St. Mary Parish in Chardon is excited the construction of a new 4,600-square-foot rectory at 401 North Street is underway.
“There has been an overwhelming response from our parishioners that this new rectory was long overdue and the time to build was now,” Rev. Scott Goodfellow said, pastor of both St. Mary and St. Patrick Parish in Thompson Township.
St. Mary is one of the largest parishes in Geauga County. Together with St. Patrick, they serve more than 2,900 households from Geauga and Lake counties.
“The rectory, featuring four living suites to house the pastor and parochial vicar, in addition to seminarians, retired priests or visiting priests, will position St. Mary and St. Patrick parishes as vibrant centers of ministry, community and formation throughout the Diocese of Cleveland,” Goodfellow said.
The parish also offers an elementary school for students from kindergarten through eighth grade, in addition to the Little Scholars Academy for pre-school and pre-kindergarten students.
The current rectory at St. Mary is a century home built in 1869 across the street from the church.
Before being purchased by St. Mary in the 1920s for the parish offices and rectory, it served as a traditional single-family home.
“People may wonder why we’re building a new rectory,” Goodfellow said. “Simply put, we’ve outgrown the current residence.”
He said a rectory is different from a traditional family home and is more like a four-plex apartment for unrelated adults with common living spaces to promote rest and prayer.
“As the seminary looks for healthy parishes like St. Mary to send seminarians, and as retired priests look for parishes with accessible living arrangements where they can continue to exercise their priestly and sacramental ministry, the new rectory will be capable of handling this capacity — along with the benefits seminarians and retired priests will offer our parish and the surrounding parishes,” Goodfellow said.
A groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 23 marked the culmination of eight years of discussion, planning and fundraising that invited parishioners, staff, councils and committees, the Diocese of Cleveland, the City of Chardon and local builders to explore the feasibility of the project and ensure the new rectory fulfilled the needs of the parish.
“Through the support and generosity of our Heart of a Shepherd capital campaign, unrestricted funds from past capital campaigns, direct bequests and donations, and the future sale of the current rectory, the project has been fully funded,” Goodfellow said.
Payne & Payne Builders, of Munson Township, were selected to oversee construction and the new rectory will be built where the old convent was located, on the southeast plot of land by the St. Mary School driveway, he said.
As of Jan. 1, the foundation for the rectory had been excavated and poured, Goodfellow said, adding construction will continue through the winter months, weather permitting, with the project expected to be completed in mid-to-late 2025.
Their Victorian-style design will incorporate the historic architecture of the homes on North Street and the character of the surrounding community, featuring stained glass windows refurbished from closed parishes in the Cleveland area, including a nativity window from St. Gregory Byzantine Church in Lakewood, a pair of sidelight column windows from Ss. Cyril and Methodius Church in Barberton, and a half-circle transom window from St. Hyacinth Church in Cleveland, Goodfellow said.
“Payne and Payne are excited and honored to have the opportunity to bring the vision of the new rectory to life for the parish,” said Eric Payne, president of PPB. “Many members of our team are from the area, thus, as a company, we have many ties to the parish and the community. It has been a great experience working with Father Scott, the St. Mary’s Building Committee and the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. We are greatly appreciative of the chance to be part of this project.”
PPB are like family to the parish, Goodfellow said.
“We were blessed to have founder Mike Payne, Sr., a former parishioner, participate in our groundbreaking ceremony,” he said. “He passed away about a month after this ceremony, on Christmas Day, but he was able to see the beginnings of the new rectory construction and we know he is cheering on this new building from heaven.”
Goodfellow became administrator of the parish on Aug. 1, 2021, and pastor on Dec. 11, 2022. Rev. Fabian Han came to the parish in June 2023.
“It is unique to see the process of building a new rectory,” Han said. “I’m so blessed to have this memorable experience at my first parish as a priest. In this process, I see beauty as the Holy Spirit, clergy and parishioners work and pray together for this project. I am very excited and thankful to God, the pastor and the parishioners for giving me this extraordinary experience.”
The parish numbers are growing steadily.
They had 2,600 families in their 2023 parish census 2023 and 2,700 families in 2024. St. Patrick’s has around 300 families, Goodfellow said, adding the school enrollment is holding steady with between 150-160 kindergarten-through-eighth grade students and about 50 preschool/pre-kindergarten students.
“Our parishioners share a common vision to provide a comfortable, communal living space for our priests for rest and prayer, and to provide an attractive residence for seminarians, retired priests and visiting priests,” he said. “We believe this vision translates to a healthy, vibrant parish focused on growth in ministry, community and formation both now and into the future.”
