Denver Catholic

4 JANUARY 27-FEBRUARY 9, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC Parish Spotlight St. Mary's Parish in Aspen restoring church to reach community D eep in the Rocky Mountains lies the city of Aspen, considered one of the most hedonistic and wealthy places in the U.S. Yet, within the skiing paradise, abides also a vibrant parish that has sought to live out and share the living Gospel through beauty, creativ- ity and faithfulness to Catholic teaching. St. Mary 's Church has found a way to evangelize and thrive in a city that is any- thing but religious. It hosts many programs for children, youth, young adults and adults, and its evangelizing e„ orts have allowed it to evangelize now in a new way: Through a complete renovation of the historic parish building. "We realized early on that if the parish does nothing [in such a secular city], it dies. We have to evangelize and be bold," said Father John Hilton, pastor of St. Mary's. "Parishes nowadays are called to be dynamically orthodox: Not watering down the faith, but remaining faithful to it in a creative way." The $7 million renovation will make St. Mary's the most fully restored of all historic churches in Colorado, Father Hilton assured. The goal of such a restoration is to make the parish building a teaching place, a "catechism set in stone," he said. The church will be restored completely. The plan is to take it apart, put in all modern infra- structure, including the duct and electrical systems, and put it back together. The sanctuary ceiling will then be painted with stars to symbolize the marriage between heaven and earth during the Mass. Under the dome, 20 saints from the 20th century will be painted. The ceiling will be divided into cof- fers and feature painted birds and trees, which will recall the Garden of Eden and remind the faithful that they are worshipping Christ, the New Adam. The renovation has been a controversial project, said John Kele- her, active parishioner for over 45 years and member of the parish building com- mittee: Parishioners were worried that the church would be modernized and lose its historicity. However, one of the greatest goals of the renovation is to do the opposite, he said. "Much of the historic in the building was removed and covered throughout the years. Now we seek to recover what was lost, celebrating our history and making the church a welcoming place," Father Hilton added. FRUIT OF EVANGELIZATION Founded in 1882, the church is one of the oldest parishes in the Archdiocese of Denver. It was built with the sweat of the miners during the Silver Boom under the leadership of missionary priests who would cross over one of the most di˜ cult mountain ranges in the country – the Elk Mountains – to cele- brate Mass and provide the sacraments. The zealous spirit of the founders of St. Mary's is alive in the evangelization e„ orts of the parish community today and has allowed the church to fundraise the necessary funds without compro- mising its fi nancial stability. Most of the funds were derived from friends of the parish all over the coun- try. Contrary to common belief, most Aspen residents are not able to donate much to the church due to the tremen- dous cost of housing. The generosity from friends all around U.S. comes from the fact that they fall in love with St. Mary's Church and community. Evangelizing one of the richest, most secular BY VLADIMIR MAURICIO-PEREZ vladimir.mauricio-perez@archden.org PARISH SPOTLIGHT Other than uncovering the historical elements of St. Mary's Parish, the renovation will make the church a "catechism set in stone." PHOTO BY ANDREW WRIGHT

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