“We’ll start in a new building for the first time in 100 and some years,” said John Korb, a lifelong member of the church and a member of the building committee.

Korb spoke at last Sunday’s Mass in the old church on River Street.

For Korb, as well as for many of the other parishioners, it was an emotional morning.

“My father started going there in the 1920s, and my mom started going there in the 1930s,” Korb said. “Just the memories of things, whether it be baptisms, marriages, funerals.”

That’s the difficult part about building a new worship center, Korb said.

“I think that’s going to be the hard part for people like me who are sentimental,” he said.

But, Korb said, the completed worship center will give the church the breathing room it needs.

Often, he said, weddings were held in other churches simply because the seating at the old church was limited. Confirmation classes have been held at the Savior of the World seminary in Kansas City, Kan., to provide more space. On holiday services, parishioners filled the sanctuary and overflowed into the basement.

“I guess it’s progress,” Korb said. “We’ve just outgrown our church and it no longer can fit all the needs we have.”

Moving on

With the new worship center completed, this week, church members are busy moving the contents of the old church into the new church.

Monday night’s work went well, according to Father Mark Goldasich. So well, in fact, he said the rains stopped just in time for the moving.

Goldasich, who has been at the parish since 1991, said the thought of a new center was on the minds of his parishioners long before he arrived in Tonganoxie.

In fact, he said, the Kansas City Archdiocese had already purchased the property where the new worship center is located.

“They try to look for areas that perhaps in the future might grow, to have something available just in case,” Goldasich said. “I think they really liked this location.”

And when the time came to build the new worship center, Goldasich said, the church bought the land from the Archdiocese — at a pretty good price.

“We purchased it for what they purchased it for,” Goldasich said.

Goldasich said he’s been encouraged by comments he’s heard from parishioners, as well as from those who don’t belong to Sacred Heart.

“I went to vote this morning,” Goldasich said Tuesday. “And folks there said we just love the new center.”

That’s what he likes to hear.

“We wanted something that not only fits our needs, but also something that the whole community can be proud of,” Goldasich said. “We’ve been here over 100 years. We wanted to have a structure that would serve our needs, but would make the community proud, as well.”

Although he’s seen the worship center progress from stakes in the ground to a completed building, Goldasich said he’s still surprised when he sees it.

“I’m still kind of stunned that it’s actually sitting out there,” Goldasich said.