Lidgerwood renovation a labor of love

St. Boniface Church in Lidgerwood has gone through a renovation that helped to make the church not only safer, but aesthetically pleasing as well. Those renovations are now complete and parishioners are back in their beautifully transformed worship space.

“The carpeting in the church was coming up and was deemed a safety hazard by the diocesan facilities management office,” said Father Peter Anderl, pastor of St. Boniface. “Also, among the other issues we faced, the back wall of the sanctuary behind the altar was just primer with a very small corpus, and it needed something to attract the eyes and hearts of those attending worship.”

Working with Bishop Folda and the diocesan facilities management and liturgy office, the renovations began October 2019. Parishioners donated over a thousand hours of their time to do whatever they could, from grinding the floors to get them ready for new flooring tiles, to painting, setting up scaffolding, and moving pews. Father Anderl called it an “outpouring of love” that parishioners wanted to share their time and talents to help make their house of worship one that would give glory to God and inspire the faithful.

Contractor Mark Heuer, a parishioner at St. Anthony’s Church in Mooreton, supervised much of the work. The floor tiles of marble and porcelain were purchased at a cost that was just minimally more than regular carpet squares and are expected to last for decades. The main aisle flooring includes three medallions which represent faith, hope, and charity. A new Sacred Heart of Jesus statue was added to replace one that was discarded over 60 years ago, and the new LED lights greatly improve lighting in the church. A baptistery was added in the church gathering space to remind worshipers of their oneness with Jesus Christ through baptism.

By far the most impressive improvements are to the front of the sanctuary. A large mural now graces the wall behind the altar, and statues of Mary and St. John flank the large, new crucifix, giving the wall a 3D effect. The mural was painted by local artist Elizabeth Swankl, who painted murals at Sts. Anne and Joachim in Fargo. She painted the mural by hand, using a magnifying glass in order to provide greater detail. This was necessary because her painting was going to be enlarged on a commercial printer.

“I scanned in the original painting at 2,600 dpi,” said Heuer. “That way when we increased the size and printed out the sections that would go on the wall, we wouldn’t lose the definition of the original painting. It went on the wall in three pieces and looks magnificent.”

The mural also includes the Holy Trinity, and Sts. Boniface and John Nepomucene, in acknowledgement of the combining of two former parishes into one, and for the German and Bohemian communities who founded Lidgerwood’s two original Catholic parishes.

The altar and ambo were built by Hurley’s Religious Goods in Fargo. The ambo depicts when Christ was about to be raised into Heaven, charging his disciples to go out and preach to all nations, thereby giving them the “Living Word.” The altar depicts the Last Supper, where Christ gave his apostles his body and blood, under the form of bread and wine.

“This was God in action,’” said Father Anderl. “It was amazing to me to see how the parish came together over the 120 days of the project. What means the most to me is how much the parishioners have made this project their own, how much they appreciate what was done, and how it’s helping in their worship, the whole experience of church and the Mass. That’s most gratifying to me.”

The new altar was solemnly dedicated and the other renovated liturgical items blessed by Bishop Folda at a Mass held on Feb. 2.