A joyful crowd of parishioners, who were also celebrating their parish feast day — the Chair of St. Peter — filled a bright, ground-level reception hall to pray and celebrate the highly anticipated opening.

Created to accommodate the growing parish and school, the three-story building is located on Columbia’s bustling Assembly Street. It features classrooms, offices, multipurpose gathering space and a youth center. It is the fourth building for ministry on the historic campus, joining the Basilica, St. Peter School and the Cardinal Bernardin Center.

A testimony of faith

In 2009, the parish opened the Bernardin Center, named for Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who was baptized and confirmed at St. Peter. It is connected to the Basilica and holds all staff and clergy offices, as well as formal and informal meeting spaces. Just 10 years later, the building was bursting at the seams, and it was clear that the parish’s facilities needed to evolve to meet the growing and changing needs as it approached its bicentennial. 

Despite the challenges wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, parish leadership launched a capital campaign in 2020 whereby parishioners enthusiastically embraced the vision for expansion, prioritizing the construction of a new hall. By 2023, the parish was able to finalize designs. They waited out the post-pandemic fluctuation of construction costs then pressed on in faith and broke ground in January, 2024.

Now, in 2025, growth in St. Peter’s ministries continues. The Pope St. John Paul II Activity Center will accommodate youth and young adult outreach, adult education, and release overall pressure on the demands of the Bernardin Center. It will also be home to two full-time classrooms for the school, due to substantial growth in enrollment.

May God's Word echo

During the dedication, Bishop Fabre recalled St. John Paul II’s apostolic visit to St. Peter in 1987. The bishop reflected on the blessings enjoyed now because of those who worked in the past.

“May the Word of God always echo through these walls,” he said.

Alongside the bishop were parish clergy, including the Very Rev. Canon Gary S. Linsky, rector. 

Father Linsky reflected on the journey to this day, from casting the vision for expansion, to launching a capital campaign in the throes of the pandemic, and at last to the project’s fruition. He announced to wild applause that, once all of the pledges are redeemed, “this building will have opened having everything paid off, which is a nine million dollar miracle.”

Attendees heard from the project’s construction team, including lead architect Rich Spicer of Lambert Architecture and Dean Wilson, vice president at Hood Construction. Spicer has partnered with the parish for over 30 years to build and restore facilities, and Wilson is a graduate of St. Peter School. Father Linsky praised the team for their work. 

Immense gratitude

Eager to tour the building and see the work for themselves, attendees pressed forward and cheered as Bishop Fabre, assisted by children from the parish and school, cut a large yellow ribbon that was held by two of the day’s confirmandi.

Walking the halls after the ceremony, parishioners admired the building and talked about the ministries that will fill it.

Colleen Liu, parishioner and parent of two small children, said she was thrilled and “so grateful to have been a supporter of this project. We built this in faith as a part of St. Peter’s parish, and now our children will benefit from it too. God is so good.”

Father Linsky reflected on this milestone in the life of the Basilica.

“I have often thought it is easier to collect money than it is to build a community, but I think we here at St. Peter’s, we have done both,” he said. “We have built a community and we’ve built an edifice worthy of the Church and the people of God. And for that, I am immensely grateful.”