosaic, which would then have to be installed on the exterior of the Church, causing the cost to become prohibitive.

Henninger's then approached Fr. Stenger about a fiberglass statue of Mary, holding the Christ Child and wearing a crown, that was available in a bronze finish.  The statue was available in an 8' size and the bronze powder that was used when the fiberglass casting was made would age like real bronze, allowing it to stand out from the brick facade nicely.  However, because the statue was cast in fiberglass, weight was not the issue that it would have been with a cast bronze piece.

In approaching the Apostles, Henninger's found steel stars that could be configured around the statue on Mary on the front of the building, with 12 stars representing each of the Apostles.  With the design finalized, Henninger's arranged for the statue to be made in Italy by the Demetz Art Studio and sent to Cleveland.  Upon arrival, the statue was uncrated and prepared for installation, with the size of the statue and the beauty of the statue amazing everyone who saw the stunning statue.

After readying the site and installing a limestone shelf upon which the 250 lb. statue would sit, Henninger's crew went to work on scaffolding to install the statue, then the stars around the statue on the front of the building.

The result of the design work and installation led Fr. Stenger to remark that the front of the Church looked "better than he could have imagined" with Mary and the Apostles honored on the facade of the Church and a complete transformation for the look of the Church.

A "New" Church in the City

"Old" Church

With a growing congregation and an eye towards the future, Fr. Bob Marva contacted Henninger's to assist him in his ambitious idea replace his current Church at St. Agnes-Our Lady of Fatima on Cleveland's East Side with a brand-new structure.  Fr. Marva wanted to create a larger, more open space for the community and create a worship space that incorporated not only components of the "old" Church, but also utilize items from other closed parishes from the Diocese of Cleveland.

Tabernacle in wall

In visiting the Church, the first step was determining what to use and what to design as new pieces for the planned worship space.  Fr. Marva asked about his tabernacle, which was the original tabernacle from St. Agnes Church in Cleveland, which was torn down in 1975.  When the tabernacle was salvaged from St. Agnes however, it was recessed into the wall, meaning that Fr. Marva was unsure what the majority of the tabernacle looked like and whether it would be usable in the still-to-be-built Church.

Henninger's removed the tabernacle from the wall and formulated a plan with Fr. Marva to have the tabernacle refinished to its original beauty, also fabricating a new dome for the top with a finial that was similar in style to the original dome, which had been lost decades before.

St. Lawrence Altar

The next step in the design process was to determine how to utilize items that were already in use by the Church and integrate them into designing the sanctuary furniture and liturgical appointments, ideally utilizing available pieces from other closed Churches from the Diocese of Cleveland.  In reviewing what was available, Fr. Marva decided that the Altar of Sacrifice that had graced the sanctuary at the since-closed St. Lawrence Church in Cleveland would work very well in terms of the amount of marble contained within the Altar - to make multiple "new" pieces of furniture from one Altar - as well as the colors and design within the marble Altar of Sacrifice to adorn the still-to-be-built new Church for St. Agnes-Our Lady of Fatima.

Candlestick Style

In addition to the Altar of Sacrifice from St. Lawrence, Fr. Marva had a particular style of candlesticks that were currently in use at the Church that he wanted to incorporate into the new furniture, combining wood in the style of the candlesticks with the marble from the St. Lawrence Altar to create a new Altar of Sacrifice, Altar of Repose, and Ambo.  Because of the size of the mensa from the St. Lawrence Altar and the desired sizes of the new pieces to fit the new Church, Henninger's was able to come up with a plan to cut and re-purpose the mensa from the St. Lawrence Altar to present renderings to Fr. Marva.
 

Altar of Repose Rendering

Altar of Sacrifice Rendering

 

Ambo Rendering

With the designs approved and with the ground-breaking for the new Church about to begin, Henninger's went to work to re-purpose the marble from the old Altar of Sacrifice from St. Lawrence while creating the new wood components of the furniture.  Additionally, a Nigerian symbol that served as an emblem for the largely African-American community of St. Agnes-Our Lady of Fatima, was carved out of wood to adorn the front of the base of the newly-created Altar of Sacrifice and would serve as a complement to the Lamb of God symbol that would adorn the base of the newly-created Altar of Repose.

Additionally, the tabernacle refinishing was completed, with a newly-created dome and the decision was made to marbleize a band of wood that would go around the newly-refinished tabernacle in colors that would match and complement the marble components of the furniture.

As work continued on site for the new Church, Henninger's readied the components of the new furniture in preparation for their installation at the new Church.  Working in concert with the general contractor and the other trades, Henninger's arrived on site to install the three newly-created pieces of sanctuary as well as the newly-refinished tabernacle.

