If you are going to church to pray and worship, then a cinder block building would suffice.

If you are going to a particular church because it is bigger or prettier than the rest, then maybe you should re-examine why you are going.

Ummm...OK. did i say i only went to a church because it was a bigger and prettier building? I don't think I did. I think what I asked was, were there any plans to builder a newer church or make it bigger? Didn't say i won't go if it's small...so, please don't read into things that aren't there.

I saw the church and it simply looked small to me and i would guess there are a lot of catholics out here, just there are a lot of all religions out here and just was wondering if there was any idea of building a newer or bigger church.  Had absolutely nothing to do with why i go to church.

and if you would have also read, i asked what time the services are and how the priest of the church was, because that is actually important to me.  ummm...common sense would have said, if i only cared about the size of the church, i wouldn't really care about the members of the church. 

Hello!  Yes, that's Our Lady of Grace Parish - formerly the St. Francis de Sales Mission.  It's been a tad over a year since we became our own parish.  Prior to that, we were a mission of St. Anthony's in Casa Grande.  We had no priest, only a deacon, and a priest from Casa Grande had to come celebrate mass each Sunday.  We've been going there since we moved, which is a little over three years ago.

I think because it was a mission, and there weren't many Catholics (or people) in Maricopa at the time, the size of the building was appropriate.  When you step inside, you can see that there have been several remodels to accomodate the growth over the years.  Now that we are a parish and have our own priest, there are now five masses on Sunday, one on Saturday, as well as daily mass.  Each mass on Sunday is pretty packed, but we're working on raising funds for the new building.  I think the plans have been drawn up; I remember seeing a rendeirng of what it will look like.

Our pastor is Father Marcos Velasquez.  He's fairly young, I think either in his 30's or 40's.  He grew up in Southern Arizona, and he's more traditional than contemporary (although the 5 pm Sunday mass is a little more contemporary in it's music - or we try).  He really is great, hubby and I both like him a lot. 

You should totally come to Mass and check it out.  And for the other Catholics out there reading this, and are still going to Mass in Chandler, Ahwatukee, etc., you should come, too!  Please don't be put off by the building.  The building doesn't make the Church, the people do.  And the people at OLOG are wonderful!  I've always been a member of small parishes because you really get to know the people at church, and you really feel like a family.