Tom Pomeroy visited Epiphany’s newly renovated church on a recent weekday. Only a few brushstrokes remain to get the Coon Rapids church ready for its 11 a.m. June 1 dedication Mass with Archbishop Bernard Hebda.
Pomeroy paused as he stood in the doorway to the nave (portion of the church containing the pews). It has only been a month since he and other parishioners could take in a remodeling project that stretches back 10 years. Soon after seeing the results, Pomeroy decided to start making weekday visits for prayer, alternating between the main church and the adoration chapel, which also has been updated in recent years.
“I love it when it’s quiet and nobody else is in there,” he said of the main church. “It’s a little bit heavenly. … I can’t think of a better place to take my time and pray.”
That is exactly the kind of reaction that the pastor of Epiphany, Father Thomas Dufner, envisioned when he decided to remodel the church, focusing mostly on the sanctuary. A parishioner, Nick Vasko, oversaw the entire project, and another parishioner, Mark Sanislo, an artist who has been instrumental in the artwork at a number of churches including the Newman Center at North Dakota State University and who teaches art at Epiphany Catholic School, painted the main mural directly behind the altar, plus two other murals, one on each side of the sanctuary. The newly updated church was featured during the opening Mass of the Archdiocesan Men’s Conference March 22.
“One of my (altar) servers asked me if this triumphal arch (above the main mural) was the gate of heaven,” said Father Dufner, who has been pastor of Epiphany since 2012. “And, I said yes, it is. This is a triumphal arch in the style of what the Romans used to build. … This is the triumphal arch for the victory of Jesus Christ over sin and death.”
Father Dufner has been interested in beautifying the church since his time at Epiphany as parochial vicar in the early 1990s. Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester added encouragement in 1999 at the Presbyteral Assembly in Rochester when he called on priests to update and improve their church interiors.
“The opportunity came to do something,” Father Dufner recalled. “We didn’t know what, but we knew we could do something.”
Over the next few years, Father Dufner began to develop his ideas and worked with Vasko, showing design samples to parishioners. It was a gradual process that led to the final design that was approved not long after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. It was a gradual process that led to the final design that was approved not long after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
“We started with new sanctuary designs in 2015, and I would always run them past our parishioners,” Father Dufner said. “Finally, we were able to say, ‘Everyone is happy with this.’”
Next came a capital campaign to fund the project. Father Dufner set the goal at $2.5 million, $1.5 million for the church project and the other $1 million for other projects, including an upgrade to the parking lot. The work began in July 2023, starting with the removal of the entire sanctuary, including the concrete floor.
“All the money flew in to pay for this new project,” Father Dufner said. “We got enormous buy-in from the people. We found very broad support. Even some of the folks who initially might have been reluctant (to donate) found themselves liking it more and more.”
Pomeroy and his wife, Carrie, are among the donors. They became parishioners several years ago, joining their two adult daughters and their families. Tom called the new sanctuary “very impressive” and “beyond my wildest imagination.”
After the design for the structure was set, Father Dufner next needed to select the image for the main mural.
“I was praying to St. Joseph and I said, ‘I don’t know what to do. You have to take care of it,’” Father Dufner recalled. “And within two days, I was meeting the artist, Mark Sanislo, for something else. On his phone was a screen saver of God the Father. I said, ‘That’s it. That’s what I want.’”
The final design includes God the Father at the top, with the Holy Spirit directly underneath and Jesus on the cross below that. It is meant to resemble a vision of the Trinity that was experienced at Tui, Spain, by Sister Lucy, one of three children who had visions of Mary at Fátima, Portugal. Sanislo then added pictures of 20-some saints, along with angels. After the main mural was completed, Sanislo added murals of the wedding at Cana and the baptism of Jesus, located on either side of the sanctuary.
Everything combined has created a worship space that draws people to come and look, including Father Dufner.
“I can’t even walk past the church through the foyer without poking my head in to see the beauty that’s here,” he said. “I have to stop and see. It’s attractive. It pulls me in. I have to see this. It’s majestic, it’s glorious. It’s what God deserves.”
