"I rejoiced when they said to me, 'Let us go to the House of the Lord'."
On June 19, 2006, Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas dedicated our new parish church!

 

Built in the style of the Spanish Colonial churches of southern Arizona and northern Sonora, the new Saint Andrew's Church perfectly fits in its high desert setting.

The entry features a 'fisherman's net' pattern drawing us to the main doors under the Holy Spirit stained-glass window.

The beautiful main entry provides a "Gathering Area" where the coved ceiling, chandlier and religious art, help us to transition into this holy space.

Seen from the balcony, the massive corbels and vigas (beams), the large chandliers and the soft light from the skylights above the altar, draw our eyes and hearts up-ward.

The center of focus is the breath-taking carved main retablo (altarpiece), featuring motifs of the Holy Spirit, the grapevine and wheat sheaves, the niches for the patron saints of the parish, the Crucifix, and, of course, the heart of the church -- the Tabernacle. The altar stands on twelve solomonic columns, and the ambo (pulpit) becomes a throne for the Gospel book.

The Baptistry is a double-pool: the hammered copper font stands on a tiled column and the immersion pool below is in the form of a cross. The Holy Oils are placed in the niche behind, with its tapestry of the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan.

Around the walls are placed niches, holding the statues of the patron saints of the various ethnic groups and apostolates of our parish. Below the niche of Our Lady of Mount Carmel can be seen the "Rosary rail" of cast stone, which "ties" the whole church together.

The East or Baptismal entrance opens into a large patio, shaded by the colonnade which wraps around the church and connects it to the old church - now "Kino Hall".

The East entrance is also a Chapel to St. Michael the Archangel and a permanent memorial to our deceased Veterans. The unusual light fixture is a steel combat helmet. It is special place of prayer for our deployed Servicemen and Servicewomen.

There are two Confessionals, warm and welcoming, with the option of face-to-face or screened access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The "mission bell" swag over the doors speaks of the rejoicing in heaven when a sinner returns to the Father's House

A special treasure is the Divine Mercy Chapel, a place of great beauty and holy quiet,which is available for our parishioners 24 hours a day. The Tabernacle of the Chapel is the same Tabernacle of the main altar -- doors on each side provide access. The ceiling of the Chapel features relief paintings of the instruments of the Passion, based on Spanish Colonial-era plaster carvings of the 18th Century Sonoran Missions

The only thing that is missing in these photos is YOU - because this church exists to bring people into the Presence of our God!
All church buildings, no matter how elaborate or plain, are "scaffolding for the Kingdom of God", in which people are being built together into a dwelling place of the Most High!