By Ryley McGinnis Lester
Father Chris Hess and parishioners at St. Theresa Parish in Farmville consider themselves very blessed. Blessed with a family-oriented place to worship and a growing parish community—one that grew so large that a few years back, they called on the Catholic Community Foundation to support them in expanding their parish hall.
“We simply needed more space,” recalled longtime parishioner Mark French. “And a better space for our community.”
Today, the renovated parish hall is a bright, bustling center of parish life, hosting everything from religious education classes every Sunday to large community events, all the while strengthening the parish community.
A long time coming, but not a moment too soon
The parish hall’s story stretches back decades. French said earlier efforts to build a larger facility began many years ago, but funding challenges meant the parish had to scale back its plans.
“We started a fundraising campaign, and we were going to build this big, beautiful building,” Mark said. “And we just didn’t have the funds.”
Instead, the parish built a simple metal structure designed to meet immediate needs.
“What we needed was a place to have community, and we needed a place for the children to have classes,” Mark said. “So that’s what we did here. We built as much as we could build for as much money as we had.”
For years, parishioners made it work. But as the parish continued to grow, the limitations of the space became clear.
By the mid-2010s, French and his fellow parishioners were once again trying to move forward with plans to renovate and expand the building. But early fundraising efforts struggled.
“Myself and other volunteers got a campaign set up, and it wasn’t progressing,” French said.
That changed when the parish partnered with the CCF to help organize its capital campaign.
“First, we did a feasibility study with parish leaders to see, okay, can we actually do this?” said Veronica Scholle, mission advancement manager for the CCF. The original campaign goal was set at $500,000. From there, Veronica and Alex Previtera, the CCF’s director of development and operations, set a goal for the campaign and served as boots on the ground supporting solicitations with volunteers like French, which led to great success.
“We wound up adding a challenge goal of $700,000,” said Veronica. “And the parish even surpassed that number, which was such a blessing.” In total, the campaign raised almost $718,000 by 2020, when construction was able to begin.
French and another long-time parishioner, Eniko Swanick, were donors to the campaign, and they saw it as their duty to give back.
“To those who’ve been given much, much is expected,” said French. “I have been very blessed, and I believe in the joy of giving.” And their giving, and that of many others, has indeed created so much joy.
Since the renovation was completed, the parish hall has become a central gathering place for the parish and the wider community in the central Virginia cluster of parishes.
The building now includes dedicated classrooms for religious education, which is a significant improvement over the previous setup. “In the original building, we had dividers,” French said, describing how partitions were used to create makeshift classrooms.
Now, the parish has adequate classroom space for its Sunday programs, a social hall, and a fully equipped catering kitchen.
The hall hosts a wide variety of parish and community events, including soup lunches for those in need in Farmville, a large Oktoberfest fundraising effort for the parish, the annual tea party for the women in the community, and so much more.
“It really brings people together,” said Father Chris.
Serving beyond the parish
The renovation also improved the parish’s ability to serve those in need. During the renovation, they built a new space for the parish’s food pantry. Previously, it operated out of a small outbuilding separate from the hall.
“It was like a buggy-barn type building that we had renovated and made work,” French said.
“But we really needed something better,” said Eniko. Now, the added ability to serve the community brings people together in a new way to support those in need.
Father Chris often marvels at how the community in Farmville comes together, and he feels very grateful that their parish hall serves as a hub for all.
And for Father Chris, Mark, Eniko, and the entire parish community, the renovated space is more than just a building; it’s a place where Christ’s love is witnessed through community and charity.