By Mary Owen
Once again, the Regis chapel is taking its place as the heart of the high school.
“For 35 years, the sacred space was the heart of the school, evoking strong memories and connections with those who attended Regis,” said counselor Mike Bauer. “It was iconic to those who attended.”
Alumna Katie Goyins Jaeger, class of ’77, wrote, “I believe that little room, our chapel, has been a place that saints have been trained and touched to go out into the world and bring the gospel.”
Jaeger’s oldest son was baptized in the chapel by Monsignor Timothy Murphy, and many years later received the Christ the King award as a senior at Regis.
“I often thought it was probably because of his start right there on campus in the chapel,” she said.
During her senior year, Jaeger attended school Masses in the chapel, saying, “It felt so holy, even back then.”
But two years ago with the creation of the Regis Aspire Center, the chapel had fallen into disuse.
“We decided to connect the center to the adjacent chapel via a stained glass window and enlisted the skills of Keith Kintz for that,” Bauer said. “At that time, our chapel was rediscovered by some alumni working on the Aspire project and Aspire coordinators Patti Keudell and Dave Schumacher.”
As word spread, Bauer said a grassroots effort developed to revitalize the chapel. “It’s a story of people working together to provide something special and meaningful for others,” Bauer said. “It is a labor of love that will mean a lot to our 51-year-old institution.”
Project manager Mark Dol said in the early days at Regis, the chapel was used for celebrations of Mass before school as well as a weekly all-school Mass.
“When the student center was built a few years ago, all school Masses were moved into this multi-purpose gather space and the chapel, although always there, was not used as much,” said Dol, director of youth ministry services for the Santiam Vicariate Parishes. “It was our desire, as a committee tasked to rejuvenate the chapel area, to bring the chapel back to the heart of the school, to make it a welcoming place of solace and prayer for the students and to make it more practical in layout.”
The 10-member committee came up with a design that fit the project’s $13,000 budget, Dol said. With school board’s and Portland Archdiocese’s, the committee worked with Janine Moothart and her team from the Regis development office and contractors Dan Buldoc and Dennis Towers.
“As we finalize the finishings, there are many people involved – Keith Kintz who is doing the stained glass windows, Art Christiansen who is building the altar and ambo, John Schafer who is making a large crucifix to hang above the altar, and we would do injustice not to mention the army of volunteers who cleared the chapel in preparation to start, cleaned walls and re-upholstered the chairs,” Dol said.
Major construction and painting has been completed. “We removed all the old pews, altar and dais, reversed the seating layout so the altar and front are now on the north side,” Dol said. “We constructed soft indirect lighting on the side walls and replaced the concertina door on the south side with a solid wall complete with arched stain glass window above and a beautiful, solid wooden double 7-foot-wide door, making the main entrance now from the library.”
To complete the project, Dol said the crew needs to build and install the stain glass; install the large wooden crucifix; and install the new altar and ambo. The project was funded by donations of Regis alumni. “This is a really good illustration of stewarding resources, and the kind of thing that can happen in the private sector with the help of volunteers,” he added. “This is a good example of the partnerships that exist between entities in a small community.”
