St. Gabriel Catholic Church
Name chosen for Holy Family Catholic Parish Church
Archbishop Jerome Hanus of the Archdiocese of Dubuque approved "St. Gabriel" as the name for the new church that will serve the southern portion of the Holy Family Catholic Parish. He honored the first choice of the Parish Naming Committee and Parish Council. The Archbishop explained that he was leaning very strongly toward the archangel, St. Gabriel, even before receiving their letter of recommendation. He wrote, "I am pleased to approve Saint Gabriel as the name and patron for your new church. May the Archangel Gabriel speak the gospel to you and your neighbors, as he did to Mary centuries ago.""God's providence and Holy Spirit must have been at work for both the archbishop and our parish leaders to be guided to the choice of St. Gabriel," said Rev. Dennis Quint, pastor.
Contractors continue to make steady progress on the new church for Holy Family Parish. The site has been excavated and workers are pouring the foundation. According to Tim Melloy, a member of the Building Committee, "The wet weather we experienced earlier has slowed activity, but we are confident tat in about a year we will be prepared to dedicate the new facility."
The Catholic churches of St. Mary in Dike, St. Patrick in Parkersburg, Queen of Heaven in Reinbeck and Sacred Heart in Grundy Center consolidated into one parish community, Holy Family Parish, on July 1, 2004. A new church project committee was formed in the spring of 2005 to study the possibility of constructing a new church facility to serve the southern portion of the parish. The 10-year-old church, rectory and education facility in Parkersburg will continue to serve the northern portion of the parish. For more information about this building project or about Holy Family Parish, go to www.holyfamilycatholicparish.org or phone (319)824-3572.
How St. Gabriel was chosen
A naming committee was formed several months ago and soon developed criteria by which names would be recommended for the new Holy Family Catholic Parish Church. The committee narrowed the possibilities from the 34 names submitted by the members of the parish to four. These four names were then given to the parish council, who proceeded to eliminate one more and to prioritize their preferences. The names St. Gabriel, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Maria Goretti were then submitted to Archbishop Hanus for his consideration."the name of St. Gabriel was suggested for many reasons. First, St. Gabriel bears connection to the patrons of the parish churches (St. Mary, Queen of Heaven, Sacred Heart, Immaculate Conception [Blessing]) through the Annunciation event in Luke's gospel and by the traditional association with Gabriel's appearance to Christ in the Garden of Gethsemene. Likewise, his appearance to the Blessed Virgin Mary and traditional apparition to St. Joseph provide association with the patronage of the parish--the holy family. Second, St. Gabriel is found in scripture, so is easily recognizable not only to Catholics, but to the many Protestants of this area. Third, the name is unique in the archdiocese whose patron is another archangel, Raphael.
Fourth, the feast of the archangels is at the end of September, which would be a favorable time to gather parishioners together for celebration. Fifth, an angelic theme could be incorporated into the architecture and decoration of the facility. Finally, St. Gabriel was the bearer of good news on many occasions in salvation history and our parish likewise hopes to serve as a light to others in our area and across the diocese as we complete this project.
--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 13 December 2007, pg 11
St. Gabriel Catholic Church officially opened Sunday
The fruits of years of labor have finally come to fruition.That is how Rev. Dennis Quint described the dedication of St. Gabriel Catholic Church in rural Grundy County Sunday.
"It was beautiful to see the people enter the church in large numbers for the first time," Father Quint said.
The 300-family strong St. Gabriel Church, one of two churches in the Holy Family Parish, serves Grundy Center, Dike and Reinbeck. The three churches (Sacred Heart in Grundy Center, St. Mary in Dike, and Queen of Heaven in Reinbeck) were officially consolidated Sunday, although St. Mary has been closed since 2007. The other church, St. Patrick's in Parkersburg, was built in 1996 and will continue to serve its local parishioners. Holy Family Parish also serves some parishioners from Hudson, who lost their church Blessing in 2006. Father Quint resides over mass at St. Gabriel and St. Patrick's and also helps out with mass in Hampton and Charles City for their Spanish population.
"We have things set up in a wonderful fashion now," Quint said. "So, we'll just continue to provide a great example for other places in northeast Iowa as to what good sacrifices can bring about as far as pastoral planning and good stewardship."
Proceeding over the dedication Sunday was Archbishop Jerome Hanus of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The Archdiocese of Dubuque oversees 30 counties in northeast Iowa and a quarter million Catholics (the largest diocese in Iowa in terms of geography and population).
In his homily to the Grundy County parishioners, Archbishop Hanus said it was a joy to be at the dedication.
"This building is the result of so much work and prayer from so many people," Hanus said. "All of us from the wider church from the entire archdiocese, stand in awe."
The Archbishop described the dedication to be much like an initiation of an adult into the Catholic Christian faith. They began the liturgy by blessing the people, walls, and elements of the church water (symbolic of baptism). Then, they anointed the alter and the walls with chrism (like the anointing with chrism oil at confirmation). Next, the alter is incensed and the Eucharist is celebrated as the culmination.
At that point, the lights were turned on, symbolizing the end of the dedication.
"You are made Catholic by those three sacraments," Hanus said. "This building [was] made a Catholic church through a very similar process."
