SPIRIT OF CHRIST CATHOLIC COMMUNITY (1973)

"This parish is being developed from the grassroots with as much lay input as possible," the founding pastor declared. And from the beginning, a vibrant community spirit enlivened Spirit of Christ.

"Our Catholic community," parishioner Kathy Galiffa wrote in 1989,

emerged from the warmth and caring of St. Anne's Parish in Olde Town Arvada. During the early 1970s, St. Anne's became so large that it took 13 Masses a weekend to accommodate everyone. Even after St. Anne's established mini-parishes which met in people's homes, the liturgies became so crowded it was apparent that a new parish was needed.

Archbishop Casey saw the need and authorized a parish to serve the northern part of Arvada. Emil Schneider, Sr., donated a large parcel of land, St. Anne's donated $50,000 in seed money, and John Martens went to work as the first pastor. This Claretian father gathered with 200 parishioners for Sunday Masses at the Weber Elementary School gym, and, on July 1, 1974, for an outdoor candlelight Mass on the church site.

Parishioners voted to name themselves the Spirit of Christ Catholic Community. Bishop Richard Hanifen, in his first official action after consecration as auxiliary bishop, presided at the ground-breaking. David M. Sobieszczyk, who would become pastor a year later, was also there. Parish volunteers did much of the finish work inside, where Sister Martha Clare Bond, CPPS, created the liturgical design. Seracuse Lawler & Partners, a Denver architectural firm, was responsible for the stark, low-slung, red brick and grey metal church with its raw brick and redwood interior, which Archbishop Casey dedicated on July 1, 1975.

Kenneth Leone, a Denver native, had always wanted to be a priest. As a grade schooler, he said pretend Masses at a small make-believe altar in his basement. After graduating from St. Catherine Grade School, Regis High School, and St. Thomas Seminary, he became the third pastor in 1981. Building on the lay-minded styles of his predecessors, Father Leone turned Spirit of Christ into what Archbishop Stafford has called a "church of the 21st century."

Father Leone celebrated his twentieth anniversary as a priest in 1987 by ascending over the church in a hot air balloon to shower children below with candy from heaven. Father Leone, a former archdiocesan director of Catholic Youth Services, has been nicknamed the "McDonald's Priest." That, he explained, is because he goes to wherever teenagers feel comfortable to talk with them, to arrange reconciliations and marriages. Father Leone adds, "I've heard more than 1,000 confessions at McDonald's."

Spirit of Christ is unusual in having a permanent deacon, Michael J. Howard, who serves as associate pastor, and in having Sue McNulty standing next to the tabernacle during Mass to sign for the deaf. Masses are also amplified with video cameras, a sound board, and an electronic screen that flashes song lyrics.

Although the 1974 structure held 750 worshippers, it seemed to grow smaller every Sunday, as the parish zoomed past the 1,000-family-memberships mark by 1979. On September 28, 1986, Archbishop Stafford dedicated a $1 million addition and renovation for a congregation of over 3,500 registered families.

Father Leone remarked in 1988 that:

As a community we tithe 10 percent of our offertory collection to assist not only our parish families in crisis, but crisis situations in the larger community--such as shelters for battered women, peace and justice here and abroad. We help missions in Sudan, Mexico, China, and El Salvador, sending some of our members all over the globe to do missionary work, while others stay in Arvada and donate time to Meals on Wheels and the Arvada Food Bank.

Spirit of Christ is a stewardship community, striving to return to God a fitting portion of our time, talent, and treasure. Spirit of Christ's goal is to make every person entering our community feel welcomed, accepted, loved; and an abundance of Christ's peace.