Building on Faith
Saint Paul’s Journey
Part Five:
A Community Reunited:
It’s unclear what first attracted two Dominican sisters from Racine, Wisconsin to Nampa. They first helped meet the needs of north Nampa’s Hispanic community by creating a Food Bank. Soon thereafter they began laying the groundwork of what would eventually be a small diocese parish to which the faithful of north Nampa could walk. In concert with St. Paul’s parish council, Sister Janet Ackerman and Sister Jeanne Burg worked with Father Mauricio Medina and Bishop Sylvester Treinen to purchase some property for a new church in 1980. What had been the Peace Lutheran Church in the Lake View Park neighborhood became Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. The new parish began to minister to Spanish-speaking Catholics in north Nampa.
Well aware of the imminent lack of space confronting the large parish of St. Paul’s, the Marist Fathers dispatched a letter to members of the St. Paul’s community who lived in the vicinity of the north Nampa church to consider attending Mass in their neighborhood. The Marists left it to the discretion of parishioners whether or not to make the change. Many did. Some did not.
In fact, the Marist’s and the Diocese had been concerned about overcrowding in the church for many years. In 1966 the Bishop and St. Paul’s pastor at the time, Fr. Edward Donze, had the foresight to purchase land for future growth. The property they obtained was a roughly 21 acre parcel of open farmland just over one mile west of the present St. Paul’s site. The “Roosevelt” property, as it came to be known, was purchased for a fraction of its present-day value and was leased for farming, which provided the parish with a small revenue source for 38 years. Today, the property offers St. Paul’s an almost ideal setting for the construction of its new church and school campus.
In the course of the 17 years of the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, attendance blossomed. The English mass was held at 5:00 pm on Saturdays for the Anglo minority of the parish. Two, and later three, Spanish language masses were held each Sunday. All the masses for feast days and important holidays were bi-lingual masses that became a big highlight for the community. Monthly events and parish activities dotted the social calendar.
A full variety of ministries served the community of Our Lady of Guadalupe—Lectors, altar servers, musicians, catechists for religious education, fellowship, and social justice. Members of the congregation especially recall the Holy Spirit recruiting the Diaspora of the Latino community of Nampa during the service of Father Tom Taylor.
The bilingual Masses brought the readings and music in both Spanish and English. The ministers of music learned the Spanish and English language versions of the Our Father and other necessary songs and responsorials. And, most importantly, the diocese provided priests who spoke Spanish.
Under then Bishop Tod Brown, Our Lady of Guadalupe was required by the diocese to close in 1997. The Marists still served St. Paul’s at the time. The Latino community of the Nampa faithful, were again attending the only Roman Catholic parish in town, and again the primary language was English. The readings and homily were provided by a Spanish speaking lay minister. The Latino community, many of whom were now unable to celebrate Mass in their native tongue, were less than filled with the Holy Spirit. The last months of service by the Marist Fathers were difficult for the Guadalupe community who so missed their little church.
After over 95 years of generous leadership and ministering, often through difficult times, the Marists ended their stewardship of the Nampa mission of St. Paul’s in the summer of 1998. The holy men enjoyed a warm farewell at a celebration held in the Columbian Hall. The thankful parish shared a goodbye filled with tears–both from sadness and laughter.
The parish was faced with another difficult transition and an uncertain future lie ahead. Later that same year, the diocese of Boise placed Father Jerry Funke, an Anglo who spoke Spanish, and Father George Gonzales, a Latino who spoke English, at Saint Paul’s to serve the full community of Nampa believers in both English and Spanish.
To honor the memory of the north Nampa church, Father Jerry commissioned a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe for the shrine at the back of St. Paul’s. The Spanish language masses began to fill up when word spread that St. Paul’s had a priest who spoke Spanish. In a few short months the 10:00 English mass and 12:00 Spanish mass had standing room only. Those who had served the many ministries of Our Lady of Guadalupe began serving St. Paul’s. Music groups stayed almost intact. Religious Education ministers and catechists began serving at St. Paul’s creating a feeling of continuity.
In spite of the successful reuniting of the two communities, the parish still had one dilemma: the combined congregation cried out for more space.
? Michelle Tanberg
& Rusty Boicourt