Liturgical Design and Furnishings for Historic Savannah Cathedral Featured at CCFM 2015

We will be attending the Conference for Catholic Facility Management on May 11-12, 2015 in Savannah, GA, where we will have a booth (#16) showcasing information about our company and local projects.

The event will take place at the Hyatt Regency at 2 West Bay Street, and we will be exhibiting Monday from 3:30-6:30 PM and Tuesday from 11-1:30 PM. A free tour of the Savannah Cathedral will be held on Tuesday, May 12th, from 9:30 to 10:15 AM.

Rolf has been a long-time sponsor of this event, whose purpose is to promote the ministry of liturgical education, design, restoration and new worship and related environments.

We will be featuring our work on the historic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, GA, and St. Joseph Catholic Church in Macon, GA.

During the tour of the Savannah Cathedral, you will be able to see our designs and execution of the space, liturgical furniture and appointments (including altar, ambo, tabernacle, baptismal font, ambry, confessional in the side altar of St. Joseph and the design of the Crucifix for the side altar), along with the lighting system. We spent two wonderful years collaborating with Bishop Emeritus Boland and the previous Rector, Monsignor William O'Neill, with the requirement to stay true to the architectural and liturgical designs of the 1800s while bringing the space into the Vatican II guidelines.

The front of the Cathedral's main altar is inscribed with the Latin phrase, "Beati Qui Ad Cenam Agni Vocati Sunt". This translates to "Blessed are they who are called to the banquet of the Lamb," a quotation from Revelation 19:9.  This 9,000 pound altar was carved in white Carrara marble.  The priests and Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah donated the altar to the Cathedral.

The present baptismal font was designed to match the panels of the front of the main altar and raredos, which were cast in the 1700s.  Molds were made of the raredos design and sent to Carrara, Italy, to be applied to the baptismal font that was installed during the renovations in 2000.  The font weighs 8,000 pounds and is shaped in an octagon, as the number eight represents rebirth or resurrection and is the essence of the Sacrament of Baptism.  The Latin inscription carved in the font translates to: “He who sent me to baptize with water, he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit".

The Cathedral’s pulpit with carvings of images of the Evangelists is a replica of one destroyed by an arsonist on October 7, 2003. 

In renovations that took place in 2000, Monsignor William O'Neill had the side altar fitted with bronze doors and inlaid granite from Poland to create the ambry.

At Saint Joseph's in Macon, GA, we developed the education and design program for the holistic restoration while working with and supervising local craftsmen and artists. This included space formation, new liturgical furniture, shrine murals, vaulted murals of the Evangelists, priceless stained glass restoration, and an intensely Catholic decoration and color scheme, as well as a complete new lighting system.  This project took five years and is considered one of the most complete restoration and liturgical updates in the South.

Stop by our Booth #16 and grab a free promotional gift and company brochure.

See you there!