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Parishioners at St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church rejoiced Sunday as their church reopened its doors to the congregation.
The Libertytown church had struggled to serve a growing congregation that counts 1,900 families as members even before the fire that gutted the building four years ago. The fire was accidentally started by roofers who were renovating the church.
Parishioners, who were forced to worship in a 300-seat parish hall since the summer of 2004, cheered as their pastor, Monsignor John Dietzenbach, pushed the doors open and welcomed his flock to Mass on Sunday.
Deacon Mike Misulia — who on Tuesday marked his 30th anniversary of assuming that title at St. Peter's — said he was thankful that the congregation had a larger building in which to worship.
Laura Nisonger, pastoral associate for business administration for St. Peter's, said the event was well planned, and there were seats for everyone who came.
The new church cost $11.5 million. The church community received $3.5 million from insurance. Parishioners have been busy raising money through gifts, fundraisers and memorials.
According to Nisonger, the church has a $4 million mortgage to pay off. She said that the church plans to raise the money through a new capital campaign set to begin in October and the annual "Christmas in the Country" festival and dinner on Nov. 9.
The additional space will relieve some of the pressure on Dietzenbach and other members of the clergy who had to celebrate Mass more frequently on the weekends to accommodate the congregation — now more members of the congregation can attend fewer Masses in the larger church, Misulia said.
Because the church was forced to use its parish hall for worship, Misulia said some of St. Peter the Apostle's congregation left for other churches.
"They felt that a parish hall is not a place for worship, and I don't blame them," he said.
However, he said, that the faith and patience of those members of the congregation had been rewarded by the beautiful new church.
The new church maintains ties with the historic structure, according to a release from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. When construction finished on Aug. 25, cranes lifted the historic church's steeple, which had crowned it from 1871 until the 2004 fire, onto the newly completed church building.
The new structure also has several new features. One of these, the Adoration Chapel, is a separate room behind the altar in which parishioners can go to pray 24 hours a day, Misulia said.
He said church members hope for at least one person to be in the room praying at all times. The room can accommodate about 25 people, but Misulia said there would usually be only two or three.
Also, he said that on Tuesday, the church began holding morning Mass in its smaller chapel section, separate from the main church. The smaller chapel can seat about 70 people, and would not be as expensive to heat or cool than the main church, he said.
He said on holidays like Easter or Christmas, when the church expects a big turn out, the walls that separate the chapel from the main church can be moved for additional space.
"There's an unbelievable amount of people who want to come to church on these two holy days," he said.
The public and members of other churches and community organizations are invited to attend receptions at St. Peter's on Saturday and Sunday, following all Masses according to a release from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Nisonger said that sandwiches and cakes will be available at the Saturday evening Mass, while the receptions on Sunday morning will include breakfast foods.
