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June 5, 2020LAWTON – Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Lawton took advantage of the public closing of Masses to repair the 119-year-old church with the help of funds raised through the “One Church, Many Disciples” campaign, and from generous parishioners.
“I am excited for the opportunity to use a portion of the funds from our One Church Many Disciples Campaign for this local project,” said Father Brian Buettner, pastor. “Parishioners were overwhelmingly generous and are excited.”
The renovations began March 23 after public Masses were suspended in the archdiocese. Crews already were finishing the basement work and were planning on waiting until after Easter to close the church for renovations. Father Buettner said while he would have much rather had public Masses, the timing worked out well to complete the repairs.
“We are finishing the floors and pews in our parish. We also are rebuilding the sanctuary risers as well as some structural beams and columns in the basement below the apse,” Father Buettner said.
The floor beneath the pews has never been refinished.
Miguel Mireles of the “One Church, Many Disciples” Campaign said there are 107 churches and missions that have participated in the campaign, and all of the churches and missions have received a portion of the funds collected to go toward local projects.
“It’s not just one area of the state or one area of the archdiocese that gets to benefit from the campaign. It is very humbling to know we are so blessed, and people are sharing their faith and sharing their treasure for the greater good,” Mireles said. “We are going to see immediate impacts, like new carpet, new paint, new roofs, a lot of things happening in construction.”
He added that the impact from the capital campaign is going to be felt for many years to come. Some of the things the campaign will fund include priests’ retirement and helping to strengthen parishes.
Jolene Schonchin is a freelance writer with the Sooner Catholic.
