When shovels of dirt on the grounds of the new St. Bartholomew Church Parish Life Center in Little Rock were lifted, it represented the last phase of a dream parishioners have been waiting for for 20 years.
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, pastor Father Emanuel Tanu, SVD, and others broke ground Nov. 16 on the 5,000-square-foot center that will be built on an empty lot next to the church and rectory. Hosting big parish events has been difficult or non-existent since they have never had a parish hall. The parish has two rooms and a small kitchen for parish events and faith formation classes in its former high school, which is now primarily used by Helping Hand of Greater Little Rock. If parishioners want to host a reception after a wedding, baptism or funeral, they must rent space elsewhere.
The church, located in the Central High School Historic District, is bordered on one side by Arkansas Baptist College and homes on the other sides.
“It’s so good for all of us to be here because we have come a mighty long way to see this. This vision of a parish life center has been years, indeed generations, in the making,” Dr. Patty Ashford, parish council president, said during the groundbreaking. “Today, we have taken a huge step toward making that vision a reality to be used by us, our children and our children’s children.”
About 75 people attended the groundbreaking, including Father Warren Harvey, the bishop’s liaison for the Diocesan Council for Black Catholics.
The project for St. Bartholomew Church was delayed more than three years as labor costs increased. Today, the building, with a large hall to seat 200 people, three classrooms, a kitchen, a conference room and offices, is estimated to cost $1.5 million. The hall and classrooms will be large enough for children’s religious education classes for kindergarteners to eighth graders and the youth group.
The parish will also have its own parking lot when the building opens next year.
(Malea Hargett)
The predominantly Black church had raised $620,000 by 2020 when it became the One Church partner, a diocesan initiative to support a small parish that needs a one-time financial boost. When the diocese presented the church with more than $118,000 from donors in 2021, the pandemic was still in effect, and construction materials were more expensive.
When Father Tanu arrived at the parish in July 2023, he knew the parish life center construction was the No. 1 goal.
“They promised me, ‘Father, we have been giving, but as soon we get started (with construction), we will give more.’ And they did,” he said. “They have been giving generously in the past year.”
“The whole community can testify that they need a space where they can have CCD classes or activities in the community,” the pastor said. “After church, we cannot have any of the meetings or celebrations in the community because we don’t have enough space to have those types of celebrations or meetings.”
Sonja Hart, building committee chairwoman, said the building materials and some interior features were changed over the years to make the building as affordable as possible.
The parish is taking a $400,000 loan from the Diocese of Little Rock to start the project.
“If all goes well, on the feast of St. Bartholomew Aug. 24, we will have the grand opening,” lifelong member and building committee member Lee Lindsey said. “That’s the vision.”
When asked what he looked forward to with the new parish life center, parish secretary Rodney Bernard said, “When I die. We really don’t have a place for a repass. That was one of the big things we talked about when we first started. When we have funerals, we don’t have a place where to feed people… We’ve had weddings, but then they have to go somewhere else for the celebration… We’ve had situations where they had to do box lunches because we don’t have a place to actually feed people.”
