NEW CHURCH RISES FROM QUAKE RUBBLE : MAHONY TO DEDICATE CHURCH CLOSED BY QUAKE.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer

The Rev. Robert McNamara, pastor of St. John Eudes Catholic Church, jokes that the Northridge Earthquake was a case of divine intervention that hastened plans to remodel and expand his parish's place of worship.

``We were developing this plan for the church a year before the earthquake,'' he said. ``What really happened is that God decided the insurance company should help us out with our plan, and in his infinite wisdom, he created a rumble.''

That rumble of Jan. 17, 1994, separated the walls of the church from its ceiling and foundation, leaving the building red-tagged and forcing parishioners to move their prayer services into a giant Hershey-Kiss-shaped tent pitched nearby.

Friday night, 2-1/2 years later, McNamara presided over the very last service in the tent, attended by some 800 members of his flock. Afterward, he was to lead a procession of worshipers to the entrance of their redesigned and reconstructed church next door - at the corner of Mason Avenue and Lassen Street - for an all-night prayer vigil outside.

This morning, the refurbished building is to be unlocked and formally dedicated in a two-hour ritual-filled Mass officiated by Cardinal Roger Mahony.

``It's only a building now. It's not a church until he (Mahony) finishes with it,'' McNamara said earlier this week. ``We were camping out in our desert for 2-1/2 years, and now we're coming back into our promised land.''

Completion of the $5.3 million project, most of it financed with money pledged by worshipers, marks a major turning point for the 33-year-old parish encompassing more than 2,700 Roman Catholic families in the Chatsworth area, the priest said.

Although a sense of excitement rippled through the tent just before Friday night's service, many parishioners expressed mixed emotions about leaving the place that has become the center of their spiritual life.

``It's more traumatic leaving here than having the church break down in the earthquake, said Angela Maria Guerrero, an 18-year member of the church. ``There was such a sense of unity here.''

Jesus Santiago, leader of the church's Spanish prayer group, said the tent has become ``like a home.''

``But it's exciting in the meantime, because the new church, she's so beautiful,'' Santiago beamed. ``It's going to be No. 1 in the Valley.''

St. John Eudes, named for a 17th century French priest canonized in 1936, is one of several Los Angeles-area churches renovated and dedicated since the Northridge Quake, said archdiocese spokesman the Rev. Gregory Coiro.

In addition to structural repairs and reinforcements, the Chatsworth project incorporated several new additions to the church, including a social hall topped with a 65-foot-tall steeple, a Blessed Sacrament Chapel, a new entryway and an outdoor plaza.

Overall, some 20,000 square feet of interior space have been added to the church complex, McNamara said.

There also have been a number of interior design changes. The baptismal fountain is now at the entrance of the church, and the altar has been thrust to the center of the sanctuary, surrounded by pews in a kind of theater-in-the-round configuration.

``It puts the altar, which is the focus of our attention during the Mass, closer to more people than before,'' McNamara said. ``We're trying to make statements about what the church is about.''

The rebuilt church will seat more than 1,000 parishioners, compared with the 850 seating capacity of the tent - a cramped, acoustically poor structure that often was too hot in winter and too cold in summer.

Yet, members of the parish say they have mixed emotions about leaving their modest, temporary quarters.

``We're going to be saying goodbye to some memories here,'' said Sharon Suttles, the church's religious education director. ``We had a daughter who was married here. We had a daughter who made her confirmation in the tent.''

In all, the tent was the scene of 44 weddings, 148 funerals, 261 baptisms and countless Masses and sermons, McNamara said.

``For a lot of people in the community, the tent is all they've known because they've just joined in the last couple of years,'' added the church deacon, Chet Holly.

The Rites of Dedication will begin at 10 a.m. today, when Mahony takes the church keys from the contractor and hands them to McNamara, who will unlock and open the doors, leading parishioners inside.

The two-hour Mass will include special blessings and songs, the sprinkling of holy water, the burning of incense and the anointing of the new altar and walls of the church with oil.

``The symbolism of all that is powerful for us,'' McNamara said.

As for the tent, it likely will be taken down next week and the vacant space eventually will serve as a parking lot.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Denise Lenack, left, and Anjela Maria Guerrer o carry a statue of Mary at Friday's vigil.

John Lazar/Special to the Daily News

(2) The Rev. Robert McNamara says the remodeled St. John Eudes Catholic Church in Chatsworth is a result of divine intervention.

Terri Thuente/Daily News