Winner of a Doras 3 Shamrock award

New church opened 17th September  2000
Click on any of the images below for a larger image!

Our new church opened on 17 September 2000. More photos will also be available on our website here as soon as we get some!

Below are the OFFICIAL hopes for our church.  Please take the time to read over them and let us know what you think in our guest book  or e-mail   YourChurch@lucansouthparish.net

MAIN CHURCH

The Main worship area for Sunday mass would have a capacity for 380 people. It is rectangular in shape.

At the upper end on either side of the Sanctuary area, are two side rooms, one a crying-room for mothers and babies the other a Sunday school for children under seven. These rooms would both be sound – proof, but would include speakers by which mass could be heard. They would also have strong glass side-walls to give visibility into the main church. These glass walls would also be fitted with heavy curtains to cut off the side rooms when necessary.

SACRISTIES

The priest’s sacristy and servers sacristy would be located on the above left of the worship area.

WEEK-DAY CHAPEL

The weekday chapel would have a capacity for 30 people. It would be located on the lower right of the main worship area, but would be separate. It would have a separate entrance, which could be used when the main entrance to the Church is closed. It would have a small sacristy and also a confession room. As well as week-day masses, the Chapel would be used for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, small Weddings, Meditation and Private Prayer, a place where people could drop in for a Prayer on the way home after work.

THE GARDEN

The main doors of the Sunday Church would open into a garden, which would be like an extension of the sacred space. People entering the Church would already have come away from the noisy car park and into a peaceful and quiet area, to create more reverence as they come into the Church, so that the garden would have a prayerful function.

The other rooms of the complex would enclose the garden and there would be only access to it by a passageway and gate which would be locked and secured at night, and other times. These would of course be an emergency exit also.

PARISH OFFICE

To the right of the main entrance to the garden, the parish office is located. This can be accessed on weekdays, even when the main gate is locked.

The outer public office would be opposite the entrance to the day chapel for security reasons. People could call to this office for certificates, Mass cards, booking of Baptisms and Weddings etc. Behind the outer office, the inner office would be slightly larger in size.

KITCHEN

Further along the same side the kitchen would be located. It would communicate with the Parish inner office. We plan to serve tea and biscuits after the main masses on Sunday and on similar occasions.

PARISH ROOM

Directly across the garden from the Church, is the parish room. After the main masses on Sunday people will be invited to walk across the garden to this room to have a cup of tea and meet their neighbours. This is very much needed to create community in a parish where people have not got to know one another yet.

There would be a serving hatch from the kitchen to this room. There would also be toilets adjacent.

ADDITIONAL POINTS ON THE MAIN CHURCH.

We would like our Church to be very warm and welcoming, affirming traditional Christian values in a world of rapid change. So many modern Churches are stark, cold and devoid of Religious imagery. While it is the Millennium Jubilee Church of the diocese, we also feel it should maintain the link with our great Christian heritage. It is located near the old Esker Road, the ancient pilgrimage route to the great monasteries of the midlands.

GABLE AND SPIRE

We would like the gable end of the Church facing the main road to have the traditional shape of a gable and if possible, be faced with stone.

Many parishioners have expressed a wish to see a spire on the Church and something that will mark and identify their Church in a distinctive way, as they drive to work.

To make this possible in realistic financial terms we suggest a slender, light; white Spire such as can be seen on old colonial-style American Churches, as depicted in the drawing.

BAPTISMAL AREA

Since we are a Parish with a 90% population of young couples, the Sacrament of Baptisms is hugely important. We therefore want to highlight the significance of this Sacrament.