St. George Parish opens religious goods store
St. George — Catholics and members of other faiths in southern Utah no longer have to travel all the way to Salt Lake City to shop for religious goods or baptismal gowns. With the Aug. 19 grand opening of the St. Therese of the Little Flower Gift Store at St. George Church in St. George, rosaries, missals, books, statues, religious pictures and more are available a short drive away.
The gift store is, “Father Vidal’s dream” said manager Sharon Rawlins, a 13-year parishioner of St. George Parish. Quick to deflect credit for the store from herself, Rawlins is obviously delighted with her new volunteer job. She oversees the shop when she isn’t teaching religious education classes or setting up for funeral lunches.
“Fr. Vidal did all the work,” Rawlins said of the shop located in the church’s old office. “Helen Salvatore and Shirlee Monfredi, parish secretaries, used to sell some religious goods out of a room that used to be a confessional.”
Rawlins said the inspiration for the St. Therese gift store was a religious goods shop Fr. Vidal saw at a Catholic church in Mesquite, Nev.
“Our parishioners have always wanted access to religious goods, books, and gifts,” she said in an interview with the Intermountain Catholic. “And many tourists are also looking for religious gifts. People from back East assume parishes out here have gift stores because so many of their parishes do.”