In addition to the new Sanctuary furniture, Henninger's worked with Fr. Marva to design a pew style that would fit in with the new open space and coordinated the arrival and installation of the pews for the dedication of the worship space by Bishop Richard Lennon on the night before Thanksgiving, 2015.  With the new pews and the flexible seating of the chairs that Henninger's provided for the Church, the new seating capacity of 325 nearly doubled the previous seating capacity.

As the dedication neared, the triumph of a new Church being built on Cleveland's near East Side had been accomplished, through the leadership and dedication of Fr. Marva.  A community that had grown from 150 families to nearly 400 families needed a new, larger worship space and - in keeping with the community's history as a merged parish between St. Agnes Church and Our Lady of Fatima Church in 1980 - the new building brought together the old and the new.  In utilizing the available marble from the St. Lawrence Altar and working to come up with designs that would fit into the new worship space, the process resulted in a beautiful success story of growth and rebirth.

New 30 Foot Tall High Altar

Completed high Altar

About two years ago, Father Jim Fitzpatrick asked parishioners of St. Bernard Church in Alpena, Michigan if they wanted to have an altar like the one that was removed from the church in the mid-1960s. Within weeks, fundraising made that dream a possibility.  Old photographs were uncovered to discover the grandeur of the previous altar from St. Bernard:

Archive photo of previous high altar

Fr. Fitzpatrick contacted Henninger's in July, 2014 to investigate options.  Used altars from Italy were proposed.  Used altars from Ohio were proposed.  Unfortunately, nothing was close enough to the original altar to be considered.  At that time Henninger's design team began work on drawing a new altar:

Final design

Drawing altar

The design was approved in March, 2015 and work began.

The design was enlarged to the full size of 30 feet tall for Henninger's woodworkers to measure and lay out each section of the altar. Meanwhile, in Italy, statues were being carved for various places in the altar.  A new crucifixion group of St. John, St. Mary Magdalene, and the Virgin Mary, plus two Adoring Angels were carved and painted by Demetz Art Studio. 

Work in Progress

Piece by piece, the altar was built in Henninger's warehouse.  The fiberglass Last Supper panel and grapes relief panels were added, along with decorative polystone capitals and onlays.  Columns were turned, Gothic arches were shaped, and tracery panels were assembled.  As people toured Henninger's warehouse, many exclaimed at its height, to which the woodworkers replied, "we still have to go 12 feet higher!"

Work in Progress

When the construction of the altar was complete, the painting began.  The plan was to paint the new high altar to match the old high altar from St. Bernard - in white with gold/bronze trim.

Painting Altar

Delivery and installation of the high altar took place October 29 - November 3.  The church's statues of St. Patrick, St. Bernard, the Crucified Christ, along with the tabernacle were inserted perfectly into the new altar.  Lighting in each niche was added to highlight each statue.

 Installation time lapse video part 1

Installation time lapse video part 2

Installation

 

Click here for a YouTube video of the installation

The dedication Mass to celebrate the installation of the new high altar is 1pm on Sunday, November 8.  In anticipation of the Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy recently declared by Pope Francis, St. Bernard Church has been named a place of pilgrimage within the Diocese of Gaylord.

Delaware Doors

St. Mary's in Delaware, Ohio is a grand church with a brick structure in Gothic style.  Its two spires tower over the town.  In 1980 the church was listed in the National Register of Historic places.  Unfortunately, the main doors did not fit in with the rest of the Church.  They were made of glass and steel and resembled storefront doors.  Recently, Henninger's was contacted for a design of for new wood doors with stained glass windows.

Storefront doors before project began

Henninger's design for new doors

Fr. Michael Watson, pastor of St. Mary Church, asked for the new doors to made of solid wood.  The middle double doors should be raised from 7 feet in height to 8 feet in height.  A handicap entrance button was included as well.

The stained glass windows designed for the doors used a pattern in the nave of the church.  Debbie Knopf, one of Henninger's skilled and experienced stained glass artists, handled the fabrication of the windows.  The patterns on the leaded glass windows were hand-painted in black matte.  When complete, they were encapsulated in tempered glass for safety.

Stained glass design

Debbie Knopf, Henninger's stained glass artist

Tim Molnar led Henninger's woodworkers with the building of the solid wood doors.  An expert craftsman with decades of experience, Tim oversaw every facet of the project, from milling and assembly to sanding, staining, and finishing.  Each set of door had a new transom made.  The middle doors had sidelights built.  New jambs were made for all three areas.  To put it simply, this was a big job!

Tim Molnar and woodworking crew

A crew of four of Henninger's service team - Tim Molnar, Natalie Molnar, Jerry Klimo, and Adam Klimo -  installed the doors over the week of June 1, 2015.  New hardware was included with each door.  The stone work on the facade of the church was being restored at the same time as the door installation, adding to the facelift.

Installation crew

Exterior view of finished door

Interior view of finished door

"I am very pleased with the new church doors... how could anyone be unpleased with them?"

- Rev. Michael Watson, pastor

Completed new doors at St. Mary Church in Delaware, Ohio