st. joseph catholic church // ypsilanti, mi
St. Joseph Catholic Church is a rural parish that was built between 1966 and 1967 just outside Ypsilanti, MI to serve the growing Catholic community there. No major work had been done to the sanctuary since it was built but there was a desire to beautify the sanctuary and provide a more uplifting environment for prayer. A slight modification to the ceiling was done to hide the metal duct that ran down the center of the church and new tile flooring and radiator covers were provided. In addition to the ceiling work, new wooden liturgical furnishings were designed for the sanctuary. The rear wall stencil pattern was painted by a local artist, a member of the parish, as well as a painting of the Holy Spirit on the ceiling immediately above the altar.
General Contractor: JMJ Residential Construction, LLC
Liturgical Furnishings fabricated by: JMJ Residential Construction, LLC
“When my parish met with Phillip, we asked him for a design that could communicate the beauty of the Mass within the constraints of a modern building from 1967 and a modest budget of a country parish (we wanted the beauty of Saint Peter's in Rome, within a 1967 church building in Michigan, at a fraction of the cost). Philip delivered. Parishioners routinely note both the beauty and the "rightness" of the renovation—one parishioner said, with complete honesty and frankness: "..It's like when you see a person you have known for a long time, suddenly cleaned and dressed up, wearing a suit that fits perfectly—and you say to yourself: ‘He was made for that suit! He was made to look like this!’ That’s how I feel about the renovation! It fits! The church was made for this!”
Father Pieter van Rooyen, Pastor