LaFollette parish joins hands on project to build adoration chapel
By Dan McWilliams
Parishioners of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in LaFollette could not wait to use their Divine Presence adoration chapel after it was dedicated following a morning Mass on the solemnity of the Assumption on Aug. 15.
As soon as pastor Father Sam Sturm incensed the monstrance once it was placed in the chapel following a procession from the nave, the first adorers entered and knelt before their Lord’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
Father Sam Sturm, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in LaFollette, is flanked by Baine & Co. Construction officials Casey O’Neal, left, and Tyler Williamson following completion of a project to build an adoration chapel at OLPH. Mr. O’Neal and Mr. Williamson are parishioners of Holy Ghost in Knoxville. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
Doing that so quickly was “automatic” for Catholics, said Steve Sewell, an OLPH parishioner and project manager for the chapel’s design committee.
“To a Catholic, that monstrance with the consecrated host in it—you’re sitting with Jesus,” he said.
Father Sturm delivered the homily at the 9 a.m. Mass that drew some 100 parishioners and visitors, many of whom left for work afterward. Deacon Chad Shields of Christ the King Parish in Tazewell assisted. Those who helped with the chapel project were remembered in the intercessory prayers.
The pastor talked about the first reading at Mass from 1 Chronicles 15 and 16.
“Often in the Catholic tradition, Mary is associated with the Ark of the Covenant, the dwelling place of God. In the first reading, the ark is brought to Jerusalem, carried with reverence by Levites. In this prefigured way, Mary became the ark that carried God Himself, Jesus Christ, into the world,” Father Sturm said, adding that “her Assumption into heaven is the fulfillment of her faithfulness, and it gives us hope that we, too, can be counted among the saints if we follow her example and trust ourselves to her intercession before her Son.”
Baine & Co. Construction of Knoxville built the chapel, and George Armour Ewart Architect of Knoxville designed it.
Leading the project from Baine were Tyler Williamson and Casey O’Neal, parishioners of Holy Ghost in Knoxville. Some 20 workers took part as an old copy room was removed and tile put in for the chapel, with the footprint of the area expanding slightly as the effort was completed.
“It was about eight weeks, two months of work,” Mr. Williamson said. “We started from scratch with demolition, and we had a lot of help. Steve put most of the effort into it. We just provided the muscles.”
Mr. Sewell said the project took a year from inception to reality. Seeing the dedication day come was “emotional,” he said.
“It started off with an idea, and it started building a little bit of momentum. We put a team together, and to see it come to fruition, having such a holy space in a small church, is pretty special to me,” he said.
Mr. Sewell said “a couple of us” originally thought of building an adoration chapel.
Father Sam Sturm kneels in prayer at OLPH Church on the solemnity of the Assumption on Aug. 15. Assisting Father Sturm is Deacon Chad Shields. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
“It started out with, we were doing 12-hour adoration just every now and then on a Friday,” he said. “We got such a good response to that that I kind of pitched it to Father Sam, ‘Maybe we ought to think about putting an adoration chapel in here,’ and even if it’s not 24/7, we’ll have it here. It just kind of built from there.”
A goal for the parish is to have perpetual adoration, although that is possible currently, Mr. Sewell said.
“It actually could be used 24/7 now because the way we’ve got the security line set up and the door codes, it’s really open 24/7 anyway. It’s just a matter of people realizing it without us telling them,” he said.
The chapel seats 12.
“It used to be a copy room, so we took the copy room out, brought the copier in the office, and then made the room that was there bigger,” Mr. Sewell explained. “We had to tear some walls out, tear some ductwork out. We had to rework some sprinklers and things like that, and we took the old floor out and put the tile floor in. It used to be about 3 feet shorter and 2 feet narrower when we started.”
Lighting and other electrical work as well as HVAC installation also took place.
“We had pretty good participation. Tyler was really good about engaging the building inspector so that we could keep him satisfied,” Mr. Sewell said.
The OLPH design-committee head also credited his wife, Gina Sewell, and parishioners Rissa Riekardt, Yurin Vera, Laura Camillo, Robert Sorrenti, and Kim Laduke for their assistance.
The cost for the chapel was about $130,000, Mr. Sewell said.
