FAYETTEVILLE — The Norm and Caroline DeBriyn Family Life Center is officially blessed and open, giving St. Joseph Parish additional meeting and classroom space as well as a new gymnasium.
Parishioners’ enthusiasm for the new center was evident at the Feb. 21 dedication as an overflow crowd witnessed the events, which included a blessing by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor. All 350 bleacher seats were filled as were numerous folding chairs, leaving a standing-room-only crowd.
It’s a milestone for the parish because, in addition to having a gymnasium and other space for athletic and other activities, the next goal is a stand-alone sanctuary. The church moved from its longtime home on Lafayette Street, in the city’s historic district, in 2002 to a larger site off Highway 45 on Fayetteville’s East Side. Since that move, the parish has used a combination school/church arrangement.
But parishioners have longed for the separate sanctuary they were promised when the move occurred. Parish officials, however, were reluctant to start an ambitious project without sufficient financial backing and a large enough parish to support it.
The parish has encountered difficulties along the way. Four different pastors have led the parish since the move and the economic downturn in 2008 came just as officials hoped to kick off the family life center construction.
Still, they managed to finally get the building completed.
Brian Wood, co-chairman of the parish core team that led the $3 million project, was happy at the dedication.
“It’s incredible to finally get it done,” he said.
Not only that, Wood said the entire note should be paid off — or close to it — by December. That will free resources to begin the sanctuary plans.
The center is named for former University of Arkansas baseball coach Norm DeBriyn and his wife, Caroline, a longtime physical education teacher in the Springdale public schools. Naming a parish building for still-living parishioners is rare in the Diocese of Little Rock, but the DeBriyns are known as tireless workers in the parish and the community. Norm DeBriyn is expected to be ordained a deacon in November.
In a video about the center, Caroline DeBriyn noted the couple’s work in physical education.
“We get excited when we see a brand new gym,” she said.
Norm DeBriyn noted the basketball goals looked a little high. “Maybe because as I get older, the goals look higher,” he quipped.
Some students also got a chance to talk about the center in the video. One, Nick Scalise, summed up what undoubtedly many other parishioners must have felt. “God has made a miracle happen. It is so beautiful.”
One guest speaker was a prominent alumnus of St. Joseph School, University of Arkansas Chancellor David Gearhart. A member of the 1967 ninth-grade graduating class, Gearhart spoke fondly of the Benedictine nuns who taught at the school then. “I always felt I got a marvelous education,” he said.
Bishop Taylor talked about the importance of the church serving all needs — spiritual, educational and health.
“In a way, this reaffirms our faith that Jesus came to save the whole person,” he said.
The bishop also noted that prayer doesn’t take place just in church.
“Kids pray in school before exams — or they should,” he said to the amusement of the crowd.
Pastor Father John Antony noted the dedication was held on Mardi Gras. But Fayetteville was the best place to be on this day, he noted. “Everybody in New Orleans wishes they were here.”
At the ceremony’s end, Father Antony suggested some parishioners were likely wishing they’d had a chance to donate toward its cost.
“It’s not too late,” he said to the great amusement of the crowd. “You can still make a pledge.”
One fundraising activity is a parish cookbook called “Amen, Let’s Eat.” On sale during February for a reduced price of $15, the cookbook was a hot seller following the dedication. Proceeds will be used to help pay off the note.
