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Moving Forward in Our Faith Blessed Trinity’s New Church Blessed and Dedicated |
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Trinity Sunday May 22, 2005 will be a day not soon forgotten in the life of Blessed Trinity Parish in Fall River, Massachusetts. This was the day when the new Church facility was blessed and dedicated by the Prime Bishop of our Polish National Catholic Church, The Most Rev. Robert M. Nemkovich. The Dedication Liturgy began at 3:30 in the afternoon. The procession was lead by the crucifer, Cleric Jason Soltysiak, who was followed by the altar servers, the mayor, contractors, clergy and bishops. The bishops were greeted with bread and salt by David Sarna of the Building Committee and Thomas Cory, Chairman of the parish committee. At the conclusion of the processional Hymn “ Holy God We Praise Thy Name, our pastor, Fr. Rob Nemkovich had the opportunity to welcome the standing room only crowd on this magnificent day for Blessed Trinity Parish. Fr. Rob repeated the same words he spoke at Mass on the first Sunday in the new church “Lord, it is good for us to be here. John Ferreira and Harry Jenks, the architect and project manager, presented the construction documents to David Sarna of the Building Committee. Alan Nunes, president of A. Nunes Inc., presented the keys to the new building to Fr. Rob Nemkovich. The mayor of Fall River, the honorable Edward Lambert, presented the Certificate of Occupancy to Thomas Cory. After this presentation Mayor Lambert addressed the faithful and congratulated the parish on a job well done. The rite of dedication began as Prime Bishop Nemkovich led the congregation in prayer. Prime Bishop Nemkovich was assisted by Fr. Rob Nemkovich and Fr. Anthony Kopka. Fr. Anthony Mikovsky and Fr. Randolph Calvo served as the Masters of Ceremony. After the hymn to the Holy Spirit was sung, Prime Bishop, with his assistants Frs. Nemkovich and Kopka, processed to the threshold of the church blessing it with his crozier. Upon returning to the sanctuary the Prime Bishop blessed water that would be used for this special rite. The Prime Bishop blessed the people, the walls of the church and the new altar. Blessed Trinity was fortunate to be able to furnish their new church with many new liturgical appointments. At this point in the Dedication Liturgy the Prime Bishop blessed the following items: altar cross, processional cross, tabernacles, side altars, altar linens, the ambry, the pulpit, the offertory table, the candles, the stations of the cross and the organ. At the conclusion of the blessing of these items the Prime Bishop returned to the sanctuary where he blessed the salt, wine and ashes “ elements for the Gregorian water that was used to bless the sanctuary floor, aisle floor and the walls of the church. Prime Bishop Nemkovich began Mass from the Sedalia. The readings were proclaimed by Joanne Oliveira and Judy Sarna. A gospel procession followed where Fr. Rob Nemkovich proclaimed the gospel from the center aisle of the nave. The homily (attached to this article) was delivered by Prime Bishop Nemkovich. Following the profession of faith, the rite of dedication continued with the consecration of the altar and walls of the new church. This began with the chanting of the Litany of the Saints. Fr. Rob Nemkovich served as the cantor. At the conclusion of the litany, Prime Bishop Nemkovich consecrated the altar in five places and the walls of the church were consecrated in four places. The special rite of dedication was concluded as Fr. Rob Nemkovich incensed the newly consecrated altar, the sanctuary, the walls of the church, the bishops and finally the congregation. An emotional time followed communion as the faithful sang the Post Communion Hymn to the melody of “The Church’s One Foundation.” There were not too many dry eyes among more than 200 who gathered for this special liturgy. We dedicate this temple, O Father, unto Thee, After the Prime Bishop gave his blessing, all those gathered sang the hymn of the PNCC followed by our recessional hymn: “Lift High the Cross.” A special thanks to all the clergy who joined us for this special day in the life of Blessed Trinity Parish: Prime Bishop Robert M. Nemkovich, celebrant; Bishop Thomas Gnat, Fr. Sr. Joseph Krusienski (assistant to Bishop Gnat); Fr. Sr. Joseph Soltysiak (assistant to Bishop Gnat); Fr. Sr. Fryderyk Banas; Fr. Anthony Kopka (assistant to the Prime Bishop), Fr. Anthony Mikovsky (Master of Ceremony), Fr. Randolph Calvo (Master of Ceremony), Fr. Marc Bergeron (Ecumenical Officer for the Diocese of Fall River), Fr. Jan Wilczek, Fr. Richard Hincken, Fr. Jozef Piatek, Fr. Christopher Rogalski, Fr. Stanley Kazubski and Cleric Jason Soltysiak Thomas Cory, Chairman of Blessed Trinity, welcomed nearly 200 people to the banquet. He introduced Catherine Fortier-Barnes, who served as the Master of Ceremonies for this banquet. Catherine called upon Fr. Jan Wilczek, from Holy Cross Parish in New Bedford, for the Invocation. Fr. Anthony Kopka delivered the toast and everyone enjoyed dinner. Once the head table was introduced the program continued as greetings were extended from Alan Nunes, the president of our construction firm. Alan spoke about the wonderful relationship that developed between the parish and his company creating a new friendship. He thanked Fr. Rob and the Building Committee for their fine work in this project. Thomas Kozak, from the Fall River City Council, gave greetings and thanked Blessed Trinity for all they do for the city and congratulated them on this wonderful day. Robert Correia, our Massachusetts State Representative, extended greetings and congratulations on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. At this point letters of greetings were read from Senator Edward Kennedy, Senator John Kerry, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and President George Bush. Secretary General of the Polish National Union, John Andrzejewski, extended greetings on behalf of our sister organization. He thanked Fr. Rob and the building committee for the good work they have done. Fr. Marc Bergeron, pastor of St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church and the ecumenical officer for the Diocese of Fall River, extended greetings and congratulations on behalf our brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Fall River. Bishop Thomas Gnat gave greetings on behalf of the Eastern Diocese. Prime Bishop Nemkovich extended greetings and gratitude on behalf of the PNCC for the work the pastor and faithful of Blessed Trinity have accomplished. It is always wonderful to have our Prime Bishop with us here at Blessed Trinity. The banquet program was concluded by Blessed Trinity’s pastor “ Fr. Rob Nemkovich. Fr. Rob spoke about the seven-year journey that the parish had trod and how there was no way this could have been accomplished without the grace and blessings of Almighty God. Fr. Rob thanked the members of the building committee, the contractors, the clergy and guests who had joined us for Blessed Trinity’s Dedication. The program ended with Benediction given by Fr. Rob Nemkovich. |
