Sunday, 06 June 2010 23:32

Click on a building below to see more detailed floor plans and renderings of the renovated spaces.

Tuesday, 25 May 2010 13:17

Click here to enlarge the floor plan

The renovation of our mother church will include beautification as well as repairs.

Liturgical furnishings in the church will move as part of the renovation.

The altar and the decorative arch behind the altar will move forward six feet. And the ambo, or lectern from which the readings and gospel are read, will move forward beside one of the pillars. These moves will increase visibility within the church.

The tabernacle, which reserves the Blessed Sacrament, will move form its current location in the west transept to a central location behind the altar.

A prayer chapel will be created south of the tabernacle in what is called the apse of the church. This private chapel area will include a devotional area to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Ramps on either side of the altar will improve accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Reconciliation rooms will be renovated into larger spaces, allowing universal access and improved ventilation.

The choir loft will be widened to span the width of the church, and the railing will be raised to meet current safety standards.

A new baptismal font will be located near the north entrance to the church.

Click here to enlarge the floor plan

The former Cathedral school building is home to the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry and several ministries of Catholic Charities in addition to the many parish functions it serves. Renovations in this building will help those ministries better serve individuals from across our Diocese and our community.

The diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry and Immigration Services are grouped together on the first floor. In 2008, Immigration Services assisted 1,364 individuals with interpreter services, resettlement, and immigration paperwork and consultation.

Also located on the first floor are counseling services including marriage enrichment, pregnancy counseling and adoption services. In 2008, more than 1,200 men, women and children received therapy through the licensed professionals at Community Counseling Services.

The second floor will be devoted to formation with classroom space available for parish formation and for the offices of Catholic Charities and Hispanic Ministry. Classes offered by the Office of Hispanic Ministry and the ministries of Catholic Charities serve the greater Diocese training volunteers, teaching life skills and sharing our faith.

The third floor renovation will repair damaged infrastructure and renovate the currently unused space to accommodate administrative space for Catholic Charities' ministry to the poor. In this space, caring advocates will write grants, coordinate volunteers, answer phones, budget funds and generally run the many programs that serve more than 20,000 individuals in our Diocese each year.

A new east entrance from Topeka Street will house an elevator that will allow universal access to the three-floor building for the first time since it was built in 1920. The new entrance will increase security for the staff and visitors on campus. And a reception area will help visitors find the ministry they seek.

Click here to enlarge the floor plan

A new structure will connect all of the buildings on the Cathedral campus.

The new gathering space welcomes visitors with entrances from Central or from the parking lot to the south of the church. The space will also include bathrooms, storage space, a bride's room and a new wheelchair-accessible entrance to the north end of the Church. An elevator will take you upstairs to a music room and allow access to the choir loft.

And beneath the gathering space the new structure houses a new energy-efficient heating and cooling system that serves the whole campus.

Click here to enlarge the floor plan

The parish offices will reside on the ground floor – in place of the current Pius X and Marian rooms – with direct access to the gathering space.

Meeting rooms will be located on the second floor with collapsible partitions and additional bathrooms making that space usable for various-sized groups.

The gymnasium will be transformed into a gracious social hall. The new social hall will better serve the groups who currently use the space for: ordination receptions, Chrism Mass receptions, wedding receptions, quinceñeras, and other large gatherings.

A new catering kitchen will be accessible for functions in the social hall.

The parish youth group will remain in the space on the second floor of the social hall, though an additional exit will be added to meet fire safety standards.

Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:46

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Monday, 15 March 2010 08:31

David Voss
Seminarian for the Wichita Diocese

Monday, 15 March 2010 08:21

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Monday, 15 March 2010 07:17

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 14:59

Among all our parish churches, St. Mary Cathedral in Wichita has a place of prominence: it is the mother church of all parish churches in the Diocese of Wichita.

The Cathedral represents who we are as Catholics: united as members of the mystical Body of Christ, the family of God, the community of believers, whether we live in the Cathedral Parish itself, in Bushton, Baxter Springs, Fort Scott, Zenda or points in between.

The buildings of the Cathedral campus embody what we do as Catholics. We gather to worship God at Holy Mass, and nourished there by word and sacrament, we go forth to teach others about Jesus and his Catholic Church; we provide food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless and welcome to the stranger.

Repairing and renewing the Cathedral church is a loving response to God's love for us. It honors the sacrifices of our forbearers over the past 100 years who built and maintained the Cathedral campus.

If we do not do something now, we risk losing the use of parts of the buildings on the Cathedral campus. This is our time, our turn to act for the glory of God and the benefit of others in the next 100 years.

"I have a great affection for the Cathedral. It is a church that is available to everyone in the Diocese, and it belongs to everybody. The Cathedral was built by people who made great sacrifices, not only in Wichita but all around the United States. And the Cathedral has always been a place where Catholics could be proud of their religion. We have a responsibility to see that it is preserved and remains a focal center in this Diocese."

 

Rev. Msgr.  John Gilsenan