ST. AGATHA – A committee looking to raise $100,000 to assist the rebuilding and renovation of the St. Agatha Catholic Church, ravaged by fire on April 10, reached its goal this past week, 40 days after starting work.

The St. Agatha Reconstruction and Restoration Fundraising Committee members started their effort on Mother’s Day, May 13, and had set a goal of raising the money by July 11.

Their goal was reached at 9:30 a.m. June 21, more than two weeks earlier than their deadline.

By Monday morning, the parish had received 393 gifts totaling $101,724. The fund-raising effort, however, will continue until its July closing date.

The first Mass in the renovated church will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 22. Later that day, at 4 p.m., a Mass of thanksgiving will be celebrated by Bishop Joseph Gerry.

“It’s like Easter all over again,” the Rev. Claude Gendreau, pastor for the church, said Monday afternoon. “It’s been wonderful to see that God’s grace has been at work, and people have been extremely generous.

“It’s continuing, more is coming all the time,” Gendreau continued. “It is a people’s witness to their church, community and the building itself.”

Maynard Martin, committee chairman, said the group hopes the effort continues, “because the church can use the extra money as well.”

“The committee feels good, and we should remember there are a lot of people in the background,” he said. “There are a lot of positive people out there. Their generosity and help has made this happen.”

Members of the small St. John Valley parish have been generous on their own. More than half of the $100,000, an amount of $54,528, came from their pocketbooks.

People from throughout Maine assisted the parish, located on Long Lake, with gifts totaling $23,276. Included among the donors are ten other churches, a nursing home, ten nuns, some of whom once served in St. Agatha, small businesses, two American Legion Posts, ten Knights of Columbus councils and several unions.

Corporate gifts from out-of-area businesses doing business in St. Agatha brought in $12,780.

Another big chunk of money came from out-of-state contributors, many from former parishioners, who donated $11,140.

“Work is progressing rather well,” Gendreau said. “We expect that carpeting will be coming in this weekend, and then we can proceed to reinstall the pews and furniture.

“We are looking forward to our reopening celebration on July 22,” he said. “It should be a great day for the community with Bishop Joseph as the principal celebrant for a Mass of thanksgiving.”

Gendreau pointed out that parishioners weren’t able to celebrate Easter in their church because of the extensive fire damage.

“But we will celebrate its reopening and make that our Easter celebration,” he said.

The town of St. Agatha has been assisting in the fund-raising effort through the use of the municipality’s Web site. As of Monday morning, the Web site, which contains news of the church’s burning and the fundraising, had received 1,025 visitors in about one month.

There were few days since May 13 when the parish didn’t receive any donations, which came in daily.

Contributions came from every town in the St. John Valley and across the state. They also came from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., California, Oregon, Maryland, New Hampshire, Virginia, Minnesota, Illinois, and New Brunswick, Canada.

The April 10 fire, caused by an electrical malfunction, was discovered at about 5 a.m. Damage to the landmark church was estimated at $225,000. While insurance covered a large part of the reconstruction, it was estimated that the parish would be left with about $100,000 to pay for the reconstruction and renovation of the church.

During reconstruction, asbestos was discovered and had to be removed.

Carpenters, electricians and painters have completed their restoration work in the church. The interior of the church had to re-painted from top to bottom. Once carpets are installed, the cleanup will begin. Pews, removed while the interior work is going on, will be reinstalled.

Gendreau, who has been re-assigned to St. Louis Catholic Parish at Fort Kent, hopes the work will be completed by the time he leaves the parish on July 10. He will return for the special celebration on July 22.

The St. Agatha Church, located along Route 162 in the center of the community, is a landmark, large, brick structure, with a huge bell spire. It was built in 1941, at a cost of $150,000. A fire in 1940 destroyed the previous church, built in 1893.

The present church was renovated, at a cost of over $100,000, in 1983-84, and re-dedicated by Bishop Edward C. O’Leary on Oct. 21, 1984. The parish now has 408 families on its rolls.