Ministries

For over a year, the members of our Parish Pastoral Council, Parish Finance Council and Parish Capital Improvements Committee have met numerous times in joint session to discuss the pros and cons of building a new church for St. Bonaventure Parish. Although many issues were addressed, the dominant concern focused on the need for a larger worship space and demographic predictions of continued and rapid population growth in South Plymouth. At the conclusion of its discussions, the Councils voted unanimously for the Parish to hire an architectural firm to undertake a professional feasibility study and to provide the parish with a preliminary design for a new church.

Our Parish has now retained the services of LDa Architecture and Interiors, a Cambridge, MA firm, to undertake a feasibility study and preliminary design for a new church. A feasibility study is a first step toward building a new church and will provide necessary information, including cost estimates, to the Parish Councils before a final decision to go forward with a new church is made. A preliminary design develops the basic size, shape and style of a new building. A full presentation to the Parish of the proposed project along with a scale model of the preliminary design is anticipated in July of this year.

LDa is a professional architectural firm with a long history of successfully completed projects and is known for the excellence of its designs. LDa has demonstrated attentiveness to the specific needs of our project, sensitivity to our history and an eco-friendly attitude. In addition to the hard work of their own well trained principles and associates, LDa will bring the consulting expertise of landscape architects (Halvorson Design Partnership), civil engineers (Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.) and cost estimators (Daedalus Projects, Inc.)

The parameters of the project developed by our Councils in joint session have been communicated to LDa. The Councils, speaking on behalf of all our parishioners, insist that any new church should respect our parish history, our New England heritage, and our rural roots. The Councils desire that any new church be a welcoming place of prayer and simple beauty located on the current St. Bonaventure property and that a new, larger church preserve our Parish’s sense of relaxed warmth and togetherness. Additionally, the Councils would like the church grounds to be landscaped in an attractive manner which is in itself inviting, prayerful and “park-like”.

I am truly excited about the prospects for our Parish. St. Bonaventure’s is making a difference in our community and is steadily growing into one of the largest parishes on the South Shore. The challenges of building a new church will be great and the obstacles many. Nevertheless, it is a great privilege and a wonderful grace to be a part of the ongoing renewal of our beloved St. Bonaventure Parish. Please feel free to share any comments or suggestions you may have regarding the feasibility study or preliminary design of a new church via email either to me directly or to the Parish Council. Contact information, as always, can be found on the front of the bulletin.

Fr. Ken

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Building The Future News ~ May 2, 2010
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The Architect team is working hard on the first step of the new church project. They are currently drawing several options for how the new church could be positioned on the current property site. If you have any suggestions regarding placement of the new building, keeping in mind the current church and parish center will remain on site, please contact a familiar Parish Council member or email the Parish Council at stbonaventureppc@parishmail.com. Once the placement of the new building has been established, plans will be presented to for all to view. Please check back frequently for updates on progress and plans.