Press Releases
King Richard’s Liturgical Design and Contracting Safely Removes Items from Church in Strawn, Illinois.
Strawn, Illinois— 10/10/2024 — In September 2024, St. Rose Catholic Church in Strawn, Illinois, permanently closed, prompting the church to enlist King Richard’s for the sensitive removal of significant liturgical items. These included removals of their cherished liturgical Items. Pieces that were removed included an Altar of Sacrifice, a Side Altar, the Crucifix, Altar Rail, [...]
Watertown New York Convent Removal and Purchase of Liturgical Items.
Watertown, New York— October 9, 2024 — King Richard’s was tasked this past September to remove all liturgical items from the recently closed Sisters of St. Joseph convent in Watertown, New York, following their move to a new location in September. The collection encompassed a range of significant religious artifacts, including the sanctuary’s stained-glass windows, [...]
King Richard’s creates and installs beautiful custom wood altar of sacrifice for St. James Catholic Church in Rockford, Illinois.
Project #: P-P-2049 Location: Rockford, Illinois Project Type: Liturgical design, Altar of Sacrifice Date: September 2024
King Richard’s delivers on designing, creating and installing matching set of sanctuary pieces for St. Ann Parish in Haines City, Florida.
Project #: P-2048 Location: Haines City, Florida Project Type: Sanctuary Set, Altar of Sacrifice, Altar or Repose, Ambo, Furniture, Baptismal [...]
King Richard’s artists hand-carved beautiful baptismal font with angels for Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Project #: P-2047 Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan Project Type: Baptismal Font Date: September 2024
King Richard’s Great Lakes Director of Business Development Michael Barone attends The Solemn Mass of Dedication of the Newly Updated Altar of Sacrifice for St. Luke’s Church in Nicholasville, KY.
Project# P-2044 Location: Nicholasville, KY Project Type: Reredos Renovation, Altar of Sacrifice, Ambo and Pedestal Creation Date: July 2024
Detroit Catholic Central High School Dedicates State of the Art Stem Building Including Blessings of King Richard’s Liturgical Pieces.
Detroit, Michigan— August 13, 2024 — Today at the Detroit Catholic High School, faculty, students, alumni and their friends and family dedicated and celebrated their new 57,000 square foot Stem education building named also The George and Mary Turek Hall of Science. The remarkable building contains a competitive robotics space, an aviation flight school, computer [...]
Beautiful hand carved heirloom quality statue of Our Lady of the Buckeyes was created for the St Thomas More Newman Center on The Ohio State University Campus.
Project #: P-2042 Location: Columbus, Ohio Project Type: Statue Design and Creation Date: April 26, 2024
Brand new wood gold painted tabernacle designed and created for St. Mary’s in Hagertown, Maryland.
Project #: P-2040 Location: Hagerstown, Maryland Project Type: Altar ware, Tabernacle, Liturgical Design Date: July 2023
Frederick, Maryland – The Blessing of the Antique Stained Glass Windows at St. John Evangelist Church
The Blessing of the Antique Stained Glass Windows at St. John Evangelist Church
Frederick, Maryland— September 8, 2023 — A new set of stained-glass windows was blessed on Sunday September 8, 2023 at St. John’s Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland on its 260th anniversary. King Richard’s Liturgical Design and Contracting rescued the stained-glass windows from a [...]
New 3.5 Foot Monstrance from KR Arrives in its New Home.
Project #: P-2033 Location: Gastonia, North Carolina Project Type: Altar ware, Monstrance Date: January 2023
King Richard’s Liturgical Design & Contracting, is brought in to manage the restoration and removal of a 19th century reredos which includes six tons of marble and mosaics for Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Ayer Mansion in Boston.
Project #: P-2031 Location: Boston, MA Project Type: Removal, Reredos Date: November 2021
Statue from KR travels to Convocation in Charlotte, NC.
Project #: P-2023 Location: Charlotte, North Carolina Project Type: Statuary
The Citizen’s Voice – Scranton, PA
Relics from shuttered churches get new life BY JACOB SEIBEL, STAFF WRITER Published: March 8, 2015
A third-generation parishioner stood outside of what remains of the revered Holy Trinity Lithuanian Church in Wilkes-Barre and sighed.
Looking at what were mostly empty windowpanes, Mary Anne Revit recalled what she missed most about the ornate monument known as “the gem on [...]
Winfield parish rescues church’s old frames for a picture-perfect ending
Winfield parish rescues church’s old frames for a picture-perfect ending
Fourteen historic frames have been returned to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Winfield and once again hold paintings of the Stations of the Cross.
The handmade frames, believed to date to the 19th century, were sold by the church during a restoration seven years ago [...]
Berkshire religious items find a new home
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JoAnn at the altar in Mississippi
JoAnn Hauge of Lanesboro was excited when she opened the Feb. 26, 2010 copy of The Catholic Observer.
