Praise the Lord and thank you to our generous donors who have funded the build of the Cathedral’s equipment barn to house equipment for maintenance of the cathedral property and adjacent cemeteries. Thank you to all those who prayed, and all those who poured out generously.

The framing and walls are in place on the cathedral, build phase 1, and the next step will be roofing and wall boards to weatherproof the construction site for the winter months. Please be in prayer for the continued success of the build team and mercy in the form of good weather, so that the construction project goes on unhindered. To contribute or join the story, please visit fhcathedral.com/give.

We are excited to announce that the basement foundation and footers have been poured, and the next step of the cathedral phase 1 build is the walls and roof of the sanctuary and admin center. We are also currently in the process of building an equipment barn entirely funded by the gifts of our generous donors.

We have broken ground for phase 1 of the building project! Silt fence to prevent erosion is in place all over the property. Heavy equipment has been delivered, and the driveway has been cut into the hillside bank of the road. We are thrilled to see dirt moving from one side of the property to the other. Much of the dirt removed to create a foundation for the church and a level plane for the parking lot, will be used to raise the elevation of cemeteries, and to install a stormwater management pond. This repurposing of soil means minimal expense in removing it, and a faster process for the site work that is being accomplished.

Surveyor stakes are in the ground and heavy equipment for site work and digging is being shifted to the property in the coming weeks. Phase I is what we’re calling the construction of the interim sanctuary and the admin wing of the cathedral. We are moving now to break ground within the month of April and greatly anticipate the shifting of dirt. What we have done is take part of the original first phase of building and part of the second phase of the original plans and submit them as a phase 1 interim option for use immediately upon construction. This plan will begin the entire site work project of moving dirt, cutting into the bank along Grafton Shop Rd., digging the foundations, parking lot, stormwater runoff pond, and cemetery grounds. This work alone comes at substantial cost and effort and is an enormous undertaking. Then comes the construction of the interim sanctuary, admin wing, interim nursery, classrooms, fellowship space, patio, and church grounds. This sanctuary will be a 170-seat consecrated space for worship and will serve until the completion of the main sanctuary, steeple, lower levels, and more. This space will house a lower level fellowship space, walkout classrooms, etc. After selling our Bel Air property we have been faced with the need for nearly immediate space and rather than renting commercial property or building out another facility, we are excited to be rapidly approaching the new grounds and every dollar we spend will go toward the entire project. We look forward to the opening of the two cemeteries and all that that means for the community at large and for the cathedral in it’s next chapter.

This past Sunday our church family gathered at the Forest Hill property to hold a service of dedication and to break ground in the June heat. The breaking of the ground was unusual as there were no hard hats, no excavators waiting nearby, and no survey markers. This was not a beginning of construction, but rather a prophetic statement that we are taking this land and this church will be built. There was prayer and praise and a general sense of anticipation and excitement. Each member present was offered a chance to dig a shovel-full of soil and join in the act of declaring the new church as a reality.

The process of permitting and bidding has gone on for literally years. Prices have changed and shifted so rapidly in and after Covid and the project cost has fluctuated accordingly. While the county required much time and consideration before approving initial designs for the entire project, they have been most willing to work with the church in the approval process required for Phase I groundbreaking. This phase will include the construction of the admin wing and fellowship space that will be used as an interim sanctuary space while finding is gathered and permitting is finalized for the ongoing project and main sanctuary, steeple, etc. This smaller phase of the building will not be so cost and market prohibitive due to its wooden frame and construction verses the massive steel cost of the larger facility building. More to follow on Phase I.

“Trees. There’s something beautiful in the planting of new life on ground set aside for the fostering of new life.” This is regarding to the process begun by the Cathedral Church of Reconciliation to reforest some sections of the church grounds with over 2,000 young trees. It is encouraging to see that even before the ground is broken for construction, people can already see the great intention of the church, that is, restoration and the fostering of new, rich, and ever-growing life.

Reforestation is a process required by local government when developing property previously used solely for agriculture. You may have seen small trees with plastic tubes supporting and protecting their base along roadsides, highways, and in state parks. That is reforestation at work. The church has plans to plant thousands of trees before breaking ground later this year. The daunting task has been taken on by Superior Touch Landscape owned and operated by Deacon Mark Carico who bid the job out at little to no profit, simply to make sure that the trees are planted correctly and affordably for the church and coming generations.

Deacon Mark Carico and his crew will plant each tree using his bobcat skid steer and hand tools. They have already, at this stage, removed vast amounts of brush and choking vines surrounding the trees bordering the wetlands at the low end of the property. This preemptive work will allow one more chance at life for the fully grown trees that were previously burdened by creepers and vines.

The goal of the project is not only to meet the requirements set forth by the state and county, but to surpass them in a desire to beautify and preserve the land given by God to the Church.

Currently all permits for drilling and site work are in the permit process and/or awaiting final approval from the County Government. Covid 19 has continued to provide ample reason for delay and frustration of further development.

Many of Reconciliation’s congregants are familiar with the fourteen images known commonly as the stations of the cross. In our original sanctuary in Bel Air, they hung in the form of wood framed 8×10 inch prints. The church has bid on and purchased fourteen new stations of the cross – a complete set, from a former convent located in Pennsylvania. Each of the 75 lb, 16×24 pieces are marble framed and backed. The background of each is a mosaic of gold leafed tiles surrounding a hand carved marble image of Christ during his passion and road to Calvary. The gold and marble designs of these exquisite, dimensional icons, are in harmony with the gold mosaic and white marble front to the altar table purchased from another location and another vendor entirely. It is estimated that the Lord made a way for the church to purchase them at less than a tenth of the cost it would require to commission these pieces today. Rick and Tammy Schenning volunteered and drove a rented U-Haul vehicle North of Pittsburg, PA to retrieve the pieces and bring them back to Reconciliation to await their installation in the new space.