PAST PERFORMANCE - After conducting a complete master plan review of their facility, the St. Jude Catholic Parish decided to completely demolish its existing church building and rebuild it. This new building replaces the existing church with an increase in sanctuary seating from 450 to approximately 800 and will better accommodate liturgical celebrations. Also included is a new rotunda with a baptistry, through which parishioners will enter the church. Additional features include meeting spaces, restrooms, a corridor storm shelter, new entrances with a drop-off canopy, and new HVAC and electrical systems.
Online articles about this project
In progress construction videos
The Challenge
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
When parish leaders started to look at the current church’s structural issues in 2018, the goal was not to build something new. The church had been adapted about three times already and there was some concern about what other issues might be discovered once contractors started to cut into the walls.
When the decision was made to start over, Father Henehan said, “People were just tremendously generous.”
The Process
This new church construction sits on roughly the same footprint as the one they just left, but adds about 150 to 200 feet. Designed by architect James McCrery of Washington, D.C., the new church seating is for around 800 people.
The Result
A few of the many notable aspects of the new St. Jude Church include:
An octagonal rotunda with a baptistery through which parishioners will enter and exit the church.
A dramatic, original mural of Pentecost on the sanctuary’s back wall, measuring 21 feet tall-by-36 feet wide, painted off-site on five canvas panels by artist Andrew Hattermann and then assembled and blended into one image within the church. Father Henehan notes the scene includes saints from throughout the centuries looking on because “Pentecost continues.”
The marble altar, weighing 5,000 pounds. It features a mosaic of the Lamb (Victory of Christ) from the Book of Revelation crafted by Rugo Stone of Virginia.
Scripture passages that dominate the upper reaches of the sanctuary in letters more than a foot tall, including three “I am” quotes of Jesus from the Gospel of John — “I am the bread of life,” “I am the way the truth and the life,” and “I am the true vine.” Extending across a beam at the front of the sanctuary is another quote from Jesus in John’s Gospel: “Remain in me and you will bear much fruit.”