by John Sorce
john.sorce@theleaven.org
BAILEYVILLE — Just about the entire town was on hand the morning of Nov. 2 for the blessing of the new parish hall at Sacred Heart Church here.
“This is a very exciting time for our parish,” said Father Reginald Saldanha, pastor. “I believe meeting this need for our parish will lead to a deepening of our parish family’s shared faith, thriving in ways that, as time goes by, everyone will notice and share.”
Although the congregation gathered for Mass in the church as usual, it was only to then process over to the new building located adjacent to the church.
There, parishioners gathered around the exterior as Father Saldanha cut the ribbon before all entered inside for the blessing by Archbishop Shawn McKnight.
“After much work and prayer by so many members of your parish, we gather now to bless and dedicate this new parish hall,” he said. “It will be a center for parish activities and a place where you may come to know one another and give witness to our faith in Christ.”
All then proceeded back to the church for the archbishop to celebrate Mass, which was followed by a lunch served back at the hall.
“My brothers and sisters, it is a great joy to be with you for the first time in your beautiful church,” said Archbishop McKnight in his remarks during Mass. “It has beautiful stained glass and woodwork and is a beautiful sanctuary for the people of God in your community.
“I implore you to keep it in good condition because our churches are so important in reminding everybody of the presence of God among us.”
Father Saldanha was honored to welcome the archbishop to their town for the first time.
“He’s new to the archdiocese, so we wanted to welcome him and have him celebrate the Mass and bless and dedicate this parish hall for our community,” he said.
“It’s very exciting to have him here,” he added.
Plans for the project started in March 2022, when Father Saldanha formed a building committee consisting of experienced parishioners to discuss the future of the old church-school building.
After meeting and discussing for several months, it was decided the building was too far out of date and in need of too many upgrades — including electrical, roofing, bathroom and HVAC maintenance — to renovate.
The decision came in August 2023 to demolish the old building and construct a new one in its place to serve as the parish hall. But work did not start until the funds were raised, with demolition of the original building beginning in September 2024.
Concrete was poured last December and the first walls started going up in January.
The building committee consisted of Father Saldanha, Judy and Kevin Deters, John Haug, Dennis Heideman, Doug Heiman, Roger Macke and Blake Ronnebaum.
“We had a lot of meetings over the last three years and there’s been a lot of change from what we started with to what we ended up with,” Heideman said.
“We looked forward to this day not necessarily because it’s the end of the work, but so we can have the satisfaction of seeing the end product,” he continued.
The total cost of the approximately 10,000-square-foot project was $1.5 million, with funds coming entirely from within the parish’s 180 families.
A color committee was also established for interior colors and decorations. That committee consisted of Dennis Heideman, Janet Heideman, Katie Heiman, Betsy Macke, Karen Macke, Roger Macke, Brenda Meyer, Courtney Strathman and Jan Strathman.
The new building replaces the parish’s original school and church building, which was built in 1912. But a few pieces of the initial building found their way into the new one.
“The old building was our old school and our first church, so we wanted to keep something from there,” Roger Macke said. “We kept a couple of stained-glass windows and incorporated them into the new hall, and we’ve reused some of the exterior brick in front of the kitchen, underneath the serving line.”
The parish also has plans to renovate the church basement, turning a large, open space into classrooms for religious education. Those renovations will begin in early 2026.
Heideman found the perfect analogy for how the committee members went about their work.
“A husband and wife can have different ideas of how a home should look, and our group was trying to satisfy the whole community,” he said. “There were a lot of different ideas and opinions, and we did our best to take everyone’s into account and deliver the building that everyone wanted in the end.”
Added Father Saldanha, “We had a lot of hurdles. We started with some scribblings on paper.
“But God provided everything and we got incredible support from our community.”
To view more photos from the blessing and Mass, follow us on Facebook.
