Chapel One reopens following renovation Published Sept. 15, 2010 By Staff Sgt. Alesia D. Goosic 18th Wing Public Affairs KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Kadena's Chapel One will once again be open and filled with the sounds of Sunday morning services Sept. 19 after being closed for about two years. The chapel was closed two years ago due to safety concerns and underwent renovations starting January 2010. The renovations, designed to improve the safety and functionality of the chapel, took three months and over one million dollars to complete and have brought a much-needed chapel back to Team Kadena. "Chapel One has really been missed on the base," said 18th Wing Chaplain (Col.) Pat McCain. "You can imagine how congregations have been displaced. They've met in the other two chapels, in the base theater, and even in the high school. They've had to move from place to place. They've hung in there, but it's been challenging." The reopening of Chapel One, which can seat about 500 people, will give Team Kadena considerably more space to worship and provide a means for the chaplains to reach a larger audience with each service. "Now we'll have room to grow," Chaplain McCain said. "We only have a certain amount of chaplains so by providing a bigger space it allows the chaplains to impact more lives at one time rather than have to repeat that several times in smaller spaces." One group that will greatly benefit from the chapel reopening is those of Catholic faith. "Our Catholic masses will be migrating to Chapel One," Chaplain McCain said. "Chapel One will now be the center for all of our Catholic activities on base and this will be really nice for our Catholic folks because they'll know that for anything Catholic, they can go to Chapel One." According to Chaplain (Capt.) David Kruse, Kadena's only Catholic chaplain, the reopening of Chapel One and having all the Catholic services in one location will provide a more customer friendly center of ministry outreach to the base populace, enable the continuing growth of the faith community and allow for better stewardship or resources. "Chapel One reopening will enable the Catholic Faith Community to come together as one body; as one family," Father Kruse said. The Catholic community is not the only ones benefiting from the reopening of Chapel One. The contemporary Protestant service will also move to Chapel One and will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. Other Protestant services will continue to be held at Chapels Two and Three. For more information on times and locations of chapel services, go to http://kadenachapel.org. Of course, none of these changes would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the 18th Contracting Squadron and 718th Civil Engineer Squadron. "The renovation on Chapel One has been substantial," said Capt. Bennet Burton, 18th Contracting Squadron contracting officer. "This contract repaired the interior and exterior portions of the roof which were causing the ceiling to erode and fall. Additionally, the fire system, electrical system, and water piping were brought back into standards." Although a big portion of the renovations were safety related, there were also some cosmetic updates to modernize the chapel. "The kitchen was expanded to provide additional space for food preparation along with an aesthetic upgrade of new cabinets and counter-tops," Capt. Burton said. "Throughout the Chapel you will also see improvements in carpeting, wall color, and drastic upgrades to the bathrooms." According to Capt. Burton, the renovation was completed three months ahead of schedule on Aug. 27, due to the joint effort of the 18 CONS and 718 CES. Chaplain McCain welcomes everyone out to enjoy the new and improved Chapel One at the first service Sunday and at the ribbon cutting ceremony. "Brig. Gen. Ken Wilsbach, 18th Wing commander, and Team Kadena will celebrate the reopening of Chapel One with a brief ribbon cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m., Oct. 3," Chaplain McCain said. "Everyone is invited to the event which will be followed by a free community barbecue and fair until 2:30 p.m."