Indiana parish finds inventive use for old kneelers

Published: 2004-04-20

WHITING, Ind. (CNS) -- St. John the Baptist Church in Whiting is undergoing a major facelift. So are the 73-year-old church's kneelers. As the church undergoes a restoration of walls, fixtures, and new pews and kneelers, the old kneelers are undergoing a transformation to become shelves and coat racks. Doing the transforming are Tom Dabertin and Damian Bondi, neither of whom is a woodworker by trade. However, last December, Precious Blood Father John Kalicky, pastor at St. John, approached Dabertin, knowing he did woodworking as a hobby, and asked if he wanted a kneeler. Dabertin took the kneeler home, planed it, and, at the suggestion of his wife, made it into a shelf. When Dabertin returned to the St. John rectory with the shelf, several parish workers said they would like one. That led someone to suggest that this would be a good way to raise money for the church. "It's a very creative idea," said Father Kalicky.

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