The Wichita Diocese, first established in 1887, in a territory not known for its lush and bountiful land, numbered just 8,000 Catholic souls. With hope and trust in God's good graces they put down their roots and flourished. The Diocese has grown steadily since then.
The need for space and room to grow also continues today. The last new parish was established over 10 years ago in 1998. Today, there are over 93 parishes in 25 counties in the diocese serving 115,000 souls.
Bishop Jackels, citing rapid growth in population and increased size of parishes in northwest Wichita decreed the need for, and established the Diocese's newest parish. St. Catherine of Siena is established to fill that growing need. Its boundaries would roughly coincide with the US Postal zip code 67205.
A call from the Bishop to Fr. Daniel Spexarth on April 26th, 2008, just three days in advance of our Patron Saint's Feast day, begins our story...
The Bishop assigned Fr. Dan, soon to celebrate 25 years as an ordained minister, to lead this new community. Fr. Spexarth was born and raised in Colwich. He grew up on a farm, in a home steeped in faith. He brought his deep connection to the land with him as he envisioned a place and a future we should invest in. The place where future generations would be able to see God's hope in us as well as our hope in Him.
In the summer of 2008, Fr. Dan began celebrating daily mass at Cornerstone Assisted Living Center located on North Ridge Road. Weekend Masses were held in the homes of new parishioners. At these home Masses, Fr. Dan met parishioners in small groups of fewer than 25 persons. The rapid expansion and enthusiastic response as people registered indicated a temporary church must be located sooner rather than later. Our first Church was a warehouse located at 7335 West 33rd St North.
With little more than leased space in this small warehouse, and materials borrowed from Catholic parishes across the plains, St. Catherine of Siena celebrated its first public Mass on September 1st, 2008, just four months after the Bishop's decree. We numbered 111 families.
Our small Church allowed us to worship closely, and pray powerfully. We were not just a community, we were family. Looking back, our small size is a fond memory. We imagined the way earlier parishes started out. We felt blessed to be in on the ground floor of this parish. And we wanted to share our passion with others. Fr. Dan called, and the community responded.
Very soon, our 'nave' capacity of 150 spilled into the 'vestibule'. More weekend Masses were added. We had people turn away because there wasn't even standing room available. We had to build and soon. Before our first full year was out, September of 2009, we numbered 493 families. An increase of nearly 450%.
A generous heart was present in all our parishioners. We were young families just starting out. We were middle aged families with grade school, high school, and college students. We were empty nesters and retired couples with desires to help in any manner. We were senior citizens with knowledge, depth, and tradition. What bound us together was our faith.
St. Catherine's guidance and support has been sought from the beginning. Her birthday has marked significant events in our Parish. It was on March 25, 2009, five people walked the land where we would build. On March 25, 2010 the contract for construction was signed. It was on March 25, 2011 our new building was blessed. Under the steady hand and experience of Fr. Dan Spexarth, the Saint Catherine family was able to take a vision, design a plan, and build what became a reality.
Our second Church was completed in March of 2011, at our current home at 3636 N. Ridge Road. The Church has seating for 780 people and meeting rooms which were initially used as classrooms before the building of our Parish Education Center. Our Adoration Chapel was decorated with furnishings and woodwork from our first church and stained glass inserts depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary also provided continuity from our old site.
By September of 2010, at the end of our second full year, we numbered 642 families. As of April of 2015, our “little church in the warehouse” grew to over 1200 families! What a blessing! We ask that you come and join as our journey continues.
