Bishop blesses new faith-formation center in Houghton
July12,2021
by Eddie O'Neill
For decades, weekly catechism classes for roughly 140 kids (K-12) at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Houghton meant cramming students into tiny rooms spread out across the parish campus.
“We had kids everywhere and anywhere,” said parish faith-formation director and bookkeeper Annette Butina. “It was not an ideal situation to say the least.”
In May, the faith-formation conundrum came to an end, as the parish opened the doors to a brand-new, six-room, $1.5 million facility connected to the church. According to Butina, it was a project that was discussed for more than 15 years. In May of 2020, ground was finally broken just outside the church doors.
Not only will the facility serve religious education students and teachers, but also adult-faith-formation needs, as well as a place for children's Liturgy of the Word. It will be helpful with funerals and weddings at the parish also.
Butina remembers the “opening day” when the kids arrived for their first class in the new building. “We have a unique situation where on Wednesday afternoons (during the school year) the Houghton school bus brings the kids here to the parish,” she said. “When the kids got off the bus and came running in to the building, they were in awe.”
Equally impressed has been longtime parishioner and St. Ignatius pastoral council member David Caspary. He and his wife Kathy have been members of the parish since 1985. He was brought on board to help with the capital campaign in 2019.
“The magnitude of our parishioners' support was humbling to me,” he said. “We did this as a faith community, and it will be with us for decades and generations yet to be born.”
In mid-June, Bishop Doerfler paid a visit to St. Ignatius for Mass and to bless the new facility. Drawing upon that Sunday's Gospel of the sower and the scattered seed, the bishop said there was a perfect parallel.
“This facility is a wonderful testament to your faith and your dedication to passing the faith along to young people here at St. Ignatius,” he said during his homily.
“What you have built out here is a place to scatter seeds. As we bless this center, we put into the hands of God everyone who will be instructed here. May the seeds scattered by grace and power of God take root and begin to grow as we cannot cause people to believe, that's God's work."
Reflecting on Bishop Doerfler’s visit, Caspary added: “We've been neck deep in making this project happen – communicating, planning, fundraising, designing, constructing, and approving. There hasn't been time really to step back and think about what all of this means. The dedication by Bishop Doerfler and the words of his homily was when it all started to sink in. Bishop John talked about spreading seeds, and that is what we intend to do in this new center. As one parishioner said to me at the dedication, 'I can't wait until we start fully using this facility!'”