A Ground Breaking Day
A historic day in the life of St. Gregory Parish occurred on 11 May 1969 when ground was broken for the building of a new church. In just two years from its founding, the parish was at the point where it could look forward to having its own place of worship. The auditorium of St. Gregory Separate School would be used as a church in the meantime.
Architecture
The Building Committee had selected John Lingwood of Kitchener as the architect and the George Schiedel Company as the General Contractors. The architecture of the building would best be described as belonging to the Neo Brutalist style with one main stained glass window in the nave of the church and narrow soaring windows accenting the sanctuary. Brown brick would be used throughout the structure. Seating capacity would be approximately 530 people.
A New Church is Dedicated & First Mass Celebrated
On 20 December 1969, Bishop Ryan dedicated St. Gregory Church, assisted by Fathers Reilly and Grace. Also present was the Reverend Francis Cavanaugh O.S.A., who had in 1967 accepted the commitment as Provincial of the Augustinians to staff the parish. The first Christmas Mass was celebrated on 25 December 1969.
Church Statuary
On Sunday 31 May 1981, a new statue of the Blessed Virgin under the title of OUR LADY OF GRACE (an Augustinian Patronage) was dedicated. Donations secured for the statue by the Legion of Mary. Carved out of Linden wood by Mr. Achim Klaas of Rockton,Ontario.
In June of 1982 an original carved crucifix, done by the same artesian in Linden wood was placed in the sanctuary of our church. This was a gift of George and Lou Egoff.
In the mid eighties the same artesian created the Holy Family statue made from the same Linden wood. The sanctuary was now framed with the Blessed Mother statue on one side and the Holy Family statue on the other and the suffering Jesus on the Cross in the center. January of 1983, the Augustinian priests and brothers of St. Gregory Parish placed in the narthex of the Parish Church, a statue of St. Augustine, the founder of their religious order.
Church Facilities
The church originally consisted of the narthex, nave, sanctuary, several small offices, a second floor meeting space with adjoining kitchen and washroom facilities. In the Fall of 1985 the Parish Council began discussing the idea of expanding the facilities at St. Gregory’s to house a need for meeting rooms and storage facilities. All committees were asked for their input on the kinds of needs which needed attention. Thus, began the process of expanding St. Gregory’s Parish to include a hall facility. In the late 80’s a project was undertaken to expand the campus of Saint Gregory the Great Parish with the addition of a parish center. This two floor multi-use facility would include storage rooms, washrooms and a fully equipped commercial kitchen.
Parish Boundaries
The parish has as its Northern boundary highway 401 (The MacDonald-Cartier Freeway) linking Montreal and Toronto with Windsor and Detroit. The Western boundary is the Waterloo-Oxford County Line which also serves as the boundary of Hamilton and London Dioceses. The Southern boundary is the Waterloo-Brant County Line. The Eastern boundary is the Grand River cutting through the center of Galt. In addition to serving half of Galt, the towns of Ayr, Blair, and Glen Morris are also within the parish boundaries which cover about 130 square miles.