NewEarth
May 2014 n 7 1
Bishop blesses site, breaks ground for new parish and school By Aliceyn Magelky
Despite the rain, nearly 300 people joined Diocese of Fargo’s Bishop John Folda, Father James Meyer, pastor at Holy Cross Church in West Fargo and Michael Smith, superintendent of the JPII Catholic Schools Network, to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Trinity Elementary School and Holy Cross Parish. The Holy Cross “bus barn,” normally used for packing and distributing meals for the Daily Bread program, became the site for priests, parish and school representatives, students and community supporters to come together for prayer, singing and levity as they celebrated this positive growth and opportunity in the Diocese of Fargo. In his homily delivered during the ceremony, Bishop Folda, commented on the significance of this groundbreaking by saying, “Today we break ground for the first new school to be established in the Fargo Diocese in many decades. So, this is unquestionably an important moment for Catholic education in our diocese, and in our whole community.” Smith added, “We need to provide Catholic education opportunities for the entire area. And, currently we don’t have a Catholic presence there. With this expansion, we will be able to provide full education programming in-
cluding preschool for 3-year-olds and after-school programs.” Bishop Folda also pointed out the impact this build will have for the parish by saying, “This groundbreaking also moves Holy Cross parish a giant step farther in their plan to establish a new parish home. With the building of offices and a parish hall that will serve as their temporary church, this growing parish will have an even greater opportunity to flourish and welcome the many people who have swelled their ranks in recent years.” Located in West Fargo near Costco, a few blocks west of Veterans Boulevard, the school and parish is positioned in an area rapidly expanding with new homes and businesses and will provide a much needed Catholic presence. Both Bishop Folda and Smith emphasized that Trinity will make it much easier for people living in that area and neighboring communities to provide their children with Catholic, faith-based education. According to Father James Meyer, pastor of Holy Cross, the congregation of Holy Cross has almost tripled in size since the mid-1990s. The church now serves about 1,300 families. When the entire church building project is complete, the church will be able to seat about 1,000 people. The school will have the capacity to hold 300 students from pre-K through fifth grade.
Aliceyn Magelky / New Earth
Surrounded by building committee members, community supporters and other dignitaries, Bishop John Folda and Father James Meyer prepare to take a ceremonial dig into the soil on the site of the new Holy Cross Church and Trinity Elementary School on April 24.
Construction on Trinity Elementary School and the adjoining parish hall is expected to be completed by July 2015. The remainder of the church will be finished at a later date. “We have little doubt that in three or four years it [the school] will be full,”
Smith said. Following the prayer service and blessing, Bishop Folda added a bit of a twist to the traditional groundbreaking by taking his first dig into the soaked soil by operating a Komatsu excavator that will be used in the project.
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