Webster County parishes celebrate 150 years of faith

By JoAnn Ammann, Globe Intern
June 22, 2006

FORT DODGE - Parishioners from Webster County celebrated 150 years of the Catholic faith with a celebration Mass on June 18 held at the Iowa Central Community College Auditorium. The chief celebrant was Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless. Concelebrants were the team priests of Webster County and other priests of the Diocese of Sioux City.

Corpus Christi was the first parish formed in the Diocese of Sioux City in 1856. There are currently eight active parishes of the original 12 in Webster County. Those parishes are: Christ the King in Dayton, Corpus Christi in Fort Dodge, Holy Rosary in Fort Dodge, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Moorland, Sacred Heart in Fort Dodge, St. Matthew in Clare, St. Joseph in Barnum and St. Joseph in Duncombe. Four of the parishes have closed, including Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Coalville, Immaculate Conception in Lehigh, St. John in Vincent, and St. Patrick on the Lizard.

Parishioners and guests began the day with the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on the Feast of Corpus Christi, along with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The liturgical celebration began at 2 p.m. Following the Mass, a buffet dinner was held for all present with a free-will offering, along with games and local entertainment.

The liturgical celebration involved participants from all parishes of the county. As part of the procession to the liturgy, members from each parish presented a banner representing their parish. Parishioners were also selected to be greeters, Eucharistic ministers, musical participants, ushers and gift bearers.

Sister Margaret Kruse, pastoral minister of the Webster County Team, was one of the organizers.

"We were hoping that it [the event] would draw people. We wanted to have a countywide celebration. When we have big celebrations like this we try to involve people from all parishes so that it can be inclusive," said Sister Margaret.

"The banners have been kind of the unifying force in the whole thing. All the things we have done bring people together in different occasions," said Sister Margaret. "This is like the culminating experience."

The priests and sisters of the church team offered the Liturgy of the Word. Father Ed Girres gave the homily.

"We are the body and blood of Jesus, held together by each other. Parishioners give the body- to shut-ins, prisoners, neighbors, and those at nursing homes. With eight parishes, you become what you eat and drink," said Father Girres in the homily. "I am fed by you, and we are held together by those gone before us. Through this we are able to keep on course individually and as Catholics."

He added, "It doesn't matter whether we are single or married, parishioners of Corpus Christi or Christ the King. To eat and drink from the sacred cup is what holds us together and enables the living Christ."

Bishop Nickless offered comments at the close of the Mass and he congratulated the county on such a memorable occasion. In a letter to the parishioners he wrote, "To celebrate is to acknowledge with thanks what wonderful things have been passed down to us through the generous sacrifices of men and women long ago, but not forgotten. Your present faith life is a product of the past - your future faith life in Webster County will be a product of your present work to build the church, the Body of Christ."

Wynn Touney was the coordinator of the festivities. Planning for the event began about two and a half years ago.

"My favorite part of planning the event was the wonderful cooperation of everyone. It seemed like you asked them to do something and they were immediately doing it," said Touney. "People were just coming forth with their many talents to do whatever we thought we needed to do and got it done. I'm appreciative to everyone for their wonderful cooperation and I'd like to give a special thank you to the bishop and the priests that joined us."

In addition to the June 18 festivities, the celebration began earlier in the year. The cookbooks were started a little over a year ago and the purpose was mainly used as fundraiser for the event. Between 2,500-2,700 cookbooks were sold. Also, the parishioners celebrated with "Remembering Those Who Have Gone Before Us" cemetery walks earlier this spring and also by selling t-shirts with the sesquicentennial logo of Webster County on it.

"I just see this as having been a year of giving the parishes a great opportunity to do more bonding of people, to have them feel more and more at home with each other because there are changes that come with every year of faith alive. All these things can help people with any kind of changes that may take place," said Sister Margaret.

Along with guests and former residents of Webster County, priests and sisters were invited to attend the event. Sheila O'Hern is a resident of Des Moines currently, but was a former member of the Barnum parish, St. Joseph. O'Hern has several strong family ties to the area, with members of her family from various parishes.

"I came back today to see if any of the family was mentioned. I know that my family worked very hard in building different parishes," said O'Hern.

Aside from people that were previous parishioners in the county, newer members and families of the churches were also in attendance. Jeff and JoEllen Vosberg along with their four children, Beth, Theresa, Maria and Michael, attended the service and dinner. The Vosbergs have been members of the Corpus Christi parish for three years.

"We just wanted to be a part of the celebration, it was also exciting meeting the bishop for the first time," said Jeff.

"We wanted to continue being involved in the church and be examples for our own kids after we joined the parish," said JoEllen. "We really also wanted to meet more people. We really have good priests and sisters here. We appreciate them so much."

Sister Margaret also reflected on the day. "For me, to see the procession in of the banners representing all of the churches, to see the families that walked in together and as they all went up to the sanctuary and hung the banners, and as the banners were rising up as the procession of the bishop and the priests came in...one thing seemed to flow right into the other, it really just unified the whole thing. The whole procession of families representing the parishes and the faith really struck me strongly."

Earl Schreier of Christ the King Parish of Dayton was a greeter. "The music was beautiful today, and so was the altar, with all of the priests and nuns. "It was good to see former priests and nuns that have left and come back for today," said Schreier. "It was so beautiful it couldn't really have been any better."