At the end of the dedication, Hanus recognized Quint for the leadership he has shown, to which Quint was given a standing ovation.
Also present were approximately 35 priests and deacons from neighboring churches, all participating in the dedication.
"It's a rarity for the faithful to see that many priests in one place," Quint said. "The dedication of a church is certainly a significant moment, not only for us as a parish by for the dioceses."
Quint said they were also blessed with many parishioners with talents in construction. The cross, alter, wooden statues, shelving, tables, candle holders and brass candle sockets were all constructed by parishioners, Quint said.
"We are very fortunate to have that kind of talent," Quint said. "It's a nice way for them to connect with the space."
Quint was involved in the day-to-day construction process, along with the construction committee of Don Gunderson, Joe Davis and Bart Petersen, but to see the people enter in masses for the first time, was joyous.
"We've been on site day after day working with concrete and the wood, but to see the people--the living stones--come into the church was a beautiful sigh," Quint said.
Now that the parishioners have a central location, Quint said many benefits go along with it. Quint said it allows them to serve as better stewards of their gifts, with a bigger pool to draw form for the choir, teachings, and other activities.
It allows students from various school districts to build relationships, Quint said.
"That's been a strong support to us over the years," he added.
It allows for a place to celebrate large weddings and funerals. Before, they had to turn to other churches, but now, Quint said he would like to return the favor.
"We have seen a lot of benefits," Quint said.
When Quint first came to Grundy County in 2000, he said it was clear that pastoral life was going to have to change in the area in order to sustain all the fulfillments that come with an active parish life.
"It seemed necessary that we were going to have to make certain changes as rural Iowa population declines and the number of children in each family decreased," Quint explained. "The church has to respond to the changing environment and so thankfully parish leaders had the foresight and creativity to lay the foundation for consolidating ourselves as one parish, and now to realize the dream as a unified worship center for the whole county."
Now, nine years later, Quint and th member of Holy Family Catholic Parish have realized their dream.
"After the mass, I was just elated to see the reaction from the people and how struck they were," Quint said.
The emotions were high afterward, and Father Quint, along with many others, gave in to tears of joy.
"I didn't tear up during the liturgy, but afterward it was kind of a good release to share the joy with the people," Quint said.
--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 26 February 2009, pg 1, 6
St. Gabriel Celebrates Anniversary
St. Gabriel Catholic Church in rural Grundy County celebrated its first anniversary Monday, Feb. 22 with a Mass and potluck for parishioners.Pastor, Fr. Dennis Quint, complimented the members of Holy Family Parish not only for building a beautiful facility but also for coming together as a faith community.
"While the stones forming this amazing structure are impressive, the living stones inside of it are even more striking." His hope is that the parish continues to grow together in future years.
With new families joining from Grundy, Black Hawk, Butler and Tama counties, the Sunday attendance has been strong, averaging nearly 400. The sacramental life of the church has been busy and rewarding with 11 baptisms, 9 weddings, 7 First Communions, 20 confirmations and 6 funerals.
The new church has hosted several ecumenical services in the area including the Dike-New Hartford baccalaureate, the Grundy Center Thanksgiving service, the Reinbeck Christmas concert and World Day of Prayer last year.
Civic groups have also utilized the space. Cedar Valley Hospice hosted a memorial gathering there and the area extension office offered a continuing education event at the facility last month. Church leaders are pleased to offer this large space for the good of area residents.
"We were welcomed warmly by other churches when our facilities were inadequate. Now that we have such a roomy church and social area, it's great to share it." said Sue Hayek, ecumenical contact for the church.
Food has been a wonderful avenue to bring people together at the new church. Fish, omelets, spaghetti, and waffles have been some of the items offered to welcome people outside of the parish. Inside the parish family, donuts are served each week after Mass. Potlucks, dinners, and breakfasts also engage the stomachs of the faithful after their souls are nurtured.
Traditionally the parish has invested many gifts of time, talent and treasure into youth formation. Nearly 150 young people participate in Faith Formation on Wednesday nights during the school year. At St. Gabriel in early February, they prepared 10,000 meals as part of a Kids Against Hunger project. These dry meals were then sent to the poor in Africa and Haiti. Students raised half of the money for the project.
"I enjoy seeing the reactions of our students as they run around this big space. They love it and are so proud of it. They really take good care of it," said Rick Nilles, site manager for Faith Formation.
Fortunately few construction problems have been encountered since the dedication Mass. "With proper maintenance, a well-built masonry building like this one should last over a hundred years," stated Reno Rodeghiero, chairman of the Building and Ground Committee.
The Catholic churches of St. Mary in Dike, St. Patrick in Parkersburg, Queen of Heaven in Reinbeck and Sacred Heart in Grundy Center consolidated into one parish community, Holy Family Parish, on July 1, 2004. A new church project committee was formed in the spring of 2005 to study the possibility of constructing a new church facility to serve the southern portion of the parish. The result was the $4.6 million St. Gabriel church at the intersection of County Roads D-35 and T-55.
The 13-year-old St. Patrick Church, rectory and education facility in Parkersburg continue to serve the northern portion of the parish.
For more information about Holy Family Parish or St. Gabriel Church you can contact the church office at (319)345-2006 or view online at http://holyfamily-catholicparish.org/
--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 4 March 2010, pg 9