 |
| February 2004 |
| Diocese announces plans for new parish
in S.F. |
Gene Young
Managing Editor
|
The Diocese of Sioux Falls will add a
new parish to the city of Sioux Falls this summer.
St. Katharine Drexel will eventually be located along West 26th
Street and west of the Tea-Ellis Road.
The announcement by Bishop Robert Carlson addresses the growth
in that part of the city and the need to serve a growing number
of Catholic families.
“Presently, St. Michael Parish is the largest parish in
the diocese with 2,000 families and we know that once a parish
gets that large to do an effective job, you have to create a
new parish community so that the people can get the attention
that they deserve and need,” the bishop said.
In July, St. Katharine Drexel Parish will become the ninth parish
to serve the city of Sioux Falls.
“The name is interesting because Saint Katharine Drexel
actually visited the Diocese of Sioux Falls,” the bishop
said. “She was a Blessed Sacrament sister and she visited
our sisters at Marty mission.”
St. Katharine Drexel is an American saint born into a wealthy
family who used all of her family income to help the poor in
this country. “I think that makes her a fitting patron
for the new parish community,” the bishop said.
The new parish does not have a pastor yet. Bishop Carlson expects
to make that appointment some time this month after the priest
personnel board meets and consults on the appointment.
The new parish announcement follows a meeting of the presbyteral
council and the deans of the diocese who consulted with Bishop
Carlson and voted to establish the new parish community.
“The reason we are announcing the new parish and later
this month, the new pastor is because he has to find a house,
a place for his offices and a place for their worship before
the July 1 establishment of the new community.”
The new pastor must find those facilities because building will
come later. “Normally speaking, a new parish builds some
time within the first three years but there is no set formula
for that building,” said the bishop.
The new parish will likely start out with 400-600 families when
they begin worshiping as the St. Katharine Drexel Parish community
after July 1.
The new parish will bring many changes to the worship landscape
in the western part of the city of Sioux Falls.
Father Charles Cimpl, pastor of St. Therese Parish, was involved
in two parish development projects. He assisted when St. Michael
Parish, Sioux Falls, began and was pastor when St. Therese Parish,
Sioux Falls, relocated to a different part of Sioux Falls and
had to build from scratch.
“There is always a lot of excitement, as you might imagine
because of the fact that you are starting something new, starting
from the very beginning, from the grass roots,” Father
Cimpl said. “Generally speaking, the people have that
feeling too, that they are part of something that a lot of people
don’t necessarily get to be a part of, of bringing a new
church into birth.”
There is also some apprehensive feelings too. “There are
questions about ‘how’s it all going to work?’,
especially at the beginnings as the community tries to find
a place to worship and places to meet because in the beginning
there are many organizational things to put into place,”
Father Cimpl said.
It does not take too long, though, before things start falling
into place and the exciting aspects of the new parish take over
and the community really begins to grow.
The new pastor will likely tap the expertise of priests who
have started new parishes in the past, looking for ideas and
pointers on how to make things work. “They can be very
helpful in how to get organized, what committees to get going
and how to get people energized to get the work accomplished,”
he said.
The thing for the new pastor and the new parishioners to remember,
Father Cimpl said, is to be patient. “It takes time,”
he said.
While the challenges will be numerous, the goals tend to keep
the new parish’s congregation excited and moving forward.
“I think that is what keeps it going, the excitement the
people feel,” he said.
From his experience, Father Cimpl has seen and heard how special
an experience it can be for the new parishioners. “People
have said to me being part of a new start up parish was one
of the most important things in their life; even for the kids,
it is like the birth of a brother or sister. They see something
exciting happening,” he said. “The excitement of
all that just spills out into the whole parish.”
Another thing Father Cimpl thinks will come from the new parish
is a surge for “a real good ecumenism.” In the past,
new parishes have turned to Lutheran congregations for help
in hosting worship services and meetings. “The result,
in the past, has been a real strong ecumenical spirit in the
new parishes because the Lutheran Church has been so welcoming
to the Catholic Church.”
|
|
|
|
