A church, he said, should make its parishioners feel like they have entered a sacred, holy place. That's what May Claire Rohret wants from a church. That's what the retired Air Force colonel remembers about growing up in the Stuart parish. There was a serenity, Col. Rohret said, that she never found at any other church. I don't think there's a girl in this community who hasn't dreamed of walking down that aisle.
Parishioners can help form a creative design.
Beyond the liturgy, a new church should be designed with the future in mind, Bond said. As metropolitan Des Moines grows westward, more people might be living in Stuart and surrounding towns. The parish might need more seating and parking. Members of Project Restore believe the parish council had little to say about the new building, that most decisions were made by the bishop's building commission. But that's not the way Bishop Joseph Charron works, said diocese spokesman Tom Chapman.