Church Rebuilt Two Years After Fire

Church destroyed by fire

A tragic fire in July of 2012 left the community at St. Mary Magdalen of Kentwood, Michigan without a church.  A fireworks accident caused a fire that destroyed the sanctuary and most of the church building.  All items in the church were lost, including books, pews, altars, and vestments. St. Mary Magdalen parish worked together to plan and build a new church.

The church hired Gilbert Sunghera, SJ as a liturgical consultant for the new church.  Gilbert visited Henninger's to see its warehouse and determine if there was anything useful to the project.  What he found was a travertine Altar that was originally from St. Christine Church in Euclid, Ohio. 

St. Christine Altar

Gilbert designed an Altar of Sacrifice, Tabernacle Altar, and Ambo for St. Mary Magdalen Church.  The design incorporated the mensa from St. Christine and used its shape as an inspiration for the other pieces of furniture.  Each element featured a travertine top with a wood base and steel reveal.

Ambo design

Altar of Sacrifice design

Tabernacle Altar design

Species of wood and finishes for the wood and steel were selected.  The Altars and Ambo were built in Henninger's shop and packed for delivery and installation.

Work in Henninger's shop

Each of the pieces were installed during the week of June 2nd.  Henninger's crew was able to meet the pastor, Rev. Godfrey Onyekwere and learn about the rebuilding process.  The church brought together a very skilled team of architects, craftsmen, labors, and and artists to create its new worship space.

Installation

Most. Rev. David Walkowiak, bishop of the Grand Rapids Diocese, dedicated the new church and its Altar.  Bishop Walkowiak is a native of Cleveland, and formerly a priest in the Diocese of Cleveland.  When he learned that the mensa from the Altar was originally from St. Christine Church of Euclid, he recognized the stone and remembered saying mass on it years before. 

Altar of Sacrifice

Altar of Sacrifice

Tabernacle Altar

Tabernacle Altar

Ambo

Henninger's is proud to have been a part of this wonderful story.  St. Mary Magdalen Church will stand tall for many years and its parishioners have an impressive worship space to celebrate the mass.

St. Clement Doors

St. Clement Church in Lakewood approached Henninger's for a design and quote for the church's main doors.  Pastor, Rev. Joseph Workman wanted wood doors with stained glass panels.  He also wanted to incorporate the unique shape of a crucifix hanging in the church sanctuary:



Henninger's artists worked up a few designs to show the interior and exterior of the new doors.  The style of stained glass was meant to mimic the rest of the church.

Henninger's woodworkers and stained glass artists began work.  Doors were in construction in one side of the warehouse while glass was being cut and painted 100 feet away. 

Doors getting stained, stained glass panel on light box

The doors were stained dark on the interior side to match the existing wood stain.  A lighter, natural finish was selected for the exterior.  The stained glass panels were encapsulated into thermal units for safety.  Finally, when the doors, glass, and hardware were all ready, they were installed during the week of March 31st. 

 

St. John Neumann - Sunbury, Ohio

Fr. David Sizemore's congregation was getting too big for its building.  St. John Neumann's current church was built in 2003 and dedicated in 2004.  In less than ten years, a new project began to more than double the size of the church.  The side walls were knocked down to expand the areas on the left and right of the church.  One of the greatest challenges was to add beauty and art in the space.

Annunciation Stained Glass Window and First Station of the Cross

Fr. Sizemore purchased stained glass windows and Stations of the Cross from Henninger's inventory of used church goods.  The Stations were repaired and touched up by Henninger's statuary artists.  The stained glass needed to be expanded to a larger size.

Original Window                                   Expansion Design                                          Finished Window

The goal of the expanded borders was to match the style of stained glass used 100 years ago when the original windows were made.  Our stained glass artists worked for many weeks to fabricate the 60 new panels (6 new border panels x 10 windows).

Debbie Knopf and Betti Senko in Henninger's Stained Glass Studio

The result of their hard work is pictorial Life of Christ in St. John Neumann Church:

Large Archtop Windows Featuring the Life of Christ

Henninger's also fabricated new stained glass windows for the church, in the style of the windows above.  The Rose Window is made of 17 panels including a Dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, in the middle.

Rose Window

Two Adoring Angel windows were made for the left and right of the sanctuary.

Adoring Angels Stained Glass Windows

St. John Neumann also contracted Henninger's to handle the woodworking on altars and statue niches for their church expansion.  The centerpiece of the church is an antique back altar that was rescued by Fr. Kevin Lutz and restored by Henninger's.

Our woodworkers replaced all of the missing pieces, milled new pillars, expanded the width by adding left and right wings, and repaired any damage to the altar.

Rescued Altar

Natalie Molnar and Tim Molnar with Restored Back Altar in Henninger's Woodshop

Altar Installed On-Site

 After our crew installed the altar, the staining, painting, gilding, murals, and all finishing was done by Conrad Schmitt Studios.

Completed Back Altar with Gilding and Murals

Two side altars were made new to match the style of the antique back altar.  Again, Henninger's handled the woodworking and Conrad Schmitt Studios did the finishing and murals. The Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph Statues were original to St. John Neumann Church.  Henninger's repaired and repainted them in a new color scheme.

Marian and St. Joseph Side Altars

Two statue niches were made using parts from the antique back altar.  These niches hold new statues of St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. John Neumann.

Statue Niches

It was a pleasure working with everyone at St. John Neumann Church and very fulfilling to help them with their church expansion.

"I am in awe every time I walk into our new church and chapel. Immediately I feel the presence of Our Lord. The history of holiness shines through the stained glass; the Holy Spirit Rose Window points to Christ's presence in the tabernacle upon the Altar of the Blessed Sacrament.

God has been with us in every stop of the process to expand and beautify our worship space. From selecting our architects, contractors and consultants to finding our carved wood Altar of the Blessed Sacrament, Stations of the Cross and stained glass windows to our parish families raising the funds necessary to move forward. Praise and thanks be to God!"

 - Rev. David Sizemore

To view pictures of the dedication mass, click here.

Door Restoration at Transfiguration

Henninger's was contacted by Transfiguration Church in Lakewood, OH to restore their main Church doors, which were the original doors from when the Church was built in 1930.  The doors had been poorly maintained and were in need of serious repair and restoration.

The doors were removed and transported back to Henninger's for restoration:

 

Once the doors were back in the shop, the interior of the doors were stripped - with some of the stripper revealing multiple layers of paint (brown, teal, and red) that had accumulated over the years on the soon-to-be-replaced exterior of the doors:

After the interior of the doors were stripped, the exterior facing was removed so new exteriors could be added.  When the exterior facing was removed, it revealed the inner mechanisms of the door, with the 85-year-old hand-cut wood easily visible:

The new exterior facings of the doors were then constructed to match the previous exteriors, which had been rotted out over the years by wind, rain, and snow.  The original stained glass panels were inserted into the restored doors:

While the doors were being worked on in the workshop, the wood in the exterior of the transoms above all three sets of doors was removed and replaced with new wood that replicated the original design:

After the doors were completed, three layers of varnish were added to them for protection while the hardware that was usable was refinished and all hardware in need of replacement was replaced.  The doors were re-installed into the jambs with the newly varnished transoms and jambs matching the luster of the "new" doors:

Though the doors look completely different, the history of the original doors of the Church was restored and preserved for a stunning "before and after" project that turned out even better than anyone involved could have dreamed.