CHRIST THE KING (1947)

When World War II ended, Denver's boom began. Newcomers included many military personnel stationed at Lowry Air Force Base and other area installations. Quite a few of the new residents chose to live in quiet, tree-shaded East Denver.

This population explosion inspired Archbishop Vehr to create a new parish east of Colorado Boulevard. In 1946, he paid $25,000 for a block of land, and Christ the King parish was born on July 3, 1947, with the appointment of John R. Scannell as the first pastor. With a committee of parishioners, Father Scannell planned a traditional parish plant with a church, school, rectory, convent, and gymnasium/auditorium.

The first step in achieving this ambitious goal was the purchase of a $24,000 residence at 700 Fairfax, which served as the first rectory and chapel for daily Mass, then as a convent for the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood.

A combination church/school building, designed by John K. Monroe in buff brick with cream-colored terra cotta trim was dedicated on August 18, 1949. Church services were conducted in the upper level of this $303,633 structure, while the lower housed the parish school. A rectory and $110,000 convent were completed in 1954. Under Edward Leyden, the second pastor, the parish raised $265,000 to begin building a splendid new church. Ultimately, this edifice, which architect John K. Monroe described as eleventh-century Lombardic, was erected for $763,000. The 900-seat church, whose interior is dominated by a twenty-five-foot-high stained glass window of Christ the King behind the altar, was dedicated on April 2, 1963.

Donald A. McMahon, the third pastor, finished the final component of the parish dream, a gymnasium/auditorium complex. Built in the same buff brick and style as the church, the gym was graced by fine landscaping--a Japanese garden, pool, and fountain fill the courtyard at the center of the parish block.

The twelve sisters living in the convent taught over 400 children at Christ the King and also helped out at Curé d'Ars School in Park Hill. To this day, the parish emphasizes children, and its school offers kindergarten through eighth-grade education in the well-equipped building at 860 Elm Street.

Since 1979, Robert L. "Father Bob" Amundsen has directed Christ the King, which in 1988 numbered more than 600 households. The stately church bell tower graces the neighborhood skyline, which it shares with many nearby hospital buildings and high rise apartment houses. To help care for the many sick and elderly within the parish, Sister Marilyn Carpenter, OSB, serves as a pastoral associate and in hospital ministry.

"Christ the King has a long history of ministry to the sick and shut-in," Father Amundsen noted in 1989. "And we also feature annual mission Masses and two annual Masses for those celebrating their twenty-fifth and fiftieth-plus wedding anniveraries. Recently, we also have formed the Korean Catholic Community in our parish, coordinated by Sister Laetitia Choi, OSF, and Doo Sung Lee."