A new day

Father Thazhappally delivered mass and Greg and Jenny Wong Garratt performed music at the service in the newly restored St. Frances Catholic Church in Wellington.

Historic church reopens in Wellington

It was a brilliant spring day that greeted parishioners at the re-opening of St. Frances Catholic Church in Wellington on Sunday. It has served the faithful in this community for nearly 200 years. It was named after St. Frances of Rome, a woman who spent her life helping other women on the margins of 16th century Italy.

The church served mass mostly in the summertime as the building was never heated. Nor does it have electricity, plumbing or insulation. Paradoxically, the absence of modern conveniences likely helped spare the structure from the rate of decay that would have felled other structures. Yet 180 years takes its toll. A few years ago, the roof began to leak. Water began to weaken the timbers and the building had to be abandoned.

It might have been left to complete its return to the earth had it not been for the determination and perseverance of a few people, including Leo Finnegan and Father Thomas Thazhappally, in fighting for its survival.

Finnegan convened a meeting of folks he believed might help to restore the church—in some form. The archdiocese wanted to know what the community wanted to do.

The group decided they would work toward restoring it, according to Finnegan. They began to look for money to fund the restoration.

Their efforts were given a boost by a gesture made by Cline Pierson a couple of years earlier. When a thunderstorm felled a tree and it destroyed the fence, Finnegan had called Pierson to find out if he knew someone who could fix it.

Members of the St. Frances congregation are joined by Leo Finnegan (third from left) Mayor Robert Quaiff (centre), Archbishop Brendan O’Brien and Father Thomas Thazhappally after mass celebrating the reopening of the Wellington church.

Pierson said to leave it with him. A few weeks later, the fence was rebuilt and that was that. Finnegan asked the grocer why he hadn’t sent a bill to cover his costs. Pierson told him that “this church is a landmark in this community and I want to see it maintained.”

Finnegan says that motivated him to see that it was restored. It also inspired others.

Finnegan approached the Parrott Foundation with his appeal. The organization graciously provided the campaign with $100,000. With other contributions, it was enough to get the job done.

On Sunday, Archbiship Brendan O’Brien and Mayor Robert Quaiff joined the congregation in opening the church to reveal the impressive restoration.

Finnegan offered his thanks and appreciation, on behalf of the congregation, to the Parrott Foundation, engineer Ernie Margetson, builder Doug Lester and the volunteer committee who “made this day possible” including Val McDonald, Walter McGee, Wilf Buckle and Mike McBride. He also pointed to the contributions of others, including Barb Lyons, Don and Donna Geggie and Barbara Burgess. Greg and Jenny Wong Garrett performed the music for the service.