CHARLOTTE — Seminarians Alfonso Gamez Jr. and Britt A. Taylor will be ordained to the transitional diaconate for the Diocese of Charlotte by Bishop Peter J. Jugis at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 2, at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. They are currently studying at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.
The transitional diaconate is the final step before priestly ordination. Once ordained deacons, Gamez and Taylor can proclaim the Gospel at Mass, give homilies, baptize and officiate at weddings. They will have an additional year of theological studies and spiritual formation before being ordained to the priesthood, expected next June.
GamezGamez, 27, is the son of Jose and Ana Maria Gamez of Hendersonville. He was born in Clyde and grew up in Hendersonville. He is a graduate of East Henderson High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
Gamez studied pre-theology and will complete his seminary studies in theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.
A parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, Gamez served summer assignments at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lenoir, St. Joseph Vietnamese Church in Charlotte and St. Elizabeth Church in Boone.
Gamez says, “Throughout college, I had a deep desire to serve the Lord and the Church and to learn more about my faith. I simply cultivated this desire by becoming more involved in activities and theological study and it led me to the realization that I wouldn’t want to spend my life any other way than to come to know Christ more deeply every day, and to share this knowledge and love of Him with others.”
Taylor, 27, is the son of Rick and Terri Taylor of Charlotte. He was born in Atlanta and grew up in Charlotte, where he graduated from Charlotte Catholic High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
Taylor studied pre-theology and will also complete his seminary studies in theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum.
A parishioner of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, Taylor served summer assignments at St. Eugene Church in Asheville, Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury, St. Elizabeth Church in Boone and St. Ann Church in Charlotte.
Taylor recalls when he first thought he had a vocation to the holy priesthood. “I realized around the second grade when I first started 
Tayloraltar serving. This does not mean I was ready to enter seminary, but the idea was in my mind. I found other distractions, but ultimately towards the end of college I found myself drawn stronger than ever to the priesthood and entered seminary.”
All are welcome to attend the transitional diaconate Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral on June 2.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — Father Patrick Winslow is no newcomer to church renovations. Eight years ago, he designed and oversaw a dramatic overhaul of the interior of St. John the Baptist Church in Tryon, where he was pastor at the time.
Now Father Winslow is at it again – this time at his current parish, St. Thomas Aquinas in north Charlotte.
The renovation now under way involves a complete re-do of the sanctuary – including the installation of a dramatic baldachin, or structural canopy, over the altar. The entire parish has gotten involved with the effort, and they have been blessed with success along the way.
The renovation project actually began with a plan to replace the bathroom flooring. Project leaders took a closer look at the flooring in the sanctuary and steps behind the altar, where Father Winslow had noticed people sometimes tripped and nearly fell. Could the area be made safer, he asked?
Replacing a floor is not an easy job, they responded. They recommended he and the parishioners first think about what they might want to do with the sanctuary in the future, before deciding to change the flooring.
He told the consultants, “This space is so big, it’s so grand that it could use something to anchor the sanctuary to the altar.” And he shared his thoughts about a baldachin that could focus attention toward the altar and complement the church’s high ceiling.
The architects gave their recommendation, and Father Winslow filed the information away – uncertain how his parish might ever be able to afford to build or buy a baldachin.
Then Divine Providence intervened in the way of an unexpected phone call from Jacob Wolfe, a talented local woodworker who had worked with Father Winslow on St. John the Baptist Church’s renovations.
Wolfe told Father Winslow he had heard that a church in Sheradon, Pa., was closing, and it had an intricately carved, solid oak, 30-ft. tall baldachin available for sale.
The baldachin from Holy Innocents Church in Sheradon was carved in the late 18th century in Austria and shipped to America sometime between World War I and World War II. It has embellishments of fretwork, carving and painting in silver and gold leaf, red, green and aquamarine blue.
Its design is rich in Catholic symbolism. The oak itself symbolizes eternity. Triangles incorporated into the roof signify the Trinity. Seven doves depicted in descent along the top represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the baldachin also features images of the Lamb of God, the pelican and the phoenix. Around the four pillars are carvings of many saints: Sts. Peter, Agnes, Paul, Mark, Luke, Catherine of Alexandria, Jerome, Matthew, Gregory, Ambrose and Augustine.
To have a comparable baldachin made today would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Father Winslow bid what he knew the parish could afford, $25,000, and prayed that if it was God’s will for the baldachin to come to St. Thomas Aquinas, he would be able to procure the funds from five private donors who would donate $5,000 each for its purchase.
The Pennsylvania church accepted his bid and the funds were donated. Father Winslow’s prayers had been answered.
In speaking to parishioners about the baldachin purchase and the sanctuary renovation project, Father Winslow said, “I think that this is the hand of Providence. I think that we are being blessed because of our devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. It was in the back of my mind that we should do something to commemorate Our Lady of Fatima, the 100th anniversary of the Miracle of Fatima (in 2017). I didn’t know what we would do, but I figured it would manifest itself in some way. I never thought anything like this.”
He was surprised by the timing, saying, “I thought this would be a 10-year, down-the-line kind of idea. This came at us with such opportunity, and the way in which people responded – it was extraordinary.”
Now, the baldachin sits disassembled in a storage area, waiting to be erected in its new home in Charlotte, while the parish works on the other aspects of the sanctuary renovation.
During the week of May 14-18, members of the parish’s Knights of Columbus worked in 12-hour shifts each day to demolish the stone wall along the back of the sanctuary.
“There are about six to eight Knights who are deconstructing the wall where the tabernacle was,” said Monica Bailey, volunteer director at the parish. “They are working tirelessly from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day. They’ve been drilling through five inches of concrete to remove each large stone from the frame it’s plastered to.”
“It is our hope to repurpose the stone to build a new grotto on our property to honor Our Lady, as she is presented at Lourdes,” Bailey added.
Along with the baldachin, the parish is also installing the matching ambo and communion rail that had also been in use at Holy Innocents Church.
Parishioners have enthusiastically responded to the project: donating more than $102,000 so far to fund the renovations.
Keach Construction is serving as the general contractor on the project.
The sanctuary will be isolated for construction this summer from mid-May to mid-July. Daily Mass and devotions are being moved to another location on the church’s property. The parish is working with Keach Construction so that Sunday Masses can continue to be celebrated in the church, however. On the weekends, there will be a temporary location for the altar and tabernacle in the center aisle.
Father Winslow said he hopes the renovations will be completed by mid-July.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter