Tempe Catholic church weathers rain damage, plans to rebuild

Ominous weather forecasts make the Rev. Joe Patrick McGaffin jumpy these days.Twice in the past eight months, heavy rains have penetrated the roofs of Church of the Resurrection Catholic Community in Tempe, causing massive damage and forcing the parish to embark on a nearly $2 million repair and new building project.

Lawn Griffiths on Spiritual Life Blog

The "resurrection" in the church's name is taking on new meaning.

On July 30, rainwater from a torrential afternoon monsoon caused the roof to collapse over the empty sanctuary, dumping the water onto pews and carpet. Parishioners retreated for Masses to the parish hall where there's less than half the seating. With broken trusses, the entire roof had to be removed. Today, that worship space is a concrete slab below open sky.

In December, more rain penetrated the roof above McGaffin's pastoral office, destroying his library collection, including his seminary books, commentaries and other resources.

"It was another freak rainstorm, and the water came from the back," said McGaffin, a priest for 12 years. "It's almost comical." Water also got into the nearby office of Sister Anne Marie Smith and ruined a wall. Carpenters were at work this week repairing that damage.

Asked what God was telling him, the priest said, "To keep going and to teach me patience. He is definitely teaching me patience."

One of the East Valley's smallest Catholic parishes with about 1,000 registered families, Church of the Resurrection was the first parish established after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix was created out of the Diocese of Tucson in December 1969. The Tempe church was founded in March 1970.

As with many new churches, a social hall was erected first to double as the worship space until a sanctuary was built. Resurrection had never built a formal sanctuary. Instead, it expanded its space and made it a permanent sanctuary.

"That building, with its expansions, was probably some of the contributing factors to the ultimate distress load on the roof with the rain," said Dennis Kavanaugh, a parishioner for more than 25 years and a lector for half that time.

"I lectored the day before the rains came and collapsed the roof, so I thought I jinxed it," joked Kavanaugh, a former Mesa city councilman recently elected to a new term.

It was about 4 p.m. on a Monday that Smith was in her office, waiting for the rain to let up so she and other staff members could leave, when she heard sounds in the sanctuary. First she spied leaking, then noticed some of the roof sagging. In short order, a sea of water came pouring in through the hole as if there were a giant funnel on top of the building, McGaffin said. The organ sat in water and humidity for days before it was removed, and its condition remains in doubt, the pastor said.

With the roof collapse on a Monday, parish leaders scrambled to move Masses to Philip Hall, which served as the social hall. It seats only about 300 compared with the 750 the sanctuary had held. Worshipers must sit on plastic chairs, and there are no kneeling benches.

"We have an elderly community, and they love having solid pews in front of them to put their hands on to be able to get up," McGaffin said.

"It's close quarters in there," and some parishioners have to stand in the doorways and entries.

For Christmas and Easter, a tent was erected near the basketball court and seating was provided for 500 people for each of the five weekend Masses. Philip Hall was used for overflow seating.

McGaffin called his parishioners "amazing" for enduring the sudden changes. While some are temporarily going to Mass at other parishes, they continue to give their financial support and will return when a new sanctuary is completed, McGaffin said.

"It's been a challenge, particularly when our winter visitors came back because we are a parish that grows and waxes and wanes throughout the year," Kavanaugh said. Weddings and funerals have had to be moved to other sites "because the hall was simply too small," he said.

"It has been a hardship for some who have continued to want to kneel on the floor," he said. "For the most part, people have coped and accommodated the changes."

McGaffin said baptisms, first Communions and confirmations are going on in the limited worship space. The parish might have moved Masses to another church or to a school, but McGaffin said Bishop Thomas Olmsted urged him "to try to keep everything on site because that's what the people want."

"Rebuild My Church" is theme of the capital campaign to reconstruct the sanctuary, including reorienting the nave from one that faced northeast to one facing west ($920,000); putting new roofs on all campus buildings ($225,000); erecting a chapel west of the sanctuary ($456,000); other campus improvements ($136,000); and 30 furnishings or items, such as stained-glass windows, tables, statues and chairs ($75,000).

While the insurance settlement has not been determined, McGaffin said the current "rainy day fund" of $500,000 will be drawn down to $250,000 for a starter fund. More than $1 million will need to be raised in a campaign in which givers can participate at such levels as the Resurrection Archangels,St. Francis Flock or St. Francis Circle.The campaign brochure declares "We are a Resurrection People shaping our future."

Kavanaugh calls the trials from the rains "a catalyzing force for the parish to come together, to renew its spirit, to keep the community thriving."

"I think initially there was some fear that, because we were so small, our facility could be closed because the trend is toward megachurches rather than smaller, intimate parishes," he said. But it has been given the go-ahead to rebuild.

The new sanctuary, with seating for nearly 800, will be a sharp contrast to a relatively dark space that was also plagued with visual obstructions and dead spots that hampered hearing well, Kavanaugh said. A lot of glass is planned for the new space, with plenty of natural light from a clerestory.

The parish is tentatively looking at groundbreaking for the chapel on May 7, when Olmsted will pay a visit.

The goal is for the sanctuary to be completed in time for Christmas services. "The people of Resurrection Parish are faith-filled and committed Catholics," said the Rev. Fred Adamson, former pastor of the church and now the vicar general of the diocese and moderator of the Curia. "The storm may have caused damage to a building, but their commitment to their parish has never wavered."