Parishioners in what has become known as the birthplace of Catholicism in Ohio have much to celebrate.
Not only has the parish community completed an expansion of its school, but it recently finished an extensive church restoration project.
On Sunday, Nov. 23, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Somerset Holy Trinity Church welcomed Bishop Earl Fernandes to preside over a 10 a.m. Mass with Father Allen Moran, OP, provincial of the Dominican order’s Province of St. Joseph, and Father Andre-Joseph LaCasse, pastor at the combined parishes of Holy Trinity and St. Joseph, as concelebrants.
The restoration of an old church building might not seem like earth-shattering news to some people in the diocese, but parishioners in the Perry County village of Somerset consider it an accomplishment. While the town does have a famous citizen, Civil War-era General Phillip Sheridan, it sits on the front edge of Appalachia, where poverty is native to the hills and mountains of the region.
The Catholic community in Somerset is the oldest in Ohio and one of the oldest in what was known in the late 1700s as the Northwest Territory, which later would be divided into several states.
In 1808, when then-Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore responded to the entreaties of settlers Jacob and Sarah Dittoe for a priest and sent Father Edward Fenwick, O.P., a Dominican, it was on a Native American trail known as Zane’s Trace (now State Route 22) that he arrived.
St. Joseph, the first church in Ohio, was built three miles from Somerset and initially was not much more than a log cabin. Father Fenwick would go on to be made the first bishop of Cincinnati and the Dominican order would be entrusted with the care of Catholics in the Somerset area at St. Joseph Church and then Holy Trinity, a relationship that has lasted for more than 200 years.
Holy Trinity and St. Joseph were formally merged into one parish as part of the diocese’s Real Presence Real Future initiative after sharing a priest for decades.
When Father LaCasse returned to the diocese several years ago after serving as pastor at St. Gertude Church in Cincinnati, he found the parishes in Somerset to be proud of their frugal ways but in need of maintenance. Having addressed building maintenance and beautification at parishes where he previously served as pastor, including Columbus St. Patrick, Father LaCasse launched a campaign to upgrade Holy Trinity.
The church had undergone various touchup projects but never a thorough renovation since it was built in 1852. Research was done on the original designs of the building and the parish sought input from Bill Heyer, a nationally known church architect from Columbus.
The original “knob and tube” wiring was replaced and air conditioning was added. The pews were refinished by the Martin Painting Company after being transported to Grove City.
Meanwhile, the doors required total rebuilding with only a few panels being salvaged. The floor was repaired and refinished for the first time in history. The communion rail, which was in pieces around the church, was reassembled and repositioned for use.
In addition, the building was repainted inside and out. Concrete steps were repaired and replaced, and outdoor lighting was upgraded and enhanced. Interior lights were converted to LED for savings on electrical bills.
The restoration included murals of St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena, which had once adorned the sanctuary apse but had been put in a parishioner’s barn because they were considered beyond repair. They were re-created by an artist and put in their original position over the main altar.
Other projects were the rebuilding of a confessional and the removal of an outdated reconciliation room; creation of a dedicated space for the baptismal font using marble tile that matched the original font; resurfacing of the entrance narthex in the same marble by Dan Boyden of Veritas Tile Works; renovation of nearly every surface; and the repainting and repairing of statues that were returned to their original settings in many cases.
Funding for the project was provided by parishioners, who took part in a Beacon on the Hill building campaign.
Such an undertaking was met with some skepticism, but the generosity and faithfulness of those who pledged gave the committee and the pastor a budget of about $500,000, which the parish used wisely to accomplish its restoration goal and create a moment worthy of celebration despite the financial challenges amid the poverty of Perry County.
At about the same time, Holy Trinity Catholic School across the street from the church began building a new wing that increased the size of the school by 50 percent under the leadership of principal William Noll, a sixth-generation descendant of one of the original families of St. Joseph.
The school addition, which was funded through a campaign separate from the church renovation, created room not only for a grade school at capacity but a preschool and kindergarten.
Bishop Fernandes blessed the new school wing after Sunday’s Mass.
Bishop Earl Fernandes blesses an addition to Somerset Holy Trinity School after Mass on Sunday, Nov. 23. CT photo by Ken Snow.