St. Andrew celebrates new altar and completion of renovations

ANNAPOLIS – A parishioner who is a stone carver inscribed and carved the new altar at St. Andrew by the Bay, work that Father Tyler Kline said he did “as a profound act of prayer.”

A church filled with more than 500 people gathered Oct. 1 as Archbishop William E. Lori dedicated the altar during a special Mass celebrating the completion of the parish’s renovations.

Father Tyler G. Kline, left, pastor of St. Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church in Annapolis, welcomes Archbishop William E. Lori as the celebrant for the parish’s rededication Mass Oct. 1, 2026, following three months of parishioner-supported renovations. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

It was with “great joy,” the archbishop said in his greeting, that he came to bless the renovations and new altar, and to realize, he added to chuckles, that it was done “on time and under budget.”

“What we dedicate today is the fruit of faith and hope and love,” Archbishop Lori said in his homily. “This renewed church will stand as a visible sign of God’s presence for generations to come.”

Taking only three months to complete, the Sacred Space Project gave the 40-year-old parish much needed updates, including new flooring, better lighting and new paint, according to Father Kline, pastor. Adjustments to the sanctuary’s framing and platform were also completed.

“Much of the project was taking things that we had and kind of bringing some harmony using the things that we had,” Father Kline said before Mass, such as moving the church’s tabernacle, which was made in Peru, behind the altar and relocating the baptismal font.

St. Ignatius in Hickory, where Father Andrew DeFusco, a former priest at St. Andrew, is now based, gave the church a crucifix, which now hangs above the sanctuary.

The project cost $750,000, Father Kline said, and was funded by the generosity of parishioners. Dennis DeLizzio was the architect and Mona Construction did the work.

One of the most beautiful parts of the project, Father Kline said, is the church’s new altar. Fabricated in Annapolis by a local company, the altar was inscribed and carved by parishioner Tim Feist, a stone carver.

Parishioners gather at St. Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church in Annapolis for a rededication Mass Oct. 1, 2026, following three months of sanctuary renovations. The updates feature a new marble altar highlighted by hand-engraved lettering by a parishioner. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“What is all the more striking is not just the skill with which he does it, which is profound, but also knowing that Tim did all of his work as a profound act of prayer,” Father Kline said during Mass. “Know this was lovingly done as an offering to God in thanksgiving to God’s presence in this community.”

Feist, who has worked as a stone carver for three years, said creating the altar was his way of giving back to the parish.

“This was my contribution,” Feist told the Catholic Review after Mass. Discussing the stone carving process itself, he added, “It’s like a geological melodrama. It is just so vigorous. It is a little tricky to cut. Any professional would look at this and notice the pitting and the chips.”

Rhonda Feist, Tim wife, said “it was such an honor” for her husband to do the carving on the altar.

“We just kind of dropped everything in our family and made it happen, you know,” she said, as she and their three teenagers handled everything else in their busy lives while he carved. “It was definitely a family thing. So meaningful. Totally, totally worth it.”

When Father Kline asked for the inscription to be in Greek, the carver did research and settled on the most recognizable ancient Greek alphabet known as Attic Greek.

“It’s just, from a lettering standpoint, gorgeous art,” Tim Feist said. “It takes the familiar and reminds us how striking the Gospels, that were written in Greek, that they are familiar in our culture and yet it’s a foreign land. The past is a foreign land.”

The Greek inscription, “But what good are these for so many?” is meaningful, Father Kline said, as it is a quote by St. Andrew from the Gospel of John referencing the story of Jesus feeding a huge crowd with five loaves and two fish given to him by a young boy.

The crucifix suspended above the altar at St. Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church as part of newly completed sanctuary renovations once called St. Ignatius Church in the Hickory community of Harford County home. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

The quote is a pre-figuring of the Eucharist, Father Kline in an interview with Catholic Review. He said that even a small offering to Jesus can be transformed into a means of making the world whole.

Father Kline noted that church buildings provide a peaceful place set apart to “encounter the Lord.” The newly updated church is welcoming and invites everyone to find peace in Christ, “who is the most important part of this.”

“He is there waiting for them,” he said.

Fran Keith, a parishioner for 10 years, said she has “never seen a man so dedicated” than Father Kline in “getting this together.”

“Father Tyler is the one priest who knows how to pool people together and make them love our Lord,” Keith said. “I have felt like a new person since I came here. It’s really where the Lord wants me.”

Archbishop William E. Lori consecrates the new altar at St. Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church in Annapolis Oct. 1, 2026. The liturgy marked the completion of three months of parishioner-supported renovations. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

The first reading, Genesis 28:11-18, the archbishop said in his homily, tells the history of Christians dedicating churches about Jacob’s dream of a stairway stretching from Earth to Heaven while sleeping on a stone at a place he then calls Bethel, “the abode of God and that is the gateway to heaven.”

“The church is not heaven, but it points toward Heaven. It is not God himself, but it is the place where God chooses to meet his people,” Archbishop Lori said. “Like Jacob’s Bethel, this church stands as a reminder that God is not distant from us.”

Worship, the archbishop continued, is “not merely about geography. It is about relationships. It is about opening our hearts to the Father, through the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“Today’s celebration is not merely about renovation, it’s about renewal,” Archbishop Lori said. “The Sacred Space Project has renewed this church. Now Christ calls us to renew our hearts.”

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org

Use the navigation arrows below to see a photo slideshow by Kevin J. Parks.