Lord Jesus Christ, it was Your life that inspired many, it was Your sacrifice that built the Church. It is with humble spirit that we offer prayers of gratitude for the sacrifices and hard work of previous generations who made our parish what it is today. May we be as generous as we look to our future.
Heavenly Father, we worship and adore you. We thank you for the generous gifts you have bestowed on us your servants. You have poured out your love on St. Bernadette Parish for over 70 years and we in return offer the service of our time, talent and treasure.
Lord Jesus, we seek to maintain our church, a sanctuary for those who seek comfort, guidance and truth. May this place of worship be a safe and holy refuge for those who seek You and your loving embrace.
Holy Spirit pour out your fire upon us as we work together to accomplish these goals you have set before us. Give us strength, courage and clear vision as we use our gifts to serve You.
We ask all this through the intercession of our Patronesses, Mary, our Mother, St. Bernadette and St. Kateri. Amen.
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St. Bernadette’s capital campaign was a significant effort of both time and treasure. Thank you to all who contributed and for creating this legacy that will serve future generations of Catholics. The improvements made to our accessibility and liturgical needs will serve the St. Bernadette community for another 50 years. In the meantime, we ask that you prayerfully consider a donation to or continuing your donation to our Building Fund, which has been established to support continuing campus maintenance and improvements, as well as the repayment of the bridge loan we received early in our capital campaign. (At present, the parish’s maintenance budget requires us to defer recommended maintenance.)
“These improvements say that St. Bernadette’s has a bright future and that we are focused.” Father Tom Coyte, former pastor, St. Bernadette Catholic Parish, Lakewood, Colorado.
In recent years, parishioners of St. Bernadette’s have seen the church – which celebrated its 70th anniversary on Christmas Eve, 2018 – transform before their eyes. Efforts such as the raising of the altar and construction of the Adoration chapel have reinforced the church’s commitment to the excellence of liturgy and the adoration of the Eucharist. Facility improvements to the church’s HVAC system, installation of wheelchair accessible restrooms and many others address parishioner comforts and needs.
Contributions for these and other capital maintenance and improvement needs to the church, school and parish campus can be made to the St. Bernadette Catholic Parish of Lakewood Building Fund.
“If you look at the capital improvements we’ve made in recent years, some were emergency repairs or replacements – such as fixing the school roof or addressing drainage in the parking lot – both examples of our commitment to safety. Other improvements – such as the new wheelchair accessible restrooms and modernizing the elevator – allow people to participate fully in the parish.
“The Church’s guidelines, as expressed in the general section of the Roman Missal, emphasize that everyone should be able to hear and see clearly all that is happening during the Eucharist. I’m extra sensitive to this need, because of our deaf community, but it applies to all people. With the raised altar, I feel much closer to the people in the pews. It’s good for everyone to see the various rite symbols that are part of the liturgy. I also can see faces all the way to the back now, which makes a tremendous difference in the experience that we have together at Mass because you strive for unity first. We feel more as one now.
“With the St. Bernadette and Eucharistic chapels, we were trying to cement in the relationship of the church with our St. Kateri and deaf communities. We want to make those connections as strong as we can for those communities to feel welcome and supported here. It also struck me that there was no picture or statue in the church of Bernadette. We have the one at the entrance to the church, but it’s of Bernadette as an adult. When I think of St. Bernadette, I think of her as a child and that is the statue that will go into the Bernadette chapel. The icon of St. Vincent de Sales will adorn the Eucharistic chapel.
“Baptism represents entry into our church That’s why a baptistry should be at the doors of the church, where we have placed it now. This connects the theme of water flowing from the baptistry toward the altar where there’s an image of water flowing from the feet of the Immaculate Conception, which is the mosaic behind the altar. This connects the whole parish ministry, as well as the sacraments of the church, in one beautiful symbol.
“After the hail storm in 2017, the church roof was replaced. The roofing company; however, needed to return to make additional repairs that required the ceiling of the church to be repainted. We decided to use this opportunity to repaint the entire church and replace the carpeting on the floor to make everything look nice and bring our church up to date. Capital improvements have been made, as well, to our school, and there are plans to do more, including the ball field and convent building. We are committed to being good stewards of our property. I hope to leave the parish in better financial and physical condition than when I found it – not only in terms of its buildings but in our potential for ministry and outreach.
“Every capital improvement we’ve undertaken underscores our principal value that all are welcomed here at St. Bernadette, that all are served and valued. This ties in with our mission, that everyone feels the embrace of the Good Shepherd when they come here and that all can participate fully. The work we’ve done looks ahead to our ministries, the service of the parish and to the excellence of liturgy that we present and celebrate with our people all the time.”
