Most of the parishioners of St. John's Roman Catholic Church in Spencerport agree that renovations to the church are needed. The stone building erected in 1914 is not, for instance, handicapped accessible. The bathroom is a precarious walk first down steps, then up steps, through the basement. There are also other necessary repairs. The controversy, however, is about the definition of the word "renovation."

One group of parishioners favors a conservative refurbishment addressing just the basic needs of re-carpeting, repairing, painting and making the church handicapped accessible. Another group looks towards more dramatic changes such as the creation of a gathering space on the Martha Street entrance as well as the creation of a side chapel, moving and perhaps even discarding some of the altars and statues.

The 86-year-old building was erected with cobblestones from the fields of area farmers and much of the work was that of volunteers building their own church. And altars, statues and other parts of the church represent memorials from various families. The thought of change to such things brings emotional reactions.

Richard Versluys says, "The process of planning this renovation began in 1994. Because the process has been so long there have been many misunderstandings. To do a renovation in a church we have to follow guidelines of the Diocese of Rochester."

"It was the goal of the Parish Pastoral Council since 1994, fully supported by Father Michateck, our pastor, to bring the liturgical space into conformity with Vatican II and subsequent liturgical standards. No renovation work has been done on the church for the last 40 years," Versluys said.

In addition, "A Renovation Study Committee was formed in 1999. It provided a video series and a fourteen-week series in the Sunday bulletin on the Roman Catholic Mass. It also invited representatives from the Diocese of Rochester on two occasions to speak to parishioners about the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on liturgical space of the church. The committee also held meetings for parishioners to walk through the church to identify church treasures," according to Versluys.

Versluys says that the design had to conform to the expectations of the Diocese of Rochester building commission, the office of liturgy and the directives of the Bishop of the diocese.

The plan calls for restoring the stained-glass windows, new floor coverings, a space for a Blessed Sacrament Chapel and Altar of Sacrifice, wheel-chair spaces in front and rear of church, a ramp, a lift, new steps around the church, hand railings into the sanctuary, a covered entrance into the church, a fully accessible bathroom at the same level of the assembly, relocation of statues, painting, improved lighting, a balanced sound system and refurbished or replacement of stations of the cross.

Frank Ferris, who is against major renovations, says, "There's one plan and they're not open to anything else." He says that there is quite a bit of opposition to the large-scale changes. "We don't believe this beautiful church should be mangled, and that the structure should be undermined. The church should not be dismantled."

Ferris also says, "I think I'm representative of a good number of people. It's not going to make us more holy. That's been the feeling right from the beginning."

In this newspaper's Opinion Page on October 15, Ferris wrote, "This so-called renovation concerns people who have belonged to St. John's for many years and treasure its many familiar artifacts."

Mary Lou Clifford, who is also against the larger scale renovation plan, says that she did not believe that they were really going to do all the changes they said they were. "Now it seems the changes may become a reality. They want to rearrange the interior and plan to move the tabernacle (which holds the Eucharist) out of the center of the sanctuary. We got very upset about this. The tabernacle is the main focus of the faith. So many parishioners were very upset about moving the tabernacle and altar which is the center of our faith." She said about 400 members signed a petition against this. They presented it to the Parish Council, which is supposed to represent the people, and priest. Evidently these people felt it (the petition) didn't lend credence and ignored it, Clifford said. "We even sent it to the Bishop's office in the Diocese of Rochester and it carried no weight there."

Clifford said, "We don't want this to tear the church apart, and this issue would do so if we don't work on it all together." This issue is so heated that at a recent meeting of the Village Zoning Board requesting a variance for the projected work, so many people showed up that the meeting had to be moved to the firehouse on Lyell Avenue. Nothing definite was decided at that meeting.

Clifford said that on Pledge Sunday the parishioners were urged to give a dollar a day (per family) for these renovations for the next three years. That commitment represents approximately a thousand dollars per family. Clifford said there was lot of "pressure and arm-twisting."

Versluys says that they have just started the capital campaign and have received $305,000 in pledges to the project. The goal is $350,000.

Clifford said, "The angle they played was first that the Vatican directed this, then that the Bishop expects us to do this ... which is a big difference from the Vatican. The story changed as their needs changed."

Issues involved go beyond the preservation of what people deem their own sacred space to economic concerns in light of recent terrorist attacks and the very real need for money to provide for survivors, New York firefighters and policemen, as well as those at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania where a fourth plane went down. Times are uncertain as is the stock market, and major renovations would require large commitments on the part of each family of the church.

"There are two issues here," Clifford said. "We don't want major changes to this historical church and we don't want to spend the money in this way. Spending money on this building for unnecessary changes is an antithesis (to what) church is really about. There are so many needs all over."

Ferris says, "We're supposed to be serving people and yet we're asked to spend all this money 'moving furniture.' "

In the Catholic Courier of the Diocese of Rochester, Dorothy Willett of Spencerport writes: "This is a time of national emergency, a possible war, when many are losing their jobs, have watched their stocks plummet and are asked to give to the Red Cross to help with a year-long cleanup of the Twin Towers rubble in New York City. Many are calling this the 'end times.' "