"IT'S A RECONFIGURATION BOOM," IS HOW MONSIGNOR CONRAD KRAUS, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF WORSHIP FOR THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF ERIE, PA., DESCRIBED THE BUILDING AND EXPANSION OF CHURCHES IN THE DIOCESE.

"It's a reconfiguration boom," is how Monsignor Conrad Kraus, director of the office of worship for the Catholic Diocese of Erie, Pa., described the building and expansion of churches in the diocese. In the past three years, two new churches -- the Church of the Beloved Disciple in Grove City, Pa., and a combined church at Edinboro University, Pa., for the campus and town -- have been built. And St. Michael Church in Greenville, Pa., underwent extensive expansion and remodeling. "It's been 20 years since we've had anything like this," Monsignor Kraus said. "It was very exciting and a banner year," he said of the construction. The reasons are practical. "Single-priest parishes are the trend. There is a shortage of priests," he said. Churches must be able to accommodate more people at fewer Masses.