By Tyler Waugh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After more than a decade of work restored a revered local church, a group of parishioners and residents in Renews are looking forward to celebrating the building’s 150th anniversary this summer.
Lois Berrigan, who helped spearhead efforts of the Renews-Cappahayden Church Property Preservation committee to restore the Holy Apostles Church, said there have been countless volunteer hours and an estimated $100,000 of materials and professional services put into the project.
She said the pivotal decision to keep the church was made in 2016 and it’s been a labour of love for many in the area since then.
“The church was in bad shape, and we took it upon ourselves to have a general meeting in the harbour. A lot of people came to it and the question was do we keep the church or do we let if go?” Berrigan said. “A lot of the priests here at the time wanted us to let it go and knock it down and build a memorial garden.”
A former resident, a member of the O’Dea family, said at the meeting that the group should own the church before it did anything to restore the building.
“And everyone agreed and within a year we owned our church for very little money,” she said.
The O’Deas took the lead on replacing the roof with new green asphalt shingles, as well as interior painting, adding speakers for music and installing a wifi system so that services could be live streamed, if necessary.
The facade was updated, old chairs were re-upholstered, stained-glass windows were reframed and an inclusion grant obtained in 2019 allowed for the addition of two new ramps for accessible entry to the building.
“The last time that church was touched was just a basic paint job on the walls inside, as high as you could reach anyway, and that must have been back in the 1980s,” Berrigan said, adding that people saw things that needed to be done and just did it. “People just stepped up, there was great interest in helping.”
Not that things are perfect now – Berrigan pointed out that a 150-year-old building will always need ongoing maintenance – but she said the transformation is a source of community pride.
“One staunch church goer came in and it caught her by surprise. She started crying when she came in … she said she never thought she would see this church so beautiful again,” said Berrigan.
There was a lot of fundraising over the past decade, including a Chase The Ace fundraiser that did really well, personal donations and a series of in-memoriam donations.
There will be a series of activities running from Aug. 11 - 16 to celebrate the 150th anniversary, though Berrigan said the focus will be as much about the community as it is about the church.
Events will include an art exhibit, a concert, a wine tasting, shows, a kitchen party and a fish stew and bonfire on the beach, including a Grotto mass on the Saturday.
“We have the only Grotto built on a Mass Rock,” Berrigan said.
The mass will be followed by a dinner and dance that night, and the next day will be a special mass to celebrate the 150th anniversary followed by a brunch and a garden party.
Jeanette Kenny, left, Gerard Hickey and Kathleen Fortin, in the background, were among the volunteers who helped clear away pieces of the old roof of Holy Apostles Church in Renews during a work bee in September 2017. Submitted photo
Holy Apostles Church in Renews as it looked in 2017 while it was undergoing renovations. Renews residents will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the church's construction this summer. The church is next to the Mass rock where in the early 1700s Roman Catholics in the area gathered to hold mass in secret because it was illegal to do publicly. A grotto, built in the late 1920s, is also nearby.
