Photo courtesy of Saint Mark the Evangelist.
The exterior of the new Parish Center at Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church.
Tucked just off Alabama 119 at Brook Highland, the campus of Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church recently expanded its campus. On Nov. 17, the new Parish Center, that will serve the 1,200-family congregation, was dedicated.
The original Saint Mark’s was founded in 1905 in the East Thomas area near Birmingham-Southern College. The bell from that congregation has a new home at the current location and was rung as part of the dedication ceremony.
Now in its 20th year, the congregation began meeting in the Greystone Elementary gym in 1999 before moving into its building in 2003. The architectural plans for the new Parish Center were presented in May 2016 and followed by a two-year building project.
During the November dedication, Father Joe Culotta blessed both buildings and asked God to bless their hands so they will continue doing God’s work and their ministries will continue to grow.
Also present for the occasion was Bishop Robert J. Baker, who is over the Diocese of North Alabama, former pastor Father Patrick Cullen, who was pastor of the congregation when it began, and Charlie and Ann Penton who served as the construction project manager and provided project support.
Those who had a hand in the construction of the new building were also represented, including Neil Davis of Davis Architects, the project designer, and Stephen Blalock and Mark David from Blalock Building, who were the contractors along with others from both companies.
The architecture of the new Parish Center mirrors that of the existing buildings, which features a more traditional Catholic church appearance with arches and windows. Linked together by an open courtyard, the new facility will serve as the center for all of the parish’s activities.
Candy Hacker, a member of the congregation, said the new space will be a place where all generations can gather to learn more about the Catholic faith and grow closer to Christ and includes an area dedicated to children’s liturgy along with a nursery space. The new two-level building also features a kitchen, conference rooms and the staff offices.
“All of our ministries will have a place there,” she said. “Everyone has an opportunity to use their talents and time in a ministry if they wish, and those ministries now have a place.”
The former Parish Center has been converted into a space specifically for the youth that will be renamed through a contest. They can now enjoy their own space, which Hacker believes will transform the youth program that includes both middle and high school students.
“We have made youth an emphasis in the parish and given them a place to have as their own,” Hacker said.
Sister Madeline Contorno, a pastoral associate at Saint Mark’s, has been with the congregation since August 2018 and said the new space was built with the future in mind.
“We built bigger than we are now, allowing the Holy Spirit to give us the growth to really move into these areas and we may open up new ministries not related to our parish but to the surrounding community,” Contorno said.
Contorno, who has been a sister for 50 years working at parishes across Alabama and Georgia, said it was impressive and inspiring thing to see how people pitched in and devoted their time, muscle power, energy and financial resources to make this happen.
“It’s really a dream that became a reality through the vision, prayers, hard work and financial giving of so many people,” she said. “We want to keep in touch with roots as we continue to expand and grow.”
