St. Jude Parish seeking matching funds for grant

Friday, Aug. 28, 2020

TAYLORSVILLE — St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church is in line to receive a $10,000 grant, but only if they can raise matching funds.

Catholic Extension Society has awarded the conditional grant to the parish, which in March moved from Murray into its new building in Taylorsville.

The new building is slightly larger but, more importantly, it meets the accessibility requirements  called for by the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

“I’m happy because it’s welcoming,” said Msgr. Joubran BouMehri, pastor.

The parish purchased the former Protestant church in 2019. Renovations to the building included extending the wall out about 12 feet, raising the ceiling, new flooring and new lighting. The stained glass windows, lecterns, pews, Stations of the Cross and altars were moved from the Murray church. A new furnace and air conditioner also were installed. 

During the renovation, the basement was flooded with four feet of sewage, so that area has been gutted and now is being rebuilt.

“It’s basically a whole new building,” said Tom Allem, a parishioner who oversaw the renovation. 

The parish held its first Mass at the new location on Feb. 23.

The renovations cost about $400,000. If the parish receives the grant from Catholic Extension, the funds will be applied to that debt. The conditions for the grant call for the parish to match the $10,000 by receiving individual donations of at least $250.

Typically, the parish would hold a festival or yard sale to help raise the funds, but because of the social distancing requirements in place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, that type of fundraiser isn’t possible, Msgr. BouMehri said.

Nor is the parish able to sell its homemade Lebanese pies, which it has been doing for several years to raise funds, and attendance at the regular Masses has been low, again because of the pandemic.

“Since the pandemic hit, we don’t have the donations coming in,” Allem said.

As a result, Msgr. BouMehri has appealed for new donations in a letter on the parish’s Facebook page. “The overall goal of this endeavor is to make things financially easier for us, so we may concentrate on outreach and evangelization of our St. Jude community,” he wrote in the letter.

“So far we’ve had a good response,” Allem said. “Some people you don’t think have that kind of money are giving.”

The deadline to raise the matching funds is Sept. 30; the parish already has raised almost half the necessary amount, Allem said. 

Most of the work at the parish is done by volunteers, including the bookkeeper, the religious education director and yard maintenance.

“If we didn’t have the volunteers in this parish, we couldn’t operate,” Fr. BouMehri said.

To donate to the matching fund for the Catholic Extension grant, visit https://stjudemaroniteutah.org/donation and click on the donate button, or send a check to St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church,   5445 South 2700 West, Taylorsville, UT 84129. They also have Venmo; see code in the second photo.