Sioux City - Church of the Nativity

SIOUX CITY - On May 3, 1966, Bishop Mueller formed a new parish in Morningside of Sioux City which was to be named "The Church of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ." Father Leo Harpenau was the first pastor.

A house was purchased by the parish. This house at 2721 S. Cecelia Street served as a rectory from May 1966 to March 1968.

Beginning July 3, 1966, Sunday Masses were celebrated at the Cinema Theatre. Baptisms, weddings and funerals of Nativity parishioners were held at Immaculate Conception Church until late 1967, when the new Nativity Parish Center was completed. All Masses, weddings and funerals were held in the center until the new church building was completed in 1978.

A census of the newly formed parish was taken in the summer of 1966. There were 275 families. Nativity Parish has steadily grown with the continued development of southern Morningside and now numbers 950 families.

Bishop Mueller approved a plan to build a rectory to be located on the south side of Natalia Way across from the parish center. From April 1967 to March 1968, the men of the parish, with some boys and non-Catholic friends, unselfishly volunteered their time and labor in the construction of this home. The cost, mainly for materials, was $25,000.

Immaculate Conception Grade School continued to educate the Nativity Parish children free of charge during the school years of 1966-1968. The parish paid tuition for the children attending IC Grade School. The parish assessment was in addition to the tuition charge paid by the students' parents.

After several years of planning and labor by the pastor and parishioners, ground was broken for the construction of a new church on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1977. Construction cost for the new church was $903,765. The first Mass offered in the new Church of the Nativity was March 25, 1978.

Father Robert Gralapp (1979-1986) and Father David Hogan (1986-1988) served Nativity Parish over the years. Msgr. Roger J. Augustine (1988-1996) followed.

Also serving Nativity was Msgr. Michael Sernett (1996-1998) and Father Gerald F. Feierfeil (1998-present).

The groundbreaking for Mater Dei Middle School (grades 6, 7, 8) took place in late 1993 with the first classes held in August of 1994. It has a current enrollment of 128 students. Cost of the educational center was $2.2 million.

High school level students attend Bishop Heelan High School and elementary age students attend Immaculate Conception Grade School. Nativity's has a CCD religion program, which has an enrollment of 392 children from 240 families.

Nativity also has a Men's Club which is well known for the delicious fish fries it serves on Fridays in Lent. Two popular activities of the guild are the St. Patrick's Day Luncheon and Style Show and the Fall Raffle.