St. Gall to start fundraising
As parishioners of St. Gall Catholic Church in Elburn gather today for the 125th annual St. Patrick's Day dinner, they realize it may be one of the last times the popular community event will be held at the present location.
The parish has launched a campaign to raise $6.5 million to build a new church on a 30-acre site at Hughes Road and Route 47. The first fundraising event will be an April 26 dinner dance at the Aurora Country Club.
The theme of the campaign is "Celebrating our Faith, Building on Solid Ground," and the church hopes to break ground in three years.
The Rev. Karl P. Ganss, who has been pastor at St. Gall for almost four years, admits it's an ambitious project even for a parish that includes about 800 families.
"There are the naysayers who say why build when the parish isn't full," Ganss said. "But that's what they said in 1925 when our current church was built.
"We're not called to keep the faith," he added. "We're called to spread the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ."
According to parishioner Donna Shoop, chairwoman of the fundraising committee, the congregation is starting with more than $4 million in savings and pledges. Plus, the church already owns the land, having purchased the northern parcel of a spread owned by the Diocese of Rockford.
The new location is a mile or so south of the church's present building on Route 47 at Shannon Street.
"We love our church -- it's beautiful -- but the area is expanding by leaps and bounds," Shoop said. "We haven't had any new classrooms for our Catholic education classes since 1972. Just like any business, we have to be visionary. We have to provide our parishioners with a place to worship. And we also want to continue to serve the community."
Shoop said the church is looking into relocating its stained-glass windows, which is expected to be a costly project.
The new church will be built in phases under the direction of architects Plunkett Raysich.
Phase I includes construction of a sanctuary that seats 600 (the current one seats about 225), a reconciliation chapel for confessions, a bride's room, a kitchen, offices and eight classrooms.
Future phases include building a rectory, a chapel for daily Masses, expanding the church's seating capacity to 1,100, a parish hall and a cemetery for parishioners. There also will be room for expansion of offices, education and choir practice.
Shoop said the church will continue to use the parish hall and the rectory until the newer ones are built. There are no plans to sell the current building or land.
Most of the parishioners come from Elburn, Maple Park and Sugar Grove. The first church was built in 1870 at First and Swain streets. The current building was built in 1925.