Volunteers help St. Monica prepare for first mass since devastating fire
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — More than 100 volunteers spent their time at St. Monica Catholic Church Saturday morning to help the church prepare for its first mass since the sanctuary was damaged in a fire in September 2015.
The church had been holding mass in the school gymnasium for the past 18 months. The church will hold a mass in the new sanctuary Saturday at 5 p.m. Volunteers reupholstered some of the chairs that were saved in the fire and then moved them to the new sanctuary. They also helped take apart an alter that was built in the gym.
“It is such a blessing, we are so excited,” said St. Monica Catholic Church Communications Director Mel Ullrich.
“It just means a lot because it’s everyone’s church and I think that’s being demonstrated by all the people that are here today.”Church leaders said repairs and renovations combined cost about $4 million. Insurance covered about $2.3 million, and community members donated about $1.9 million to cover the rest.
“That means so much especially because it happened so quickly, usually when a church does a capital campaign it takes about three years to raise that kind of money and we had all of our pledges in just three months and we’ve already collected $1.7 million of the $1.9 pledged, so it says people are really serious about taking care of their church,” Ullrich said.