THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 37, NO. 18 | DECEMBER 11, 2015
‘BEAUTIFUL BEYOND WHAT I IMAGINED’ Holy Family Parish dedicates new church that was decades in the making STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOE BOLLIG
Serious discussions about building a new church in Eudora began four years ago. The total cost of the project was $3.6 million. The upper and lower levels of the church total 16,460 square feet.
Pastor Father Patric Riley gives the key and plans for the new Holy Family Church in Eudora to Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann during a dedication Mass on Dec. 6. The completion of this church ends worship in the basement church of the former school, an arrangement that was supposed to end in the mid-1960s. Parish growth was a major factor in the decision to build the church, as well as a desire for handicap accessibility, more classrooms and aesthetic concerns.
E
UDORA — Local Catholics waited half a century for their “temporary” situation to end. Fittingly, their wait ended during Advent. On Dec. 6, Eudora Catholics celebrated the completion of the new Holy Family Church with a dedication Mass, followed by a dinner in the parish hall — which until the Sunday before was their church. “I’m so excited,” said Andi Bock. “There aren’t really words.” Bock grew up in Holy Family Parish. She attended the old three-room schoolhouse and the former school
(now parish center) built in 1963. She worshiped in the 1864 stone church, the 1963 “temporary” church in the school basement and now the new church. “The [1963] church was supposed to be open for three years,” said Bock. “It was a long three years.” Although parishioners followed the progress of the new church with growing excitement, the experience of walking through the completed church for that first Mass was an awesome experience for many. “I think it’s lovely — beautiful beyond even what I imagined it would be,” said Betty Tennis, a longtime parishioner. “I think it’s just the beginning
of a wonderful work of the Holy Spirit here in Eudora and at Holy Family.” The contemporary Romanesque church, in a traditional cruciform layout, is located east of the school and adjoins the parish cemetery. The north-facing entrance is covered in rose-colored brick with limestone-like cast stone accents. The majority of the building is covered with medium-tan stucco. “This is exactly what we prayed for,” said Bock. “We unanimously wanted a church that looked like a church, not some modern-day thing that would >> See “PASTOR” on page 5
Paintings and murals in the church were made and donated by parishioner Jeannie Pflumm. An icon-like painting in the narthex depicts saints important in the parish’s history.