 |
ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL (1979)Archbishop Casey asked Robert M. Syrianey, in 1978, to start a new parish in southeastern Aurora. Land had already been acquired for a new church to relieve overcrowding at Queen of Peace, Risen Christ, and St. Thomas More. Father Syrianey celebrated the first Mass on March 12, 1978, at the Meadowood Recreation Center. About 300 persons attended those early Masses and meetings and expressed interest in building a new church. Potlucks, picnics, and meet-the-pastor nights were used to muster support. By the summer of 1978, St. Michael's had grown so large that Sunday Masses had to be shifted to the auditorium of Smoky Hill High School. The Gold Rush (a parish carnival) was launched to raise money, as were St. Patrick's Day and Novemberfest dances, enabling Father Syrianey and his parishioners to break ground in June 1980. The new parish center was completed in time for a Valentine's Day Mass in 1981 and blessed by Archbishop Casey on March 21. As St. Michael's passed the 1,000-families-registration mark in 1981, Sister Marie C. Fitzpatrick, BVM, took charge of the religious education and sacramental preparation programs. In June 1985, Bernard A. Schmitz, an Aurora native, became the second pastor of St. Michael's. The parish family membership reached 2,300 that year but has since stabilized, after the oil bust of 1983 and leaner years. Because the 2,180 parish families in 1988 had many children, Father Schmitz says the parish continues to emphasize its preschool and youth ministry. The daily preschool program is one of the few in Colorado to earn accreditation from the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs. Sister Marie Fitzpatrick reported in a 1988 interview:
|