History of St. Joseph Parish
The St. Joseph Catholic Community was established in 1976 with only 300 faithful families. Mass was initially celebrated at Springridge Elementary School. After two years of setting up and taking down chairs at this school, we moved into our very own parish center in 1978. This multi-purpose building was constructed on 15 acres, which is our current location. All parish activities took place in this building, including the celebration of Mass. This was only a temporary solution, until our church could be built. In 1986, the Sanctuary along with the Rectory were completed. The parish center was then used for all other parish activities. In 1993, we retired our debt of just over $3 million dollars.
When Msgr. Don came to our parish in 1995, the first thing he did was hold a town hall meeting to find out the needs of the parish. One thing that was so clear was the need for more space and a better environment in which to work and pray. In 1996, we renovated the dining hall and added two wings for meeting rooms and maintenance. This solved the immediate need for more space.
In October of 1997, nine parishioners were chosen to begin a six-month process that would evaluate the educational and future needs of our parish. Dr. Richard T. Corrado, a consultant and facilitator, guided this steering committee to make recommendations. This committee found that new programs needed to be established that supported the “cradle to kingdom” philosophy of Total Education. These programs included a nursery during masses, an Early Learning Program, a K-8th grade parish school, a Youth Ministry program, a Family Life program and a Faith Formation program, just to name a few. And in order to establish or expand these programs, we first needed more meeting space.
The first step was to renovate the interior of the church. A closer relationship between ourselves and our celebrant during the liturgy was desired. The existing altar platform, high and remote, was freed from the back wall, lowered and brought forward into the congregation. The removal of the stage-like altar platform permitted an opening to the Eucharistic Chapel. This provided for a restored awareness of the reserved Eucharist, which had been in a remote and isolated location. The hollow wood altar was replaced by a 5000 pound altar that was carved from a single block of Texas limestone. Relics of martyrs are buried in the altar. We also desired a new baptismal font that provided for full immersion during Baptism. New liturgical elements, new furnishings and a new travertine floor installed throughout the entire church greatly enhanced the liturgical environment. This phase cost $750,000, which we did without incurring debt.
Phase I - Our Dwelling Place
By the year 2000, the parish grew to more than 4,000 families. At this time a very enthusiastic and far-reaching plan was developed which consisted of adding 85,000 sqf to our existing space. This plan included adding additional meeting rooms for all age groups, a parochial school for our children, a columbarium, sacred places for meditation and facilities for social gatherings and celebrations. This aggressive plan would address the current and future needs of our community. “I believe that architecture is a very important ingredient in community life. I wanted this to be a place that would foster a sense of home and be efficient in caring for the needs of the parish,” said Msgr. Don. With the help of Jane and Duane Landry, architects and planners, we undertook a major addition.
To build community, we planned a building that was all under one roof, allowing us to interact with each other every day. This addition created a space for a new parish school and for our successful Early Learning Program, which was moved from local houses nearby to the primary facility here once completed.
Two unique additions were the Columbarium Courtyard & Labyrinth and the Forum. The Columbarium Courtyard honors those who have died by creating a prayerful place for them to rest here in the parish. The Columbarium is designed as a circle of life. It is integral to the spiritual life of the community because deceased members remain a part – a source of strength and comfort to our parishioners. The labyrinth is an ancient and extremely effective meditation tool that has been rediscovered recently. It also creates a prayerful place for those who visit the Columbarium. The Labyrinth is comprised of stones that are laid in the traditional pattern of the labyrinth in the floor of the Chartres Cathedral.
Forum is a Latin word meaning public place of conversation. This space creates for our community an environment that is informal, friendly, comfortable and conducive to just spending time with each other. The focal point of the forum is the fireplace, which invites you to sit on the comfortable chairs and just hang-out. A beautiful painting of St. Joseph hangs over the fireplace. It dates back to 1872 and was painted by an artist named Liga from Florence, Italy.
Our Parish School
Through the discernment process led by Msgr. Don in the late ‘90s, the parish made a commitment to initiate, support, and nurture a parish school. Linked to all other parish ministries by the common bond of the parish mission statement, the school fosters the spiritual growth and development of students within the framework of a high quality academic program. The school has grown from its opening day in the fall of 2002, when 49 students attended grades Kindergarten-2nd grade. The school now includes over 300 students in grades Kindergarten thru 7th grade. The first graduating class of 8th graders will move from our school to high school in 2009. What an exciting benchmark event that will be!
During the course of the six years that the school has been open it has become more and more an integral part of the total parish community. The original goal of the parish was to build a school which would enhance spiritual growth and the sense of spiritual community. This goal has easily been met and exceeded. Bridget Collins, principal of St. Cecilia Catholic School in Houston, Texas, and team leader of the accreditation team that visited our school this year, said “Your school has a close-knit community of adults, who have built an incredible sense of spiritual community for the students. For a school as young as yours to have done that – something many more established schools have yet to achieve – is a strong statement about the dedication and commitment of the community to the school.” What a compliment to the whole St. Joseph parish community!
