Vibrant Utah parish that started in basement looks to build church-basilica: ‘An oasis in a desert’

A Utah Catholic parish near Salt Lake City is looking to build a $35 million basilica-style church after 17 years of celebrating Mass out of a school gym.

Since its opening in 2006, St. Andrew Catholic Parish has operated out of nontraditional spaces — from the basement of a house to a local movie theater, then finally to the gym.

The parish began with a bilingual group of about 15 attendees in 2006 but has since become a home to about 1,400 registered families.

About 20 miles south of Salt Lake City proper, the bilingual parish draws about 400 attendees each for its Sunday English and Spanish Masses, and drew about 700 attendees at each Mass on Easter Sunday last year.

The Byzantine-inspired church will be built in a cruciform design, a traditional feature of many basilicas that will also serve as a nod to the parish’s patron saint, St. Andrew, who was crucified on an X-shaped cross.

The building plans, designed by MHTN Architects, show an eight-sided dome and a wooden “baldachin,” or ceremonial canopy, over an altar. 

The building plans for the 10-acre plot of land would also include an adoration chapel, social hall, and expanded food pantry as well as offices, education space, and a rectory — in all, a $35 million project.

The gym ‘pulls people together’

Father Joseph Delka, the pastor, said the gym setup is part of what made the community unique.

“I think being in a gym has helped form a community that is very committed and welcoming,” Delka said.

“Having a ‘gym church’ is certainly a unique experience for people,” Delka said. “When you have to ‘put church away’ into a storage closet every weekend after the Masses and then set everything up again later in the week, it really pulls people together to work for the good of the community.”

“You can’t take anything for granted. If people don’t step up to help, then it doesn’t happen,” he said.

The gym space has not stopped locals from attending; nor has it prevented a beautiful liturgy, according to Delka.

“Being in a gym has not stopped us from celebrating Mass and other liturgies faithfully and beautifully,” Delka said. “Yes, the sanctuary is comprised of a folding stage with an altar and an ambo on wheels, but we do well at making it beautiful, decorating it with various icons to suit the liturgical seasons.”

“Our choirs in English and Spanish are amazing,” he added. “I don’t know of any other gym that has an organ in it!”

‘Not just for us’

The new church is not just for the community that already exists.

“[F]rom the beginning of this project, we have been making it a point that this is not just for us,” Delka said. “The front of the church sits on the street corner as an invitation to ‘come and see.’”

“We hope that the beauty of the building will draw people in to encounter the Lord,” Delka continued.

Delka also noted that there will be an emphasis on sacred music as acoustic engineers are involved in the project.

The parish also plans to incorporate a new food pantry into the site plan.

“We also hope to have greater outreach to serve those in need,” Delka said. “Our parish currently has a food pantry that has been operating out of the basement of the rectory since 2009.”

“Our patron St. Andrew declared to his brother, St. Peter: ‘We have found the Messiah!’ And then he brought Peter to Jesus,” Delka said. “We strive to follow that example by putting Christ at the center. Ultimately, I think that is what draws people here.”

Architecture that ‘proclaims the Gospel’

“Church art and architecture at its best proclaims the Gospel loud and clear and raises the heart and mind to God,” Delka said.

This, he said, is “at the heart and soul of this building project” — along with their patron, St. Andrew.

“The design of this building draws deeply from our Catholic tradition: the basilica-cruciform design, the portico typical of many ancient churches in Rome, the eight-sided Byzantine style dome,” he said.

“We have small side chapels which will be dedicated to various saints; we have a chapel in the apse to allow for perpetual adoration.”

Each design element will have “a theological meaning,” Delka said.

The architecture is heavily inspired by the Vatican II concept of “noble simplicity,” from the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, Delka explained.

The architecture should inspire virtue while having simplicity, or “singleness of purpose,” he explained.

“The art and architecture are to point to Christ the noble one without distraction,” he said.

The Byzantine-style dome “is a nod to the Christian East since our patron St. Andrew was martyred in Patras,” Delka noted.

Icons, which are easily transportable and “don’t take up much storage space,” have become a “practical” form of sacred art for the parish, according to Delka.

“Moreover and more importantly, the iconographic tradition is also very rich and truly helps raise the heart and mind to God,” he said.

Delka calls the project “ambitious.”

“We will need all the help we can get to make it a reality,” he said. “First and foremost, we entrust everything to Our Lord.”

Despite Salt Lake City’s deep historical connection to the Latter-day Saints, the city has a growing nonreligious population and the percent of Utah religiously unaffiliated adults is several points higher than the national average, according to Pew Research Center.

“The world needs more places to be an oasis in a desert: a refuge of peace where God is praised, people are renewed and re-created in Christ through the sacraments, and where the saving word of God is proclaimed,” Delka said.

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/vibrant-utah-parish-that-started-in-basement-looks-to-build-church-basilica