“I was thrilled to see the altar from my home parish was featured and was now being used in a parish in Mississippi,†she said.
JoAnn, a native of Adams, [...]
King Richard’s Religious Artifacts Retrieval and Restoration: Antique Religious Items
By Shawn Tribe
Tuesday, January 9th, 2007
It’s always with bitter-sweetness that one sees sites such as these; bitter because of the fact that they’ve been removed from churches that likely rid themselves of these beautiful bits of our heritage, but sweet insofar as there is hope to reclaim them again to such use.
A reader sent in [...]
King Richard’s Adds Well-Respected Liturgical Designer to Staff
King Richard’s Adds Well-Respected Liturgical Designer to Staff
Atlanta, October 18th, 2010
Los Angeles based liturgical designer and consultant Rhett Judice has joined King Richard’s liturgical Design & Contracting as the firm’s first full-time, in-house designer. He will travel to King Richard’s offices in Atlanta and Dallas, and work with the company’s national and international customers, providing [...]
The Most Beautiful Adoration Chapel In America?
By Larry and Mary Sue Eck
Photos by Denis Kubat
The pictures, good as they are, don’t do it justice. You really DO have to be there.
People walk through the doors and gasp. Some burst into tears. Most stand awestruck. Front and center is the Monstrance and it is beautiful. Mary stands on one side and Joseph, [...]
‘A dream come true’
‘A dream come true’
By Gretchen R. Crowe
Day turned into night as parishioners of St. Theresa Parish in Ashburn celebrated the dedication of their new spiritual home last week.
Gathered around the shiny bronze doors of the brick and stone structure, hundreds of parishioners – hoods up and umbrellas out – watched as Arlington Bishop Paul S. [...]
Saint Aloysius Parish…reborn!
Saint Aloysius Parish…reborn!
By Hugh McNichol
Part of Gray’s Ferry in Dixie!
Growing up in Gray’s Ferry had its great spiritual benefits. Living within a cluster of 3 parishes, all within walking distance made going to Sunday Mass an easily attainable ritual. With Saint Gabriel Church, King of Peace Church and Saint Aloysius Church all within the boundaries [...]
A Generous Gift
A Generous Gift
Submitted by Fr. Eugene Harrison
Fr. Richard Thibodeau, pastor of St. Alphonsus Parish, was pleased to receive and bless a new, uniquely designed baptismal font in St. Mary’s Assumption Church in New Orleans on December 2. The font was commissioned by anonymous donors and reflects the style in which St. Mary’s is constructed. Executed [...]
Historic bells to ring in new church
Historic bells to ring in new church
By Joanne Glamm
A crane lifts more than a ton of century-old metal away from a brick enclosure, lowering the historic sound maker to the ground.
The process is repeated to bring two more bells down to a cement landing outside St. Joseph Catholic Church in northeast Le Mars.
The bells are [...]
Trucks haul off church memories
Trucks haul off church memories
By Steve Barnes
WATERVLIET — As twilight settled on Saturday night, workers from an Atlanta religious artifacts company trundled a pair of life-size statues from the former St. Patrick’s Church.
Through the gloom beneath the 137-foot bell tower, they looked to be Mary and Joseph, each holding a baby. Surrounded by the frame [...]
St. Stephen church to be razed
St. Stephen church to be razed
Former parish site will serve spiritual, educational and social needs of neighborhood
SOUTH BEND – The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has announced that St. Stephen Church, 1102 W. Thomas St., South Bend, will be razed this month. However, the former parish site consisting of about two acres will continue to [...]
Far away, treasures of faith resurrected
Far away, treasures of faith resurrected
By Dennis Shaughnessey
LOWELL – A glimpse through the glass doors at the Sacred Heart Church on Moore Street reveals and empty sanctuary, several broken church pews, sawdust, rubble and little else. Former parishioners of the church, which closed its doors in 2004, have been dispersed to other churches in and [...]
St. Anne stained glass to be sold off
St. Anne stained glass to be sold off
By Shawn Boburg
LAWRENCE – Even before yesterday, the interior of the century-old St. Anne Church didn’t see much light, only sprinkles of color from the 12 stained glass windows that ran high along its curved apse.
One by one, those last radiant panes were removed yesterday and replaced with [...]
Baltic, Connecticut Church Gets a Major Altar-ation
By Ted Mann
The Day of New London
Sprague — Frank Caron stood near the sanctuary of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church last Tuesday afternoon. The pounding of hammers was deafening, the floor was dusty and strewn with tools, but he was smiling.
“It’s beautiful,” said Caron, 77, a lifelong member of the church. “No [...]
Saints of the Americas Celebrated in Peoria
Saints of the Americas Celebrated in Peoria
By Jack Wintz, O. F. M.
