Well, I arrived back from holiday last Saturday and got over my jetlag and this week has been one of trying to catch up and sort through a pile of emails as well as trying to make some plans for the future. So, Wednesday Clare from Coventry came to take away the 2 Franciscan statues from the back of church. The one of St Francis has been missing three fingers for longer than anyone seems to be able to actually recall.
Since the parish was originally started and built by the Franciscans it is a poor reflection of how we have treated course Franciscan heritage. The statue of St Anthony, again, is looking tired. These two statues will be returned next week, and I am confident they will look fantastic. Once they have returned the statue of Our Lady will go off for renovation and should be away for a couple of weeks before it returns looking pristine.
Currently we are looking at a possibility of a replica altar for the back of the main altar area, so that we can house the tabernacle in a more fitting position and more central to church worship. This will then enable us to move the statue of Our Lady back in its original position on the right-hand altar of the church and also reinstate St Francis to his original position on the left hand altar of the church.
At the parish finance committee meeting on Thursday, we agreed to a new lighting system for the church and also the installation of some silent running fans, to blow the warm air at the top of the building down into the body of the church. The estimate is that this will save us up to 40% on our heating cost and the new LED lighting would pay for itself within a few years. It is anticipated that all this work will be done for less than £15,000.
So, while we will need to do some fundraising it is well within our capabilities to achieve the completion of this work during this year.
Mgr Bernard
