ST. VINCENT EMBARKS ON EXPANSION

The Rev. Milton Ryan plays to a packed house five times a week.

Ryan, pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Cape Girardeau, says at least two of five masses held each week are standing room only. But things are about to change: Work begins this week on a church expansion at St. Vincent.

The addition will add seating to the sanctuary, a gathering area at the church entrance and two multipurpose meeting rooms. The project should take 200 working days to complete.

When Ryan arrived at St. Vincent two years ago, membership in the parish was 1,200 families. Today, membership is up to 1,400 families. Ryan predicts the numbers will continue to rise.

"This expansion should get us through the next 10 years," Ryan said. "I have a feeling our community is about to boom."

Plans for an expansion have been in the works for eight years. During that time the parish has had four pastors. "About the time a pastor was comfortable enough to start a project of this size, he was transferred," Ryan explained.

Ryan plans to stay put, at least long enough to see the project completed.

Ryan declined to put a price tag on the project for fear of cost overruns. He said well over half the anticipated cost of the project is already in the bank and no fund-raising capital campaign is needed

"We've been saving money for eight years," Ryan said.

St. Vincent members give to a fund called God's Plan for Church Support. That money is being used to fund construction.

"We live in a very generous community," Ryan said. "Once people see the project under way they will get behind it."

A similar funding method was used to pay for an expansion of St. Vincent Grade School. That construction project was paid off within a year.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be scheduled soon.

The interior space of the church will make room for an additional 135 worshipers.

A large gathering space will be added to the front of the church. "Very frequently after mass, people like to get together and talk. Very often it is too hot or too cold to stand around outside," the pastor said. The gathering area will provide a comfortable place for fellowship.

Two meeting rooms, each able to accommodate 150 people, will also be built. The upstairs room will have fancy floors, recessed lighting and other amenities making it suitable for prayer groups and other meetings. The downstairs room will have a kitchen. Both will be handicapped accessible.

"The basic structure of the building will be the same," Ryan said. "But this will give it a facelift in a lot of ways. It will be something people can really be proud of."

Over the eight years, many people have been involved in planning the project, including members of the pastoral council, the finance council and the facilities committee.

"They came up with a good plan that meets the needs of our congregation," Ryan said.