Painting the Inside of St. Martha Church This Fall

Thanks to faithful support from the people of both parishes, the exteriors of both churches were painted two years ago, as was the interior of St. Mary church. At St. Martha, the more urgent interior project was to replace the flooring, as the old carpet had become not only an eyesore but a trip hazard. People have been very positive in their comments about the new hardwood floor in the sanctuary and carpeting in the church, and we are so glad people are pleased with the outcome! With a new fiscal year begun and some cracks beginning to form in the walls, we have been planning to paint the walls of St. Martha sanctuary (altar area), nave (where people sit), and side rooms.

As Tim Pac, who maintains our buildings and grounds, was about to seek bids for painting the walls, I made the “mistake” of pointing to the church ceiling… Fr. Bill Schmidt (the pastor before me) commissioned the replacement of shingles on St. Martha church which stopped the water leaks, but we had yet to address the water stains. Meanwhile, the high heat near the ceiling has contributed to the wallboard tape coming undone and several ceiling panels separating. The best way to safely repair and repaint the ceiling, however, involves moving the pews to allow scaffolding to be erected. Tim pointed out that, with the floor under the pews exposed, this would be the only logical time to replace those old tiles (perhaps original to the church, some seventy years old!) This is the domino effect that many of you may know from doing home renovations, and it can get expensive quickly!

This week I consulted the parishioners on the St. Martha Parish Finance Council (PFC) to discuss several options, ranging from the original painting plan for around $18,000, all the way up to include moving pews, repairing and painting the ceiling, and extending the new LVP flooring in the music area under all the pews – potentially adding up to a $43,000 project. The new budget for this year anticipated only $25,000 in capital repairs/improvements, but the bottom line forecasts a $21,000 surplus we planned to add to savings for future repairs (annual budget and finance reports will be presented to parishioners around September 30). Because the parishioners of St. Martha have been meeting and often exceeding parish contribution goals, St. Martha Parish Finance Council recommended we proceed with the larger project of moving pews to repair the ceiling and replace the floor beneath them, while cautioning us to consider less expensive flooring options. The Pastoral Team (staff) and PFC members are so grateful that the St. Martha parishioners provide financial support to the parish in a way that makes these projects possible!

Next comes the challenging part: accommodating all this work in our worship space! Moving the pews means upstairs will be closed and we will have to hold Masses downstairs for around three weekends, as well as relocate funerals and other worship to our sister church in Wrentham during that time. So far, the contractors anticipate starting right after the Church Picnic on September 24 (maybe sooner), which should allow us to get back upstairs in time to prepare the hall and baskets for St. Martha Holiday Fair, which is coming up November 3-4. It looks to be another busy fall for our collaborative parishes… We’ll keep you posted!