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Blessed Trinity’s Vision and Dream for the Future Realized! |
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The vision and dream for Blessed Trinity Parish began in 1998 during the Centennial Year celebration of Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Fall River As that parish celebrated its 100th Anniversary, a vision was developed to plan for future generations of National Catholics in the greater Fall River area. The first step in this process was a letter sent in August of 1998 from Blessed Virgin Mary Parish to Holy Trinity Parish in Fall River to discuss a possible merger between the two parishes. Holy Trinity Parish responded favorably to this letter. Both parishes held special parish meetings to elect their representatives to serve on the Merger Committee and in November of 1998 the Merger Committee held its first meeting. |
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The meetings were productive and all wanted to worship and work together for the good of our National Catholic Church in the Fall River area. In 1999 both parishes voted overwhelmingly to merge. The merger became official on February 29, 2000. The parishioners of both parishes voted to name the newly merged parish Blessed Trinity Parish. The Merger Committee became the Blessed Trinity Organizational Committee. The name change for the parish became official in May of 2000. On the Solemnity of the Institution of the PNCC (the second Sunday of March) in 2000 a special meeting was held where it was decided to begin the process to construct a new church facility on Plymouth Avenue in Fall River. The Solemnity of Pentecost in June of 2000 was another special day when for the first time a parish committee for Blessed Trinity Parish was elected and also a building and fundraising committee were elected. The following Sunday (Trinity Sunday) in June of 2000 an outdoor Mass was held on the site of our new church building and parish hall complex. A sign announcing the Future Site of Blessed Trinity Parish was erected and it was blessed following the Mass. This was a joyous day as the merger of the two parishes was celebrated and our vision for the future continued to unfold. The building and fundraising committees were off to work and more meetings were held than anyone cares to remember. Their initial work culminated on Trinity Sunday in June of 2001 with the unveiling of the design of the new church facility and our Moving Forward in our Faith fundraising campaign began. During this time the parish worshiped in our Center Street church while our Winthrop Street location was used for all of our parish meetings. This changed in 2002 when our Center Street property was sold and our parish would now worship at the site of the former Holy Trinity Parish on Winthrop Street. A Service of Deconsecration was held in our Center Street church on July 26, 2002. The move was completed in November of 2002 when our pastor and his family moved into the rectory at 37 Winthrop Street. As a part of our building plan the Winthrop Street rectory received a second floor addition, major first floor reconstruction and a driveway. |
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During 2003 the Building Committee was extremely busy as a final design and budget for the project was finalized. Their work was presented to the annual congregational meeting in February of 2004 during which it was unanimously accepted. Following this monumental decision, a letter of intent was executed with Anthony Nunes Inc. by Thomas Cory and Fr. Rob Nemkovich on behalf of the parish. Our vision and dream was to finally become a reality. On April 4, 2004 (Palm Sunday) our Groundbreaking Ceremony was held. Our Prime Bishop, the Most Rev. Robert Nemkovich, blessed the ground. Our contractor, architect and project manger were there along side Prime Bishop Nemkovich, Fr. Rob and our parishioners as the first holes were dug with gold shovels. Site work on the project began soon after and the site became a very busy place. On Trinity Sunday in June of 2004 all of our parishioners and friends were invited to sign one of the beams that was to be placed in our new church. This was a time to pause and reflect on where we had been and on the fact that there was finally a hole in the ground. September of 2004 brought more excitement as the foundation was finished and the building began to be constructed. Week by week more progress continued to be made and by Christmas of 2004 the exterior work was completed and the building enclosed. 2005 began with our utilities being installed and becoming operational. The finish work began and the date for our Dedication was set for none other than Trinity Sunday May 22, 2005. Pews began to disappear from our Winthrop Street Church as David Sarna, using his God-given talents, made the new side altars, a pulpit, tabernacles and an offertory table with the wood from the old pews. His labors will be remembered for generations to come. |
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On Sunday, April 17, 2005, following our Sunday Mass the new cross for the steeple was blessed and carried from the old church on Winthrop Street and installed by our pastor, Fr. Rob Nemkovich. Sunday, April 24, 2005, saw the second Deconsecration Service for the Blessed Trinity Parish family as our new home for worship was ready for us on May 1, 2005. Our vision and dream for the future was only possible with the grace and blessing of Almighty God. His Hand and Spirit has without a doubt guided our labors. To Him be the praise and glory and honor now and forever more! We wish to acknowledge those who helped us Move Forward in our Faith and who, with God’s help, made our vision and dream for the future become reality. Blessed Trinity Parish Building Committee Francis J. DeTemple, Chairman Rev. Robert M. Nemkovich Jr., Pastor Blessed Trinity Parish Fundraising Committee Lena Cory, Chairperson Rev. Robert M. Nemkovich Jr., Pastor Constance Barboza Thomas Cory |
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