OUR LADY MOTHER OF THE CHURCH (1954)

This parish's history begins with the humble mission of St. Catherine in Derby, a truck-farming area in the eastern part of Commerce City. John Giambastiani, OSM, the pastor of Assumption parish in nearby Welby, acquired five acres for a Derby mission in the 1940s.

After counting a parish base of sixty families, another Servite priest, Dominic Albino, served as the first pastor and designed and supervised construction of a $17,500 chapel, dedicated by Archbishop Vehr on August 19, 1949. Parishioners donated much of the labor and materials and helped pay for the rest by launching the annual Derby Fair in 1950.

The mission was given parish status in 1954 by Archbishop Vehr. By 1955, 835 families belonged to St. Catherine's, and the sanctuary was moved back to squeeze in ten more pews. Surplus government barracks were purchased and converted to a parish hall and six classrooms, where as many as 1,033 children a year attended Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes.

Augustine M. Holloway, OSM, became pastor in 1967 and campaigned to build a new church. It was completed in 1970 and dedicated by Archbishop Casey as Our Lady Mother of the Church. Four years later, on March 21, 1974, this church burned in a $228,000 fire, thought to be arson. Members moved back into the old church and began rebuilding. By December 8, 1974, a new church had risen from the ashes and was rededicated by Archbishop Casey.

Gilbert Hayden, pastor from 1976-1982, replaced the old confessional with the Pieta Shrine, and the Knights of Columbus added their hall to the parish complex. The Servites turned over the parish to the archdiocese in July 1982. F. Bernard Schmitz was the first archdiocesan pastor, followed in 1985 by Thomas L. McCormick, who became a civic as well as a spiritual leader in Commerce City. When toxic wastes stored at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, which is only a few blocks east of the church, contaminated South Adams County Water District wells, Father McCormick and his parishioners helped organize the Citizens Against Contamination. Spurred in part by the concerned pastor and parishioners, the Shell Oil Company and the U.S. Army began a multimillion-dollar cleanup of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

Today, Our Lady Mother of the Church occupies almost two full blocks; next to the religious education building and rectory/office, the elegant new brick church rises in an A-frame of massive wooden beams that look like modern buttresses. The humble little St. Catherine Chapel, resurfaced with bricks and converted to a multipurpose hall, is now part of a parish serving over 700 registered families.