St. Ann parishioners break ground for new church

Project architect Diane Guljas of Sebree Architects Inc. stands with, from left, Nova Gilliatte, superintendent of Eden Enterprises; Stan Schutz, president of Eden Enterprises; and Father Glenn O’Connor, pastor of St. Ann and St. Joseph parishes in Indianapolis, with an architectural rendering of the new St. Ann Church after the June 29 groundbreaking ceremony. Eden Enterprises will build the new church and social hall, which will be completed in early 2009. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

Next Easter, St. Ann parishioners in Indianapolis will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as a symbolic resurrection of their small parish with a new church and address.

“Thank you, Jesus,” Father Glenn O’Connor, the pastor of St. Ann and St. Joseph parishes in Indianapolis, said after the blessing and groundbreaking for the new St. Ann Church on June 29 at the northwest corner of Mills and Mooresville roads in Decatur Township.

“It’s a bold step,” Father O’Connor said as he watched excited St. Ann parishioners take turns shoveling dirt on the 25-acre site adjacent to a new housing development and several residential neighborhoods.

The land was owned and farmed by the Mills family, who are Quakers, for several generations. It will become sacred ground with the completion of the church and attached social hall in early 2009.

If the 309-household parish grows as rapidly as expected at its new suburban location in southwestern Marion County, Father O’Connor said, the second phase of St. Ann’s expansion plans will include construction of a new grade school and larger church.

“It’s a big leap of faith,” he said. “It’s been a long journey from the families that went before us, and we’re taking that next big step. With a lot of help, a lot of prayers and a lot of archdiocesan support, we’re well on our way.

“At its current location on Holt Road, the parish had no room to grow,” Father O’Connor explained. “It was pretty much landlocked there, and most of our parishioners live down in this area [of Decatur Township] anyway.”

St. Ann Parish was established by Bishop Francis Silas Chatard in 1917 as World War I was drawing to a close.

Father John Patterson, the founding pastor, celebrated Masses in a military Quonset hut, which served as the first church, at 2862 S. Holt Road in the former town of Mars Hill.

The parish was founded near Stout Field, now the Indiana National Guard headquarters, and Weir Cook Airport, now Indianapolis International Airport.

St. Ann School was opened in 1919 and staffed by Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in 1925.

The second St. Ann Church, a frame building, was completed in 1927.

A larger, brick school was constructed in 1950, and the former school building became a convent.

The third church, a contemporary, round, brick building, was dedicated in 1969.

Demographic changes led to the establishment of more industries along Holt Road and nearby Interstate 70 as area residents moved to new suburban neighborhoods south of Mars Hill.

Declining membership and enrollment forced the parish to close St. Ann School in June 1989.

In April, My Father’s House, a Church of God in Christ faith community, purchased St. Ann Church. The Pentecostal congregation is sharing the worship space with St. Ann parishioners until the new church is ready early next year.

Father Harold Rightor, associate pastor of St. Ann and St. Joseph parishes, said after the groundbreaking that he is pleased to be a part of this historic time in the life of the 91-year-old Indianapolis South Deanery parish.

“It’s nice how the Lord starts things new,” Father Richtor said. “We’ll eventually see the parish grow and … more people come together as God’s people and become a family.”

Longtime St. Ann parishioner Sandi Stanfield, the parish council president and a former teacher at St. Ann School, said she dreams of the day when the parish is able to open a new grade school.

“The possibilities for growth are exciting,” Stanfield said as she greeted parishioners and guests during a reception after the groundbreaking.

“I have lived out here since 1972 and have had to drive out of the area to go to church,” she said. “I live two blocks from here, and now I will be able to walk to church. It’s an exciting time in the parish history. Our hopes are that eventually we will grow large enough to have a St. Ann School again.”

Eric Atkins, director of management services for the archdiocese, said the property was purchased three years ago and is about five miles southwest of the current parish address.

“They have been working for the last three years to build on this site,” Atkins said on June 26. “The proposed building is the first phase of a long-term campus development on the parish property. The first phase will encompass a temporary church that will house 400 seats. It will also have a social hall that will accommodate 265 seats as well as a couple of classrooms and parish office space.”

Atkins said construction of the temporary church should begin later this summer, and parish membership in future years will determine when ground is broken for the larger, permanent church.

Architect Diane Guljas, who works for Sebree Architects Inc. and is a member of St. Malachy Parish in Brownsburg, said after the groundbreaking that she feels humbled to work on this church project.

“It’s designed for all brick with an entry arch,” Guljas said of the church plans. “At the entry vestibule, there are small window arches on each side with a cast stone cross set within the brick to define the entry.

“It is not the final church so in the next phase it will become the multipurpose room,” she said. “We had to resist a little bit from adding a steeple and other features we would have liked to have had because that would have competed with [the design of] the final church.”

“It’s a great location,” Guljas said, “a great community.” †