Sep 23, 2021

Greetings,

In just a little over six years, St. Sebastian Parish will be celebrating 100 years of service. It is not too early to begin to think about how we are going to celebrate. There are already thoughts being kicked around about special liturgical events, concerts and other gatherings. There is also some visioning for the future to do. There are some overarching themes that are being considered including expanding our Early Learning Center which is not large enough to accommodate all the students who would like to take advantage of it, to solve the problem of crossing Hawkins Avenue, providing more convenient, welcoming and “right sized” meeting spaces for such things as Bible Studies and creating a space for all of our administrative offices which are currently housed in three different buildings, two city blocks and two different zip codes.

How some or all of these things might be addressed is open to creative ideas. Right now, everything is on the table. One of the pieces of the puzzle for which we are waiting is an evaluation of Byrider Hall. The building is being assessed to see how well it is holding up and if it could sustain being added to or being somewhat rearranged to better accommodate today’s (and tomorrow’s) needs. If it turns out that the building and the surrounding ground is in sturdy condition we might go one way. If it seems advisable not to move in that direction, we might try other things.

Another project awaiting a solution is the greenhouse. When I first arrived, the glass area was saved from collapsing thanks to an Eagle Scout project. The building is in rough shape once again. “Dreaming big,” one suggestion is building a new greenhouse, possibly on the back lawn of the rectory for use for the school, cutting garden, grounds crew and church. If built large enough, it could also be used for gatherings. The current greenhouse would be converted for storage.

In any event, these are all dreams looking for inspiration. If you have thoughts, insights or interesting solutions to some of these things which are currently under a microscope or if you have other ideas concerning our celebration of our centennial, please send them in. The more creative we can be the better!

IN OTHER NEWS:

VISITING CLERGY:  Those who attend daily Mass know that we were blessed by some visiting clergy this past week. On Thursday, Fr. Morris and I had a lot of Masses to pray and so Fr. Jacob Bearer was kind enough to take the 8:00am Mass. He is the former parochial vicar of St. Francis de Sales and is currently assigned at St. Columbkille in Parma. He had an excellent homily. If you get the chance, give it a listen on our Youtube Channel www.youtube.com/StSebastianParish. On Saturday morning, Deacon Ian Kelly came to help celebrate Mass. Following the Mass, he met with Karen Spangler to begin designing his First Mass vestment. Please keep him in your prayers.

THE WORK BEGINS:  Materials and available workmen are finally freed up and we will start to see roof repairs, HVAC work and plaster patching taking place. St. Sebastian still needs workers however. Our cleaning crew is desperately small and we need people to come in and clean, particularly at night and on the weekends. If you are interested, please call Mike Zimmerman at 330-836-2233.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck