The extensive renovation of Kailua’s St. John Vianney Church brings out parish’s family spirit

By Lisa Dahm

It was with good reason that Catholic author Paul Wilkes, in his 2001 book “Excellent Catholic Parishes,” picked St. John Vianney Parish in the Enchanted Lake area of Kailua as one of the nation’s best parishes. Attend a Mass there and it’s easy to see — the parish has heart. It now has a newly renovated church in which to experience the welcome of the parish family in quiet and spacious air-conditioned comfort. With the doors closed to the noise of busy Keolu Drive, all you hear is the soothing gurgle of water cascading through the new marble baptismal font.

Bernice Brissette, a charter member of the parish, describes her “new” church as “warm and peaceful.”

“At first I didn’t know what to expect, but when you walked into it with the glass, the gardens, it was just wonderful,” she said.

Brissette’s ties to the 44-year-old parish are deep and personal. Her daughter was one of the first to get married there when the Mass changed from Latin to English.

“You don’t feel like a stranger here,” Brissette said. “If you are here, you belong to us. You never come out of church without talking to someone. Here someone will always smile at you.”

As if to prove that “heart” is the bedrock of the parish community, construction workers took a large naturally heart-shaped hunk of coral found in the rubble of the old rock wall that fronted the church and embedded it prominently into the new wall behind the baptismal font.

Parish administrator Barbara Akeo said that the workers, even though many were not Catholic, took great care in the building, sensing the sacredness of the structure.

They knew this was a project of the heart, she said.

After a little more than a year of construction and Sunday Masses celebrated in the parish hall, the church is ready for its rededication at the 5 p.m. Mass on Sept. 2 by Bishop Larry Silva.

Closer to the altar

Renovation may be too mild a word for the transformation the building has undergone.

“We had to gut the whole church, pretty much,” said the pastor, Father Thomas Gross.

“Both side walls were completely gone because we moved out 25 feet on one side and five feet on the other,” he said.

The “outside” pillars are now inside. About a third of the roof was removed to accommodate the expansion. Two large wooden front doors have replaced the wall of shoji side doors.

The interior orientation of the church was turned 90 degrees to the right, with the altar now centrally located against what used to be the right wall.

The result? “Everyone is closer to the altar,” Father Gross said. “Now the farthest pew from the sanctuary is 50 feet, when before it was 80 feet.”

The only things still in its old configuration are the crucifix and tabernacle, which are now the focus of the new eucharistic chapel at the left, separated from the body of the church by airy, open stained glass window “screens.”

The renovation, which cost $2.6 million, was done with careful concern for people with special needs. Several large disability parking spaces are close to the front door. There are no steps, just a slight incline at the entrance. Wheelchairs can take advantage of an automatic door and wide aisles with no carpeting. A sign language interpreter and headsets aid the hard of hearing at the 7 a.m. Sunday Mass.

Behind the new sanctuary area, a glass wall reveals a garden of peaceful green flora. The altar’s cherry-wood backdrop hides extensive cabinetry behind it. Out of sight behind that is a sacristy with a table and more storage.

The altar and ambo are the original koa pieces, cleaned and oiled. The pews are the same, refurbished several years ago.

The church has all new adjustable lighting and ceiling fans. Bright, full length windows line front and back. The walls are painted faint shades of yellow, the beams are gray and the ceiling has a light blue tinge. The stained concrete floor is sea green with light swirls of brown.

The total effect is “much brighter,” Father Gross said. “At night in the old church, you couldn’t see.”

The stained glass windows in the entrance and right side of the church (not yet installed when this was written) were being made by Pacific Stained Glass in Kailua with a technique called fused glass.

The pastor identified the stained glass design “non-representational … more color and texture.”

The famous St. John Vianney choir led by Robert Mondoy has its own special area, more prominent now with a big new black grand piano.

The redesign was made with acoustics in mind. “You can really hear people sing, where you couldn’t before,” Father Gross said. “So that is a plus.”

The baptismal font

The baptismal font is new. It is made of white marble in two parts: an upper basin for infant baptism from which water flows into a lower rectangular standing pool for adults. Above the font, a large stained glass window tops a five-foot coral block wall.

Two statues, one of St. John Vianney on the left and Mary on the right, flank the baptismal font. The St. John Vianney statue, which in the old church had been hidden in the corner, was refurbished and repainted by parishioner Gail Berengue.

Unbeknownst to Berengue, whose parents Joe and Evelyn Pao donated the original church in 1963, the paint colors she chose matched perfectly the imported Italian Marian statue donated by the parish’s Ladies’ Sodality.

The People of Praise, a charismatic group that meets in the church, contributed a first class relic of St. John Vianney. Parishioner Paul Akeo is designing a reliquary to hold it. The relic will be housed in the ambry with the holy oils on the wall by the baptismal area.

Planters and tables were made by parishioner Ted Imbleau out of recycled old pew parts.

The glass door of the reconciliation room reveals if it is occupied while keeping it soundproof.

A windowed hospitality room, which holds first aid supplies, emergency blankets and juice for diabetics, can also serve as a refuge for parents with fussy children.

Positioned along the walls of the church are bronze stations of the cross that parishioner Tom Zelko mounted to one-foot-square wooden boards. Akeo also made four 10-inch high wooden crosses that will hang on the walls the bishop will anoint during the rededication Mass.

Long time in the planning

James Ventura, a parishioner since 1965 and the chairman of the finance and the campaign contribution committees, said the renovation had been in discussion for “quite a long time.”

All the while, the parishioners have been generous and supportive.

“We set a goal and made it one year ahead of time. And the pledge campaign was low key,” he said. “People stepped up.”

Mike Taylor, a parishioner since 1972 and a member of the same committees as Ventura, liked the renovation’s “attention to detail” — the garden, the air conditioning, the glass.

He attributed it all to the interest and involvement of the parishioners. “People here take ownership,” Taylor said.

Barbara Akeo agreed. “So many people that have come forth to help, even cleaning the pews,” she said. More than 40 parishioners have volunteered to help in the rededication ceremony.

Margaret and Scott Leong, who have been parishioners for 15 years, attend Mass with their three children. Margaret describes the parish as “warm and welcoming.”

“They walk the walk,” she said. “I rely a lot on these people as family. It is everything that you want from a Catholic family and parish.”

She likes the new design for its many “Catholic” details, such as the statues, the crucifix and the prominent altar.

“I find that the design enhances the experience of Mass and your prayer life,” she said.

It motivated her to become a lector. The air conditioning has even encouraged the family to dress up a little more for Mass.

“They have done a great job,” she said.