CRANBERRY TWP — The 15-year odyssey to build a new church for St. Kilian Parish will come to an end soon.

The new church near the intersection of Franklin Road and Route 228 will be blessed by Bishop David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh on Sept. 25 with a 2 p.m. Mass.

“It’s exciting. Anytime for me as a bishop to do the blessing of a brand new church is always exciting,” Zubik said. “It speaks to the church being very much alive.”

Plans for the church have been in the works for about 15 years when boundaries of St. Kilian and St. Ferdinand were reshaped.

The budget for the project is nearly $11 million, which includes parking, infrastructure, utilities and the building. The church will have a basement hall with 350 seats, a full-size commercial kitchen, meeting rooms, a bell tower and offices.

New stained-glass windows will be installed. The church also will address St. Kilian’s “rapid” growth by having 30,000 square feet of space and will seat 1,200.

The church will open for Masses in time for the parish’s centennial year in 2017.

“It says a lot about leadership,” Zubik said of the project’s success. “Father (Charles) Bober has been an outstanding leader since he was ordained a priest. It also says something about the vibrancy of the people of St. Kilian’s.”

Zubik held Masses in the old church for the parish in Mars before moving to Green Bay, Wis., in 2003 to become a bishop.

“Who would have ever dreamt it would grow from the cute, little country church that it was to the huge church it is now?” he said. “It’s a sign of not only the growth of the Mars/Cranberry area, but also a sign of the strength of people’s faith.”

The original church in Mars, which seated fewer than 250 people, is now used solely for weddings and funerals.

Zubik has witnessed the construction through visits. The altar will be installed last.

Parishioners have been using chairs in the gymnasium in the parish center or the auditorium at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School, which has a capacity of 921, for services.

Bober previously said St. Kilian Parish has about 11,000 members.

The parish held a financial campaign last year in conjunction with the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s “The Church Alive” campaign, which raised $22 million for the whole campaign.

The parish had to pay off its $10 million debt from its parish center before raising money for the new church.