My Dear Parishioners,
Greetings from Father Antony! Let me begin by saying that I am happy to let you know that our Sunday Masses are going very well. We are really blessed to have a beautiful lawn in front of the church where we can celebrate the Holy Mass. We will continue this way until we are able to have the Mass celebrated in the Church.
The most important purpose of this letter is to update you on our Church Project. We are all familiar with the saying, Man proposes, God disposes! That is what happened to us. We were all ready to kick off the Capital Campaign on March 24th and we had our dear Bishop scheduled to come. But then you know what happened. Coronavirus forced us to put our project on hold. However, we have been able to accomplish a lot of things during this pandemic. I would like you to know of these important happenings:
- We had a virtual meeting with the Diocesan Review Board on April 8th, during which the Architect, Chris Kelly, showed them the preliminary drawings and designs. The Board was very satisfied and gave us the approval to go ahead. Chris Kelly continues to work on the design to get it to the final stage.
- On June 9th, the Executive Committee met with the Architect at the church. He showed us the improved drawings of the Church design. I must say Chris Kelly is doing a great job. Some of you have already seen the preliminary design. You will be happy with the latest design.
- Towards the end of June, we hired a Civil Engineer to do the survey of the land, which is mandatory before we meet with the Fremont City Council. The survey has already been completed.
- We now have a Landscape Architect on board.
- Some parishioners have already started contributing towards the pledge that they made to support the Capital Campaign.
I will continue to provide all of you with an update as things progress on our Church Project. These updates will also be available on our Website and Facebook page.
I would like to thank all of you for standing by our parish and supporting its endeavors amid this challenging environment that we are in. Let us continue to pray for God’s blessings and Mama Mary’s protection for our families and the whole world.
May God Bless You!
Father Antony Vazhappilly
St. James the Apostle Catholic Church
