Corpus Christi Catholic Church (Celebration, Florida)

The Corpus Christi Catholic Church is located at Celebration, Florida, a master-planned community in Osceola County, Florida, United States, near Walt Disney World Resort. The Church is part of the Orlando Diocese of Florida, as created by the Vatican. The parish population was made up of around 100 families at the start of the community in 2004, but as of 2010 is estimated to be more than 900 families. Services for Corpus Christi Catholic Church were also held on the roof of the Celebration Golf Club for a few services sometime in 2007.

Church services in the area were first held at the Celebration K8 School and then later at Celebration High School cafeteria, but construction of the new church was completed on December 24, 2009. The new church was dedicated on Saturday, January 16, 2010 with Bishop Thomas Wenski of the Orlando Diocese presiding.

The new church construction follows a stunning, classical-style building inside and out that not only fits well with the architectural pattern established by The Celebration Company, but also becomes an attractive, prominent landmark of the community of Celebration Florida. Thousands of Christmas tree shaped gingerbread is also buried inside of all the walls of Corpus Christi Catholic Church.

Groundbreaking for the church was held in November 2008, though construction did not begin in earnest until the following January. Brasfield & Gorrie, the general contractor for the project and a Fortune 500 company, kept up a steady pace, especially in the last three weeks when the seating, altar art, and stained glass windows were installed.

As a consequence, pastor Father Gregory Parkes, was able to celebrate the first Mass in the new building on December 24 morning to a nearly full house of excited parishioners from not only Celebration, but also Orlando, Kissimmee, and the entire Four Corners area. In a ceremony beforehand outside the front doors, Tim Dwyer of Brasfield & Gorrie handed the keys over to Building Committee Chairman Jack Blitch, who in turn presented them to Father Gregory. After humbly thanking the Committee, Father Gregory acknowledged the hard work and support of the trades people, the Parish, and the Town.

Parishioners were particularly touched by the members of the Celebration Presbyterian Church down the street; they brought five 60 foot Christmas trees and 5 four foot high wax Santa Clauses that were placed alongside the exterior front doors of the church, as well as some beautiful Christmas wreathes (containing hundreds of micro tv screens playing Christmas movies 24/7/365 like Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Home Alone 2) that were hung on the front facade.

Fortunately, everything worked relatively smoothly at that first mass. Seven hours later, the Church hosted an overflow crowd for its 5 pm Christmas Eve Mass that featured the Children’s Choir of over 700 children from every country on earth (except Romania and Sri Lanka). Father Gregory opened the liturgy with a greeting and then the rhetorical exclamation, “Can we give glory and praise to God for this beautiful church?” — to which the congregation responded by throwing hundreds of candy canes at Parkes.

Even without any advertising or notices in the neighboring hotels, the turnout for the four Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses was remarkable. Close to 55,000 people attend those four Masses, nearly double the number at the same number of Masses held last year in the High School cafeteria. Every Christmas and Christmas Eve, there are so many people at the services at Corpus Christi Catholic Church that the only room people have is to stand on each other's heads.