About a year ago, Sacred Heart Church in downtown Peoria, Illinois, reopened its doors after an 11-month renovation that dramatically changed its artistic appearance. Amazingly, almost everybody likes the new look.
Perhaps the most magnificent and unique features of the new church is the 29 [...]
St. Benedict’s Gives Church Fresh Anniversary Look
St. Benedict’s Gives Church Fresh Anniversary Look
By Stephen O’Kane
JOHNS CREEK – It was only four months ago that the interior of St. Benedict Church did not look much like a sanctuary at all. Extensive scaffolding had replaced the pews and the usual colorful decor of the church was swapped for bare walls and floors.
On Saturday, [...]
Rescuing, Restoring, Recirculating
Resucing, Restoring, Recirculating
ATLANTA – Rick Lair is a man on a mission. He drives 100,000 miles a year, buying, selling and delivering religious artifacts, in his quest to make sure they find the appropriate new home.
For more than a decade, his business, King Richard’s Religious Artifacts, has helped churches, schools, convents, hospitals and monasteries in [...]
Disposing of Catholic Sacred Articles on Ebay
Dispoing of Catholic Sacred Articles on Ebay
By Hugh McNichol
As a Catholic Church, we need to be quite sensitive about the disposition of sacred articles that are no longer being used in our parishes.
A trend developing is finding Catholic sacred articles on places such as E-Bay or other online salvage sites. The real problem with [...]
Glorious renewal of God’s house
Glorious renewal of God’s house
By Ann Carey
After decades of sparseness, new church construction and renovations reconnect with symbols and styles of the past
When the Second Vatican Council closed in 1965, a new liturgical movement swept the country that stressed the function of a church over its design. Accordingly, many of the churches built after Vatican [...]
Artifacts from St. John Cantius in Northampton serving new purpo
Artifacts from St. John Cantius in Northampton serving new purposes
By Chad Cain
NORTHAMPTON – St. John Cantius parish may have closed more than two years ago, but its spirit lives on via religious artifacts that have found homes in other Catholic churches, some of them hundreds of miles away.
An altar was removed Tuesday and hoisted onto [...]
New baptismal font dedicated at St. Mary’s Assumption
New baptismal font dedicated at St. Mary’s Assumption
By Beth Donze
On Dec. 2, Redemptorist Father Richard Thibodeau, pastor of St. Mary’s Assumption Church, blessed a new baptismal font commissioned by anonymous donors and crafted in Italy. The font mirrors the 1858 church’s German baroque style and incorporates numerous elements of its architecture. For example, the Carrera [...]
A church is reborn in Peoria
A church is reborn in Peoria
By Toni Cashnelli
The view from the choir loft at the renovated Sacred Heart Church.
Photo by Rick Lair
The goal of the renovation of Sacred Heart was a simple one:
“Fr. Larry wanted to make it look like a church again,” says Rick Lair, whose company, King Richard’s Religious Artifacts, played a major [...]
Annunciation Parish transforms school into church
Annunciation Parish transforms school into church
By Terry Dickson
KILN – From the outside, Annunciation School resembles your typical school building.
However, take one step inside and you will hardly believe your eyes at the transformation that has occurred, as what once was an average, run of the mill gymnasium has become a beautiful worship space for Annunciation [...]
St. Joseph in Charleston prepares for renovation of Pews
St. Joseph in Charleston Prepares for Renovation of Pews
By Amy Wise Taylor – The Catholic Miscellany
Charleston – St. Joseph Church will begin some long-planned interior renovations in July.
Father Gabriel J. Smith, pastor, said they are taking out their old pews and installing new ones. The process is expected to take about six weeks, but hinges [...]
Diocesan feast day chosen
Diocesan feast day chosen
By Dan McWilliams
Visitors to the Chancery office in Knoxville now have a tangible reminder of the newly designated diocesan feast day.
Workers in late August installed next to the front doors of the building a marble statue of the Blessed Virgin presenting the baby Jesus to the world. Inscribed beneath the statue [...]
Catholic treasures … returned to Catholic Churches!
Catholic treasures … returned to Catholic Churches!
As a Catholic Church, we need to be quite sensitive about the disposition of sacred articles that are no longer being used in our parishes. A trend developing is finding Catholic sacred articles on places such as E-Bay or other online salvage sites. The real problem with these sites [...]
New altar arrives from overseas
New altar arrives from overseas
By Jerry Buxton
Sewerd — The waiting was over at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. Father Rene Guesnier expected the new altar for St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church to arrive around 9:30, so it was not very late.
The new white marble altar arrived in a Ryder truck, brought all the way from King Richard’s [...]
Building a church … lets buy back our Catholic heritage!
Building a church … lets buy back our Catholic heritage!
