GENEVA—The current St. Peter Church here was built in 1993. One year later, the roof began to leak, says Father Jonathan Bakkelund, pastor.

 

A variety of efforts to patch the leaks over those 25 years were unsuccessful, he says. Sometimes all they did was redirect the water to leak in elsewhere. 

 

When he arrived at the parish a few years ago, he learned right away that whenever it rained, he needed to run over to the church and put down strategically-placed buckets.

 

A survey of parishioners led him to realize that “now’s the time” to fix it right, he says. 

 

The first part of the $3.3 million budget was to completely replace the steel roof. That was accomplished last year and is most apparent with the roof’s outdoor color change from blue-gray to red.

 

Part two was the repair and renovations of the church sanctuary at a cost of $1.4 million. 

 

Part three, still to come, will target bathrooms and the parking lot.

 

The first week of May, with coronavirus sanctions still in place, Father Bakkelund provided a “big reveal” to parishioners via a YouTube video tour of the most recent repairs, renovations and additions. 

 

In the video, which was filmed by parochial vicar Father Charles Warren, St. Peter’s pastor happily explains the many details that led to the beautiful result.

 

Designs emphasize teaching

 

Three medallion-mosaics in the Italian-marble aisle are meant to be teaching moments. The first represents baptism with a clam shell and water. 

 

The second features the keys of the parish’s patron, St. Peter — a gold key showing his authority in heaven and a silver key to represent the saint’s authority on earth. Additionally, the design includes the upside-down cross of St. Peter’s own martyrdom and crucifixion.

 

Silver and gold keys are repeated on the pattern on the back wall behind the tabernacle.

 

The third medallion, nearest to the altar, is an exact replica of a mosaic at the foot of the altar in a church in the town of Tabgha in Tiberias in Galilee. It is the place traditionally held to be where Jesus’ miracle of loaves and fishes took place. The images of hosts (representing loaves) and fish allude to the Eucharist.

 

Front and center on the raised dais is the same parish altar, stained the same, new, walnut color as the pews, ambo and other woodwork. 

 

Added to the original ambo are Latin words that translate, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” It is, the pastor says in the video, “a reminder to the preacher to be sure to give them Jesus.”

 

Work reveals interior damage

 

Parishioners had ceased sitting in one center-right section of the church because those pews were in such bad shape, Father Bakkelund says. Once the pews had been removed and turned upside down, the water damage was found to be worse than imagined and much more widespread.

 

The pews are now repaired with new padding of blue fabric. The moveable chairs that had comprised the back section of seating have been replaced with new pews. 

 

Other damage found during the repair work included rusted and stained steel, stained fabric  and plaster, all of which have been repaired and repainted, much of it in a harvest gold color. 

 

What had been a small right-side chapel for weekday Mass is now a dedicated space for baptisms.