Divine Mercy Parish at 555 W. Main, Gardner, KS 66030-1189 US - Sacred Heart History 1870 to the Present . . .and Assumption History 1857 to the Present
Sacred Heart History
1870 to the Present . . .and
Assumption History
1857 to the Present
Our Legacy
Sacred Heart Church has always been important in the history of Gardner, Kansas. The Parish actually began in 1870 with 15 families was called "St. Columbia".
At the onset of the railroad, the city grew and a small frame church had to give way to the Parish Church built in 1912. At that time the church's name was changed to "The Sacred Heart of Jesus" while the 3 acre parish cemetery received the name of St. Columbia.
In October of 1921 a new church bell was dedicated by Bishop Ward. It was a gift of Patrick Hamilton in memory of his mother, Margaret.
The present Rectory was built during the 1960's by Fr. Gardner. Many years later during Fr. Gardner's second pastorate our beautiful Parish Center was built. Religious Education classes and Social Events had to soon give way to our weekend Liturgies. We had run out of room.
In June of 2004, our current church was opened. Our new church houses the Parish offices, a large foyer and a worship space for up to 900 people.
We are currently proceeding with plans to build a new parish center to accomodate the demands of our growing parish. This new center will be built on the west side of the current church and will give us much needed amenities and classrooms for our catholic education classes. Please visit our New Parish Center page for more information.
Assumption was originally known as "Bull Creek Parish", the first settlers began to arrive to this area in 1854. Nearly all of them had come from Ireland and France. They were a good class of people, honest and industrious. They were imbued with the old faith and left nothing undone to bring the blessings of religion into their rough and lonely lives. They lived in dugouts, sod houses, log cabins and finally, in comfortable homes.
The first priest to visit the settlement was Father Bernard Donnelly, who walked from Kansas City to celebrate the mass. In an early writing of J.W.McCarthy, he writes, in the log cabin of Mr. and Mrs. John McCarthy, was celebrated the first Mass, which was attended by six families only. In this log cabin, were administered all the sacraments of the Church except Holy Orders. It was a home to all the priests and Bishops up until 1880.
In 1857, the families began the construction of its first church. It was built of logs. The men of the district worked together and built what was perhaps one of the first Catholic churches in Kansas for white people exclusively. This first log church was only 14 x 16 feet. A new stone church was built and dedicated in 1867, just east of the small log church. The present church was built in 1893 for a cost of three thousand dollars. Father Pompency dedicated the church Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mother on the feast of Assumption, August 15, 1893.