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Parishioners at West Jordan's St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church are still celebrating their new building and are inviting neighbors to come take a look.
The Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon-cutting at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the church, 7405 S. Redwood Road (1700 West). An open house, including tours, will run from 1 to 3 p.m.
The church replaces a barn-like structure built by Kennecott miner families and which stood on the site for 60 years, said the parish's pastor, Father Patrick Carley.
"It was a functional place," he said, "but had little aesthetic value."
The old church began showing its age, so parishioners undertook a four-year campaign to raise the $5 million needed for a new building.
Carley dedicated the new edifice May 1, the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker, whom Catholics revere as the foster father of Jesus Christ. The church is full of symbolism for its patron saint — from blocked-concrete walls to unfinished cedar benches and doors, which should grow more beautiful with age. The rough-hewn beauty celebrates the dignity of work.
The church itself serves as an allegory for the Catholic pilgrimage through life, Carley explained. Starting at the main entrance, the faithful encounter the waters of baptism at a 7.5-ton black granite font. They proceed to the altar of brotherhood, where a skylight directs their gaze to heaven.
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Open house set
The new St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, 7405 S. Redwood Road (1700 West), West Jordan, will open its doors Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. with guided tours and refreshments. The ribbon-cutting is at 1:30 p.m.