Light of the World Church building permanent sanctuary

A crew from Haselden Construction remove forms from the freshly poured foundation at Light of the World church in Littleton on April 4. (Seth A. McConnell, YourHub)

JEFFERSON COUNTY The construction of a new sanctuary at Light of the World Catholic Church should take about 11 months altogether, but it's really 35 years in the making.

The church, 10316 W. Bowles Ave. in the Littleton area, has been open since 1979, but it never had a permanent sanctuary with pews and kneelers both common in the Catholic faith. Instead parishioners have been seated in removable chairs and kneeling either on the floor or a mat.

"Building the church provides us with greater opportunity to do other things," the Very Rev. Michael Pavlakovich said. Pavlakovich has been the head pastor for the past eight years.

Construction continues on Light of the World, near the intersection of West Bowles Avenue and South Kipling Parkway, which is building a permanent sanctuary next to its current facility, where parishioners have been worshiping for the last 35 years. (Seth A. McConnell, YourHub)

Construction on the new sanctuary began in January and should be complete by late December. The new worship area will hold approximately 1,300 people, roughly double what the church can support in its current state.

The room that currently serves as the place of worship will be used for several different events such as parish dances, lecture series, theater presentations and overflow rooms for Christmas and Easter masses. It cost $6.5 million for the new building and Pavlakovich said the congregation will pay for the structure. He said the church needed $3 million in hand before starting the project and they were able to raise that in "record time."

"This is really a great community. They've stepped it up on many levels," he said.

Parishioner Joy Jaeger said when she first came to Light of the World eight years ago, it didn't appear like any Catholic church she was used to, but she quickly realized it was only incomplete.

She said the congregation is excited to get in the new building.

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Light of the World Church building permanent sanctuary