Extreme Makeover: St. John Vianney Parish Edition

Only being just a little over 15 years old, St. John Vianney’s sanctuary and the surrounding church area have experienced great flooring renovations this past month that make it look as if the church had just been built.

Fr. Jerome Machlik, the founding pastor of St. John Vianney, had never anticipated in adding on to the original church that was built (now used as a Parish-Social hall) for weekly worship. It was in 1996 that the addition of a new worship space to St. John Vianney was completed, allowing over 1,250 guests to attend each mass so that people from all over Shelby Township could understand the Word of the Lord.

When built in the 90’s, the sanctuary (Altar and Ambo area) had been finished with the same carpet that the rest of the church had been carpeted with. Usually, the Sanctuary is supposed to stand out from the rest of the worship area, bringing everyone’s attention to the Eucharist. Due to the nature of finances at the time of construction, only carpet could be purchased to finish out the project.

What’s been done to improve this: Natural-cut porcelain tiles had been laid three weeks ago to carry out the task of making the sanctuary unique.

The tiling masterpiece, done by a parish family - the Pizzo’s - had worked day in and day out for a week straight in the efforts of completing the project before the upcoming weekend masses. They managed to get the job done with beauty and perfection. Even Fr. Timothy Mazur, current pastor of St. John Vianney, was able to put in place a tile himself, giving him something to personally remember about the project, in addition to managing and overseeing the renovation itself.

Supplementing the well-needed update of the sanctuary flooring, the old and aging carpet throughout the rest of the church was also replaced. As most carpeting lasts around 10 years, this 15-year old carpet stood the test of it’s time, showing wear and tear throughout various areas. New multi-colored 2’ by 2’ carpet squares were put down last week. Now able to hide dirt, water stains from snow, and other messes, this carpet was meant for St. John Vianney as opposed to the previously laid light-colored carpet.

A cool new feature about the carpet that was selected for the church: In the case of a burn in a certain spot of the carpet from incense, the square(s) that needs replacing can simply be lifted and replaced with a new carpet square. (Because incense is used quite often in the church, this feature comes in handy in times of accidents!)

The upgrades to the flooring are nice and all, but what about 1,250+ chairs that needed to get moved throughout the week from one side of the church to another (and vice-versa again!) to re-carpet the floor? 

That’s where the parishioners themselves were apart of this project! The SJV Knights of Columbus as well as other weekend mass-ministry members came when needed to help in this effort. Steve Worley, the maintenance manager of St. John Vianney, appreciated all the help that was given in this project. Spending hours-on-end himself in overseeing the project and moving/setting up chairs multiple times, he couldn’t have done it without the great people of St. John Vianney.

Fr. Tim was extremely glad that he could upgrade the old flooring to the new, extraordinary renovations, all thanks to last year’s St. John Vianney Parish Raffle that is held each year at the Annual Parish Picnic. (Oh, by the way, come join us this year on September 18 at the St. Lawrence K of C Picnic Grounds!  1 PM to 5 PM! )

St. John Vianney Catholic Church of Shelby Township welcomes, serves, and celebrates each weekend at Saturday’s 5 PM Mass and Sunday’s 8, 9:45 and 11:45 AM Masses and invites you to become a part of the Parish. 

To learn more about St. John Vianney and joining the Parish, visit their website here.