BETTENDORF — Our Lady of Lourdes Parish has received a $4,500 grant from OCP (Oregon Catholic Press) through a parish grant program.
Mary Decker, choir director for the contemporary ensemble, applied for the grant, which had two parts.
The first is to purchase 805 Music Issue and Missals in large print. The second part is to purchase 350 song books for Lourdes Catholic School students for weekly Mass in the church.
“We first noticed the print (in the Music Issue) was smaller,” Decker said. “We are aging,” she laughed. The smaller print makes it a little harder for an aging population to read. Decker said a recent parish survey included comments about the small type in the books. She also notes that lighting at times isn’t the best in the church.
Because the new church year begins with Advent, Dec. 1, and books for 2013-14 have already been ordered, the large-print books will be ordered for Advent 2014. School song books will be ordered sooner than that.
The parish received notification of the grant at the end of October. Decker has to submit some additional paperwork and anticipates receiving the grant by the end of the year.
