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St. John parish dedicates expanded, renovated church
St. John parish dedicates expanded, renovated churchBy John Toler
Special to the Times-Democrat
Parishioners of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Warrenton celebrated a much-anticipated Solemn Blessing and Dedication Ceremony for their expanded and renovated church building on Aug. 8 — just 13 months to the day after the last Mass was celebrated in the old church.
And to use a church organist’s analogy, they “pulled out all the stops.”
The Mass was scheduled for 4 p.m., and congregants were advised to come as early as 3:30 p.m. to get a seat. They began arriving before 3 p.m., and by 3:45 p.m., nearly every seat was taken.
The Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde, Bishop of the Arlington Diocese, was the principal celebrant for the ceremony, conducting the “Dedication of a Church and an Altar.”
Music played a large part in the dedication, with a 40-member choir made up of singers from around the diocese, under St. John’s Director of Music and Liturgy Deborah Fancher and conducted by Patricia Whitney.
Musicians accompanied the choir on piano, organ, violins, guitar, flute and trumpet. For the first time, many members of the congregation heard the “new” 1924 Opus 465 pipe organ when the prelude, “Suite Gothique, Op. 25” was performed.
At the end of the Mass, Bishop Loverde spoke about the parish and the building project. He praised Fr. John H. Melmer, pastor of St. John’s Parish — whom he compared to “the leader of a symphony” — for his ability to bring people together on the many and varied aspects of the project. Fr. Melmer received a standing ovation from his congregation.
When it came his turn to speak, Fr. Melmer acknowledged the efforts of parish volunteers and committee members, notably Dave McNichol of Catlett, chairman of the building committee; Rod Beran of Warrenton, who headed the interior design committee; and Steve Wolfe, the church’s director of maintenance.
The new, expanded church building
The original church, built in 1964-65 on the site of the old Stuyvesant school, had a capacity of 400 worshippers. The expanded building can accommodate more than 800, and features additional stained-glass windows representing the five Luminous Mysteries, a larger altar and choir loft, and improved lighting and acoustics.
Loveless Porter Architects provided the design, working closely with St. John’s building committee and the Diocesan Office of Planning, Construction and Facilities.
The overall goal was to expand the church without losing the “historic country church” appearance and feeling of the earlier building.
Many ideas and concepts were studied, and certain requirements — such as keeping the maximum distance from the altar to the nave under 75 feet — resulted in a design that provides additional capacity while maintaining the spiritual connection between the priest and the worshippers.
This was accomplished by moving the altar slightly further into the sanctuary, and using curved “radius pews” to form a semi-circle in front of the altar.
“We learned that New Holland Church Furniture was the only company in America that builds radius pews, which provide about 10 percent more seating capacity in a design like ours,” noted interior design committee Chairman Beran. “They also have a custom woodworking shop, and so we selected them to build the altar, ambo and the stand for the tabernacle. We got pews and furniture that all matched, as well as saving us money.”
The work was done in two phases.
Preliminary site work and infrastructure, including extensive grading, parking lots, utilities and stormwater management was done by Miller Brothers Construction of Marshall.
The second phase was the construction of the new wings, interior renovations and installation of the furniture and fixtures. This work was done by Chamberlain Construction Co. of Fairfax. Plantings were provided by American Home Landscape.
As the work on the building continued throughout the year, parishioners and passers-by watched the demolition of the side and rear walls of the old building, leaving nothing but a pile of rubble and a massive roof supported by spindly arches.
The exterior work continued over the winter and spring, with the new additions slowly rising from the ground, and preparation work started on the interior and mechanical systems.
The original church had been built with stone taken from the old Stuyvesant School “mansion,” or recovered from an ancient tavern in Jeffersonton. Matching this vintage stone for the new additions was a challenge.
“We combined stone salvaged from the old walls with materials provided by Luck Stone,” said building Chairman McNichol. “It is quarried stone, not fieldstone, and Luck came up with a combination that they called ‘St. John’s Mix,’ which worked out very well.”
The original walls were re-grouted with the same mortar used in the new construction. “That was just the front, and about 20 feet on each side,” McNichol explained. “And those walls really needed to be re-grouted. In some places, they had been repaired with caulk.”
A few surprises were found during the construction. McNichol said that when work began on the eaves and soffit on one side, they discovered where wires had shorted out in an enclosed area. A fire burned undetected until the oxygen was exhausted. “That was why the roof had gotten soft in that area,” he noted. “We had to replace several burned two-by-fours, and the copper gutter.”
Unseen improvements include insulation in the walls — which was totally lacking before — and thermal glass in the Gothic-arched windows of the church.
Inside the sanctuary
The “historic country church” theme is carried inside, as well, with improvements that will be appreciated by parishioners for many years to come.
In addition to the new stained-glass windows, St. John’s has a new tabernacle, hand-made of copper and brass and finished in silver and gold plate by a studio in Spain. The altar has three Gothic arch panels, which can be removed and replaced with future artistic commissions.
Statues of the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist occupy niches below the life-sized crucifix. Commissioned by the church and custom designed by Dixon Studios of Staunton, the five-foot statues were hand-carved by craftsmen in the Dolomite region of Italy.
Mary is looking up at Jesus, and John is looking across at Mary. The scene reflects the words in John 19, 26-27: “When Jesus saw his mother and disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold your son.” Then said to his disciple, ‘Behold your mother.’”
“What I really like about this design is that at the center, you see the stained-glass window showing Jesus instituting the first Eucharist; below it, Jesus on the cross; then Jesus in the tabernacle; and finally, Jesus as the priest at the altar, representing the sacrifice,” said Beran. “That’s the Catholic Church, right there.”
Long-time parishioner Mrs. Pat Sanders, who worshipped in the 1861 building on Lee Street, was one of the five people who presented the gifts for the Eucharist during the dedication ceremony.
“Years ago, we had just the church, the men’s club and the women’s club,” she recalled. “As the church has grown, we’ve added many more organizations and ministries. We’ve made progress.”
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