2011 is behind us and much has happened at Holy Family Church in Star Valley. Our congregation continues to grow and Mass attendance increased again this year. In 2011, we had 10 Baptisms, 6 First Holy Communions, 8 Confirmations and 2 weddings. Our group of dedicated of dedicated catechists continue to provide religious education of our youth and our RCIA program and adult education program continue on a weekly basis. Pizza lunches happen once or twice a month for the Middle School and High School youth (30-40 attendees) and we have 23 people raising money for a pilgrimage in June to Italy. HFCC is also sponsoring a trip to Fatima, Campostela, and Lourdes in April of 2013.
The big news of the year has been the construction of the new church. Progress has been steady and has matched our cash flow. Through a remarkable series of events, we had raised over $985,000 by the middle of December, 2011. The Ministries Foundation loaned us $100,000 at 3% interest to be repaid in 5 years, and a parishioner loaned us $100,000 interest free, to be repaid over 5 years after the Ministries Foundation loan has been paid off. A pledge drive initiated in the church last fall, coupled with donations from parishes in the diocese, and the $200,000 grant from Catholic Extension resulted in the building fund passing the $985,000 mark.
Additionally, Fr. Randy has received approval from the diocese to put our existing church on the market, which may result in more funds for construction. A couple from Jackson has donated 5 acres of Salt River frontage land to the church. We are currently in the process of having the lot appraised and examining the best way to maximize revenue from this property. Assuming that we are able to sell our existing church and the Salt River property, and donations to our building fund continue, we may be close to total completion of the church by the dedication date. Completion of the church does not include the landscaping. Judy Sylvain has offered to chair a committee to work on the landscaping and fundraising for the landscaping. Rachel (Undesser) & Roland Kouhsen, landscape architects, have volunteered to help with the planning and design of the landscaping. This work is probably best done once we have a chance to see the ground again.
We are now in need of volunteers to help with the new church. We need a group of people to plan the dedication, and another group to plan the interior/exterior of the church. I believe that when you see the interior of the new church, you will realize what a challenge the interior design will be.
2011 – a year to be proud of, and 2012 – a year of finally realizing a dream. Moving from the old church to the new one will not be easy for some, and that is understandable. Our church has been the center of our faith community for over 34 years. It is important to remember where we have been as we deal with the challenges of our new home. May God continue to Bless You All.
August 2011 update
I am going to use round numbers to avoid a lot of confusion as I explain where we are as far as the construction goes. In November of 2010, we had $450,000 in our building fund. In early November, we were notified by Catholic Extension that they were challenging us to raise $100,000. If we could raise that amount prior to the end of November, 2011, they would award us $200,000 additional.
We started fund raising shortly after the first of the year, with parishioners challenging other parishioners to raise the money. Jere Kovach was very instrumental in developing this challenge. Fr. Flo enlisted the aid of Teresa Donnelly in Jackson to set up a fund raising event at Our Lady of the Mountains, to raise money and also to celebrate his 15th anniversary as a priest. Teresa did an outstanding job finding donations and putting together an evening that raised over $23,000 and enlivened the fund raising campaign. By the first of April, we had raised the $100,000 and notified Catholic Extension of our success.
We contacted Bishop Etienne and through discussions, determined that we did not want to put the parish into debt to completely finish the church. With his approval, we decided to spend $700,000 to construct the shell, with the interior being unfinished. We paid the architect $50,000, leaving us $400,000 in the building fund, $100,000 raised from the challenge, and $200,000 from Catholic Extension. With this $700,000 in hand, Bishop Etienne broke ground on the 18th of May and construction began with a date of November 1st to complete the shell.
In late July, a parishioner came forward and offered a $100,000, no interest challenge loan, if another $100,000 could be located. We decided to contact the Ministries Foundation in Cheyenne, to see if a matching loan would be feasible. Matt Potter guided us through the process and a letter requesting a loan from the Foundation was prepared and submitted with the approval of Fr. Randy and our trustees, Farish Thompson and Joe Angelovich. On August 5th, we were notified that the loan was approved with contingencies such as submitting financial statements, a letter from the parishioner on the $100,000 no interest loan and terms spelled out that the Foundation would be paid back first. Simultaneously, we asked Peter Stewart to prepare a plan for finishing the church portion of the new building, knowing that we now had $900,000 in hand and only needed to raise an additional $300,000 to finish the upper level of the church, and the exterior. Total cost of the new church with lower level unfinished was estimated to be $1,200,000.
Peter has submitted to us a proposal to make the church usable for $975,000. This includes the upper level of the church, bathrooms, offices, sacristy, and confessionals. The exterior walks, railings and access also would be complete, and half of the parking lot would be at final grade. The parish hall, kitchen, and landscaping are estimated to cost the $225,000 additional. The lower level will remain unfinished pending later funding. The church will be ready about April 1st of 2012. We will need to pick a date for dedication, probably sometime in late June.
Our immediate challenge is to raise the necessary $75,000 to finish the church. If you have ideas or thoughts on what might work, please let me know. I feel so blessed that 9 years of work are coming to fruition and as we watch the new church being constructed, we can fully realize the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God Bless You All – Deacon Bill