St. George’s Parish in Post Falls builds toward the future

Father Sleeva Raju Madanu joyfully greets parishioners on the Parish Center tour. About 100 people came to see the new building after the two morning Masses on Feb. 16. (Courtesy Photo/Randal Ormond)

By Lisa Ormond and Debbie Ellis

for the ICR

POST FALLS—Spirits were high despite freezing temperatures as more than 100 St. George’s parishioners gathered in mid-February for their first look inside the church’s 14,000-square-foot parish center, currently under construction. Led by Father Sleeva Madanu and members of the building committee, the tours offered a powerful glimpse into the parish’s future — a space designed to deepen faith, foster community, and support the growing needs of the community.

“The construction is moving along at a good clip, and we hope to have the building operational by fall of this year,” said St. George parishioner and Construction Manager Bob Ellis, who is overseeing the $4.8 million project.

“From the street, the building didn’t look that big, and people were having difficulties envisioning how the Center was going to look and work for all the Parish ministries,” said Father Sleeva Raju Madanu, pastor of St. George’s Parish.

“This tour was the answer to allow our families to get excited about the progress since some expressed concern about the slow project start,” Father Madanu said.

Father Madanu and committee members led personalized tours of the two-story building after both morning Masses, walking room by room to help the congregation visualize what they were seeing. 

“It was a freezing cold day, but the love and warmth that arose from everyone’s smiles made it such a blessed moment in our parish’s history. I’ll never forget it,” Madanu recalled.

Hope and excitement radiated from tour participants, some remarking, “Wow! It’s so much bigger than it looks!” and “Look at all the storage!”

“Love the new bathrooms and can’t wait for the elevator to work!” said another. In the current parish center, people must traverse steep stairs to access activities, the kitchen area, bathrooms and meeting rooms.

Father Madanu was full of delight as he shared details about the Adoration chapel, a late design addition to the new parish center. The St. George’s parish pastor said his parishioners are “looking forward to having a greater intimacy” with the Lord.

“People seemed hungry to spend more time with God, and there was clearly a growing desire to address how to meet this need,” he commented. “I asked if there was any way we could add an Adoration chapel into the design, and we were able to reconfigure what was to be my office space into the new Adoration chapel.”

Lucy Voehl, with her husband and two children, braved the weather to take a closer look at the building’s interior.

“It’s amazing!” she said. “But I have to say, I’m most excited about the Adoration Chapel that will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m a busy mom, and you need to ground yourself in Jesus.”

The resounding tour highlight was the large open gathering hall, where bookshelves, surrounded by a rock fireplace, will house the church’s library collection. The room will also have tables and seating for approximately 255 people. It will house a new kitchen to support events and community meals, including funeral lunches and wedding receptions.

“As Catholics, we want to develop deeper relationships with each other while growing in our faith together. What we see of fellowship in the Bible is God’s people working and experiencing life together, building each other up to greater works of love,” Father Madanu said.

The new center will offer the church a sustainable direction to cultivate deep Catholic connections with one another and the surrounding Post Falls community. It’s an investment, not just in the present, but also in the future.

The church broke ground on the expansion project in August 2023 after two years of fundraising, planning, and multiple design reworks. In the early stages of the project, the building committee invested much time and effort in gathering and listening to parish input about what the new center should include.

The new main Parish Hall, currently under construction, was the ‘Wow' of a parishioner tour day back in February. It will serve as a gathering place for St. George Parish members and the general community. (Photo/Lisa Ormond)

“The current parish hall is small and outdated,” said Father Madanu. “In the last several years, we’ve had to limit the ministries, meetings, celebrations, and education opportunities due to size constraints.”

That will all change, however, with the construction of the new parish center.

“It will allow our parish to expand our ministries, create new memories for our parishioners, attract young families, and offer more space to learn about our Catholic heritage and faith,” Father Madanu added. 

The parish center is now entering Phase II of its construction timeline, a critical stage of the project.

“Since the mid-February parish tour, the building’s interior guts have been the focus,” Ellis explained. “We have installed the windows and laid the groundwork for the building’s plumbing, electrical, fire sprinkler installation and HVAC.”

(Future Phase III construction would include adding the structure’s outside siding and interior insulation.)

St. George Parish wants to keep its momentum and will continue fundraising to offset the cost of unexpected issues and delays, underpinning the effort with prayer.

“We are one Catholic family, and we need to recognize we need to lift one another up when the road gets tough through prayer and unity,” Father Manadu said.

At a construction update given during an April Mass, Ellis explained to parishioners how multi-phased construction projects work and the need to continue fundraising.

“We are so grateful for God’s mercy and for those people in and out of our parish community who continue to support our vision of growth to allow for faith expansion,” Father Manadu said.

With due diligence and perseverance, St. George’s hasn’t stopped fundraising since the project’s inception, and more plans are in the works to fund completion of the parish center. Recently, two anonymous donors offered a total of $100,000 that is contingent on raising matching funds.

Donations and prayers are being requested from local and statewide Catholics who wish to help St. George’s parish. 

“Any donation right now can make a real difference in how soon our hall and classrooms can be up and running. Our goal is to get families back to learning about our Catholic faith as soon as possible,” said Father Madanu. “Thank you in advance for your generosity in assisting us to serve faithfully as disciples.”

“We have a job to do, and we just got to get it done because that’s what God is asking of us,” Ellis said. 

To donate to the St. George New Parish Center and Adoration Chapel Fund, checks can be mailed to

St. George Catholic Church, P.O. Box 10, Post Falls, ID 83877 or donations can be made online. www.osvhub.com/stgeorgesidaho/giving/funds/capital-campaign-for-building-fund/pledge.