The rainy-day funds haven’t beaten the rain.

Good Shepherd Community in Montgomery has an 80-seat chapel in addition to its main church.  The parish uses the chapel for daily Communion service, a weekly anointing Mass, rosary gatherings, smaller weddings and smaller funerals.

But it leaks when there’s rain. And that’s not a recent phenomenon, even though it was built in the 1980s.

“The chapel has leaked pretty much from the start,” said parish stewardship director Teri Cunningham. Cost-cutting in the original construction apparently left deficiencies in moisture protection associated with skylights.

“Some days we have buckets in there,” Ms. Cunningham said.

Temporary fixes have been ventured over the years, but the parish’s rebate from One Faith, One Hope, One Love will fix the leaks definitively in addition to paying for an overall renovation of the chapel.

“We thought it best to stop throwing money at fixing it and use the rebate money for renovations,” Ms. Cunningham said.

The chapel will be reconfigured, expanding seating to about 150. Its reconciliation room will be moved to the main church. Parish officials aim for work to begin next year.

“We hope a future use of the chapel is for daily Mass,” Ms. Cunningham said. “Our first priority is structural, then cosmetic.”

Added Steve Lindner, parish liturgical director: “We plan to liturgically and structurally renovate it, and liturgically and structurally add to it.”

That’s thanks to the generosity of parishioners and a rebate that’s no drop in the bucket.