With Purchase Of Land, An Exciting New Chapter Begins For St. Scholastica

Our parishioners received joyous news this summer when St. Scholastica Church closed on a 10-acre piece of land off of Highway 52. The purchase brings our parish one step closer to fulfilling a long-held dream of expansion.

“The hopes and dreams for the last 20 years of parishioners at St. Scholastica were to expand our church,” Fr. Rob says. “Many people throughout those years have made serious contributions on true faith, knowing that someday God would fulfill this dream.”

In addition to the beautiful landscape and sweeping views, the new land includes a house, garage, print shop, pole barn, and surface water drainage. The parish is already looking at ways the existing buildings may be used in the short term, including the possibility of converting the large garage into a chapel and creating an outdoor space where Mass can be celebrated during the pandemic. Currently, our Boy Scouts are working on the installation of a beautiful outdoor Stations of the Cross on the new property.

The work of our parish Development Committee was fundamental to the purchase of the land. This group of 16 dedicated parishioners formed in 2017 to locate a suitable site for a new church campus. In the last two years, they have performed extensive research, visited roughly 15 potential sites, and put bids on four different properties.

Committee members are thrilled that their hard work has now paid off! Collaborating on this project has been a great experience for all involved.

“It’s been very positive working as a committee,” says committee chair Mike Crader. “People have a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, and we needed those views to make this successful. And Fr. Rob has been really good to work with — he was very supportive and there was good communication back and forth.”

Fr. Rob shares Mike’s gratitude for the wonderful teamwork that allowed for our faith community to take this step forward.

“I couldn’t have done this without the incredible support of the parish,” Fr. Rob says. “Literally hundreds of people have in some way — whether it’s through prayer or their professional business confidence — brought about God bringing us this gift. And this is just beginning.”

Another truly remarkable way our parishioners showed support for this project was in the generous sharing of their treasure.

“As we were going to closing, we had $600,000 from the capital campaign years ago, $55,269.19 from the internally designated Looking for Moriah collections, $329,031 of setaside annual surplus funds in the fund for the purchase of land,” reports Parish Business Manager Kristin Stegmueller. “We spent $641,305.93 for purchase of the land, as well as $23,057.38 for due diligence testing before closing from this fund, and we took a loan from the Archdiocese of Denver for $631,305.92.”

Moving forward on our new land on Highway 52, the priority is to obtain a permit allowing for the regularly scheduled celebration of Mass on the property. The parish is now in the process of having an architectural firm draw up site plans. Weld County also requires a Colorado Department of Transportation traffic survey of the site, as well as letters of commitment from the local utility companies.

While much work remains to be done, these first steps toward fulfilling the dream of parish expansion are certainly very exciting!

“A lot of people are really excited, especially our longtime parishioners who have been around 20 years to see this growth,” Mike says. “I think everybody is really happy with the property and can see the vision of a property and facilities that will provide for the community for the next 100 to 150 years. We’ll be able to grow into it, increase our missions, and support the community.”

With great admiration and respect for our parish that began as a small country church — and with the hope of preserving that history by one day moving our current church to the new land to be used as a daily Mass and Adoration chapel — Fr. Rob looks ahead to a bright and vibrant future for St. Scholastica Catholic Church.

“In 1899, as the bishop came out and consecrated the [original] mission church, a new life of faith, hope, and love began in the Erie faith community,” Fr. Rob says. “Once again, we have opened up a new chapter in the book of St. Scholastica in 2020 as we purchased this land and had our first Mass on the land with great joy from all of our parishioners.”

Fr. Rob Wedow and Development Committee Chair Mike Crader celebrate the official purchase of land for our new parish campus.