“It would kind of be swayed because as part of this project we also paved this parking lot in the back. The total price tag on it was about $100,000, and the parking lot was about $30,000,” he said.
There were “a couple of large donors and a bunch of little donors,” he added.
The new adoration chapel seats 12.
Father Sturm said the journey from an idea to a finished chapel has certainly “been a trip.”
“We’ve had a wish list for many things, like a 10-year project looking ahead, and building our own eucharistic-adoration chapel was on that list,” he said. “This feels good. The Holy Spirit has guided us, and everything has fallen into place. We had an initial anonymous donation. We went from there and spread the word. There was some opposition of course, but the more opposition we got, the more money that came in from other people.”
The long-term plan started with the person “who came forward and donated a significant amount of money for an adoration chapel,” Mr. Sewell said.
“This kicked off a project to find a location in the church suitable for such a holy space,” he added. “Father Sam started by appointing a project manager.”
The old copy-machine room was extended slightly into the hallway. The new chapel’s design was intentionally done without a lot of bells and whistles.
“I told the people at the beginning, ‘I want it to be humble. I want it to be simple. I don’t want any baubles or froufrou or a lot of ornate decoration. I want it to look like a stable,’” Father Sturm said.
Statues of Mary and Joseph that flank the monstrance in the chapel were relocated from the vestibule of OLPH.
“We thought we would recycle them from there down into (the chapel),” Father Sturm said. “The statues were moved just because we were going to recycle what we had—we weren’t going to buy anything extra.”
During the process, “we also had a parishioner offer to cut wood from his farm, mill it, and dry it for our use,” Mr. Sewell said. “We selected oak as the wood, and this wood is used primarily in the niches holding Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. This gives the chapel a feeling of simple and something from the community.”
The monstrance “is an antique,” Father Sturm said.
“We had to do a little repair on it. It came from Belgium. That was purchased, and then we shined it up and put it back together—there were a couple of flaws here, there, and yon. It’s old!” he said.
Deacon Shields leads a eucharistic procession on the grounds of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish as part of adoration on the solemnity of the Assumption. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
Completing the project brings “a sense of satisfaction and a sense of relief,” Father Sturm said.
“I also feel that the Holy Spirit has been here leading the way. Everything as time passed fell into place,” he said.
Attendance at the Friday-morning Mass was good, the OLPH pastor said, with people from the other two parishes he shepherds, Christ the King along with St. Jude in Helenwood, also in the pews.
“Today happens to be a holy day, so people were expected to come to church, but we’ve got people here from Helenwood and Tazewell whom I didn’t expect,” Father Sturm said. “The word spread, and people in the area made an effort to be here for the dedication day.”
Mrs. Sewell, Ms. Riekardt, Ms. Camillo, and Mr. Sorrenti were part of the OLPH chapel-design committee. Mrs. Sewell said she was “overjoyed” at seeing the chapel dedicated.
“I think it came out exactly how we wanted: simple and humble, and it’s just so beautiful. It really moves you when you walk in,” she said.
Ms. Riekardt agreed.
“I’m just happy and overjoyed. Gina said it best,” she said.
Ms. Camillo said “the place is wonderful, beautiful, and I’m glad to have it in this parish.”
Mr. Sorrenti believes that having the chapel is “great.”
“We had a lot of assistance from the Holy Spirit,” he said. “There were a lot of serendipitous miracles along the way, including the contractor, who was randomly chosen and wound up being a very devout and dedicated Catholic, which really helped the whole project.”
Summer tourists swell Mass attendance at OLPH to 350 or so.
“The tourists who come down from Ohio and other places help pay our bills, and we’re very grateful,” Father Sturm said.
OLPH has 140 permanent families, and Father Sturm said that it is special having an adoration chapel in one of the diocese’s smaller parishes.
“The closest (adoration chapel) we have here is Oak Ridge. And between the Kentucky border and Oak Ridge to the west and Knoxville to the south, we’re the only chapel of the four or five parishes that surround us,” he said.
“The project was not without challenges; however, every time we hit an obstacle, a problem, or funding, the Holy Spirit delivered. Every single time,” Mr. Sewell said. “This told us that we were on the right path. We felt that presence the entire way, and it was the primary reason we named the chapel the Divine Presence adoration chapel.”