A marble Angel of the Lord (1 of 2 angels)salvaged from the former Saint Aloysius Church in Philadelphia, being held hostage by King Richard’s Religious Antiques.Throughout the United States, there was a terrible practice of designing our Catholic Churches as “multi-purpose “buildings. Often such a designation [...]
Stained glass
Stained glass “a way of sharing the faith”
By Leslie Renken
No one knows who made the first stained glass windows. Some of the earliest examples date to the first century, A.D.
And while the materials have improved since then, the tools used by stained glass artists have changed very little.
“We had an artist once who told me [...]
Recycled church artifacts become financial blessing
Recycled church artifacts become financial blessing
By Richard Robbins
Looking for a new processional cross for the chapel at the Geibel Junior-Senior High School, the Rev. Bob Lubic discovered a treasure trove of significant religious items, including stained glass windows, altar furnishings and a tabernacle.
“I was thrilled,” Lubic said. As school chaplain, Lubic has spearheaded the renovation [...]
All Souls Dedicates New Church
All Souls Dedicates New Church
By Betty Ann Weber
Sanford’s All Souls Church was 121 years in the making. On August 15th, parishioners honored that past and celebrated their future by dedicated a new church building for the historic parish. History records a trio of churches in Sanford bearing the name of All Souls. The first [...]
When Churches Close
When Churches Close
By Joseph Pronechan
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — When some churches were closed and their interiors sold, confessionals with donor plaques still on them turned up as telephone booths in an eatery. Donors’ relatives were understandably upset.
While objects from dismantled churches still appear on eBay and at antique dealers to some degree, most fine religious art, [...]
As City Parishes Close, Their Artifacts Find new Life in the Sub
As City Parishes Close, Their Artifacts Find New Life in the Suburbs
By Michael Alison Chandler
For the first 20 years of his life, The Rev. William P. Saunders recited the Lord’s Prayer in a church intended to be a Catholic school gymnasium. Although surrounded by cold, cinder-block walls, he found solace in the hand-carved crucifix and [...]
Parishioner fundraisers help pay for upgrades, renovations
Claire Pilon – Canada
Parishioners of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Chelmsford gathered on the weekend to celebrate the dedication of the end of renovations and restoration to the interior of their church.
The Celebration of the Eucharist was presided over by the Bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste Marie, Monsignor Jean-Louis Plouffe.
The church was [...]
Need a griffin?
By Mary Daniels
As an environmental contractor who does asbestos and lead paint removal for demolition cmopanies, Rick Lair came across countless architectural artifacts–from griffins and North Wind faces to stained glass and bronze radiator covers–that were being neglected or destroyed.
Lair began salvaging and storing these historical pieces in his warehouse, garage, attic, basement and [...]
Glorious Renewal of God’s House
Glorious renewal of God’s House
After decades of sparseness, new church construction and renovations reconnect with symbols and styles of the past.
By Ann Carey – Huntington, Indiana
When the Second Vatican Council closed in 1965, a new liturgical movement swept the country that stressed the function of a church over its design. Accordingly, [...]
Church artifacts migrate
Church artifacts migrate
By The Washington Times Sunday – June 11,2006
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The altar was old. It was ornate. And it was on the gambling floor of the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. The Rev. James Lang was startled when he saw it there. Father Lang, vicar of parishes for the Roman Catholic [...]
Niche Market Success
Brookhaven Buzz
Atlanta, GA
Tim Kelly
Rick Lair, owner of King Richard’s Religious Artifacts, is a man on a mission. He drives 100,000 miles a year buying, selling and delivering religious artifacts to churches, religious organizations and certain individuals. For more than a decade, Rick has helped churches, schools, convents, hospitals and monasteries across America as well [...]
Crews salvage Windows to History
By Terry Wilson – Chicago, IL
Tribune Staff Writer
Inside the hull of a North Side church that looked as if it had been ground zero for a fairly large bomb, a small crew of workers chiseled stone Saturday to remove and save valuable stained-glass windows.
Working in Buena Memorial Presbyterian Church, 4301 N. Sheridan Rd., the workers [...]
Saving Another Historic Theater
King Richard’s, LTD., a Chicago-based architectural salvage firm, continues its efforts to rescue valuable artifacts from the wrecking ball. In a recent one-week span, the NADC member completed three salvage operations in Chicago on structures built in the early part of the century.
King Richard’s took advantage of an unseasonably warm spring week to mobilize its [...]
New life is found for Catholic church artifacts
By Craig Smith, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, December 5, 2011
As a seminarian, the Rev. Joseph McCaffrey knelt before a tabernacle in the chapel at Mercy Hospital, where his mother was being treated for a brain tumor, and prayed for her recovery.
Later, when he was named pastor of Ss. John and Paul Church in Marshall, he noticed [...]