The Changing of the Guard
After seven years of service as our school principal Mr. Ross is turning over his keys and desk to Mr. Phil Riley. Given the highly positive results of the recent accreditation visit, Mr. Ross said he is pleased that a school that is in an excellent place will be ‘handed over’ to a principal who is excellent. Mr. Riley, formerly principal of Collins Catholic School and assistant principal at St. Rita Catholic School, joins our community with great enthusiasm and vision for the future. As the two men have known each other as colleagues for over 10 years, the administrative transition should be a smooth one. We wish Mr. Ross well in his future endeavors and thank him for leading the school community through the important phase of founding the school. We look forward to Mr. Riley’s leadership as the school and parish community move towards the Phase III activities of growth and change.
Preparing for the Big School
St. Joseph has been blessed to have an Early Learning Program for its youngest members since the 1980’s. In its infancy as an MDO program, parents would drop their children off to play with other children one day a week. It has grown to a program that offers music, spanish, religion with Msgr. Don and computer instruction as well as the expected age appropriate learning and social interaction.
The importance of developing a faith-based foundation for the people who will be nurturing our parish in the future has always been a priority. Our expanding facilities have allowed parents, extended family, teachers, and administrators to develop these children in a safe, productive way. The transition from the Early Learning Program to our elementary school allows our children the continuity of being in a safe, nurturing environment. It epitomizes the expression, “It takes a village to raise a child”. Our children and grandchildren are able to enjoy a wonderful playground, gym, meeting rooms and classrooms and become the adults we all pray they can be.
Faith Formation - For Any Age
We are also blessed to have such a strong Faith Formation program here at
St. Joseph. Faith Formation is an ongoing lifetime process. There are so many ministries that fall under its umbrella. Catechesis is offered for children from age 3 to the 12th grade. Children’s Liturgy of the Word takes place during the 12:15 mass. And the very popular Vacation Bible School is offered for one week during the summer. There are also many programs for adults, including: Adult Faith Formation, Little Rock Scripture Study, Adult Confirmation Preparation Classes and Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Upon the completion of the school, our Faith Formation program moved into its new home. Each classroom in the school was designed to have a large cabinet designated only for Faith Formation supplies and books. The combined use of the classrooms makes for such a lively campus. Students are utilizing our great facilities both during the day and in the evening and on the weekends. With all the different activiites, including all the youth ministry functions, the parking lot is filled with cars on any given evening.
Completion of Phase I
“This addition has had a very powerful effect in helping us build a healthy, strong faith community,” said Msgr. Don. “ The materials used throughout the entire addition reflect the interior of the sanctuary. The liturgy is the primary source of our energy and strength for our community and we wanted to have a sense of that energy and strength throughout the entire building. We wanted the building to have a sense of dignity, because I believe that, when a building is built with a certain kind of dignity and integrity, it enhances the importance of the people who dwell there. So we worked hard for quality.” He also stated that “we worked hard to create a sense of light permeating the building because people flourish when there is light. The rooms and hallways have large windows, and the Early Learning Center has skylights. Another feature is the use of space. The building was designed with a generous use of square footage, large classrooms, wide hallways and entrance ways – again to give a sense of importance to those who dwell here.”
Because these projects were on a grand scale, we were not able to fund them completely and had to borrow money. Our parishioners’ committed support of $9.4 million dollars for construction through our capital campaign called “Our Dwelling Place”. Of the $9.4 million dollars, $5.8 million of debt was needed.
Phase II - Sharing Our Joy
In 2003, the “Sharing Our Joy” campaign was conducted. The money was raised for the completion of the second floor, which included classrooms, a music room, an art studio, a computer lab, the library and a science lab. We received a grant from the Constantin Foundation for $127,332 to equip the computer lab with 29 state-of-the-art computers, flat panel monitors, high-end software, printers and projectors. The lab is used by the school students, adult literacy program participants and ESL students. $30,000 was also received from the Constantin Foundation to help equip the library and $20,000 from the Catholic Foundation to build the IT infrastructure. The science lab was also completed in 2007 with another grant from the Catholic Foundation.
The sense of light and openness is so apparent on the second floor, where our children spend so much of their day. With the addition of skylights, it just radiates with atmosphere. The second floor opens below which continues that sense of light and openness on the first floor.
The completion of the second floor cost an additional $863,000. Only $395,000 of that was added to our debt, bringing our total to $6.2 million. With this addition, the classroom portion of the school is complete. However, there is still a lot to do.
Our school greatly relies on the funds generated from our Auction fundraiser to help facilitate the growth of our school. For six years now, our annual Dinner and Auction have provided crucial funding to support the purchase of student-focused items: the removal of the playground rock, new surfacing of the playground area, the installation of the Early Learning tricycle track, the library collection, the installation of gym dividers, and the implementation of the RenWeb software system. The money raised this year will go towards building our sports field and enhancing our athletic department.
This was our sixth year to have an auction fundraiser and each year it is has grown exponentially. The introduction of a car raffle, this year, was a huge success. We wanted to appeal to the whole parish and since we are the St. Joseph Jaguars, we picked a 2008 Jaguar to raffle. The overwhelming success of the auction and raffle ($100,000 profit) is greatly attributed to the support and generosity of our wonderful parents and parishioners. The funds raise for the addition of our sports field will benefit our entire parish community.