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St. Odilia Parish History
In 1960 Archbishop Brady established the parish placing it under the patronage of St. Odilia and in the care of the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross, the Crosiers. Leo Kapphahn, OSC, was named the first pastor and Jerry Plourde, OSC, the associate pastor.
The first Mass was celebrated at Lake Owasso School, and later Sunday Masses at Capitol View Junior High School. Daily Mass and Baptisms were celebrated in the chapel in “the little green house”. About 500 people attended the first Mass.
Archbishop Brady recommended that a school be built before the construction of a church. The Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary agreed to staff the new parish school.
In 1961, a religious education program began with classes meeting in parishioners’ homes. In June ground was broken for the new school. In July of 1962 Archbishop Binz dedicated St. Odilia School and classes began in September.
In Spring of 1963 “the little green house” was moved to its present location and became the convent.
(Previous St. Odilia pastors, from L to R: Fr. Tony Salzbrunn, osc, Fr. Leo Kapphahn, osc, Fr. Charlie Kunkel, osc)
Membership in the parish reached 1,000 households in the spring of 1968.
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the parish, a Fall Festival was planned in 1970 which has become an annual event.
In February of 1983, ground was broken for the new church. The 1.4 million dollar project included the new church, the enclosed courtyard, new exterior windows for the school and a new roof on the existing structure. By Spring, parish membership had grown to about 2,000 households.
February of 1984 marked a milestone in the development of parish ministry as lay presiders began their ministry leading Word Communion and wake services.
June 1985 was the twenty fifth anniversary of the founding of the parish.
In 1986, the five seasons of RENEW began. Later that year the cross was installed in the sanctuary. The following year the shrine of St. Odilia, funded by the youth of the parish, was installed and dedicated.
The next few years marked significant growth in ministry, education and stewardship with the commissioning of Stephen Ministers, the start of the SP.R.ED. program for developmentally challenged adults, the initiation of Kindergarten at St. Odilia School, the establishment of the Endowment Fund, a strengthened focus on social justice and outreach, and the decision to partner with St. Adalbert’s parish in Frogtown through regular support of their food shelf.
Also during this time a Mission Statement was developed for the parish emphasizing our call to growth in discipleship.
In 1993, the Pastoral Ministry Department was reorganized and expanded. A new leadership structure was initiated, and the reorganized Parish Pastoral Council significantly increased the number of parishioners directly involved in forming policy and implementing decisions.
In 1995, the parish began its fourth major building project which included the construction of a new parish center, cafeteria, classroom and child care room, the remodeling of former office space to create a new education center and auxiliary kitchen in the courtyard, additional space for the library, and work on the facility to meet code requirements.
Current work revolves around a change to a dual-focus leadership with a pastoral and parish director and a newly-restructured lay leadership plan designed to involve more parishioners. Details are available in the leadership groups pages of the website.
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Parish
Parish History