There are occasions when the Conventual Franciscans of Our Lady of the Angels Province celebrate Mass outside of a church and they need an altar and an ambo. Such was the case the week of July 26-31, 2026, when the province held its quadrennial chapter at the Baltimore Maritime Center in Maryland. Sixty-eight Franciscan friars gathered to consider and approve plans for the order for the next four years.
“While we were meeting to conduct the business of the order, everything we did was surrounded by prayer,” said Father Michael Heine, O.F.M. Conv., a friar and minister provincial of the order. “That included daily celebration of the Eucharist.”
That’s where Father Peter Tremblay, a friar of the same order, comes in. The Catholic chaplain at Elon University, a self-taught woodworker, spent about 150 hours carefully measuring, cutting, finishing and assembling an altar and ambo made of solid black walnut lumber. They were first used in the chapter in Baltimore.
“Both pieces are easy to assemble using magnetic switches that are attached to magnetic plates. They go together very easily,” Father Peter said. “There are eight magnets for each piece, and they go together with 800 pounds of force when they are put together.”
The modular pieces for the altar and ambo are stored in a custom-built wooden box that he also made.
A carving of the stigmata of St. Francis is slightly recessed into the front of the altar. It features 24-carat, triple thick gold leaf protected by an acrylic topcoat. The wounds in the stigmata of St. Francis are pink cubic zirconia, with an environmentally friendly finish.
This is not the first time Father Peter has used his gifts for the Church. In 2024, he used the design of Father Joseph Dorniak, O.F.M. Conv., to make a crozier for Charlotte’s Bishop Michael Martin, O.F.M. Conv.
“I began woodworking over 20 years ago,” said Father Peter. “It has always been a dream and hope that my hobby could lead me, someday, to crafting sacred objects. Projects like this altar and ambo are a dream come true and I put a lot of heart, sweat and prayers into this project.”
The altar and ambo will be stored in the province friary in Ellicott City, Maryland, and will be used for provincial liturgical celebrations where an altar and lectern are not available, according to Father Michael.
In the Diocese of Raleigh, the friars minister at St. Julia Parish in Siler City, Blessed Sacrament Parish in Burlington, Catholic Campus Ministry at Elon University in Elon and the Newman Catholic Student Center Parish at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
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