Parish History

It was on June 14, 1957, that the Most Reverend Mark K. Carroll, Bishop of Wichita, proclaimed Holy Cross parish. The third Catholic parish in Hutchinson, Holy Cross was created to serve some 300 families in the northern tier of Reno County townships and in Hutchinson, north of 14th Street.

Father Vincent G. Brown was appointed by Bishop Carroll as the first pastor. The first Mass was celebrated on June 23, 1957 in the 4-H building on the Kansas State Fairgrounds. This was the site of Sunday Mass until construction of the new church and school building was completed. And thus began Holy Cross parish.

Catholicism in Hutchinson

This dream of the new Church of the Holy Cross began many years before the Bishop proclaimed a third parish for Hutchinson. The love of Christ and Catholicism is evident as early as 1541 when Father Juan Padilla was murdered on Kansas soil by hostile Indians. A monument to him stands near Council Grove, Kansas.

The Birth of Holy Cross Parish

By the mid-1950's the Catholic community of northern Reno County and the city of Hutchinson north of 14th Street, had grown to more than 300 families. To meet the spiritual needs of this growing population, the Most Reverend Mark K. Carroll, Diocese of Wichita, created a new parish, the Church of the Holy Cross - June 14, 1957

The dream is realized

From the beginning the parish retained a vision of a permanent church. This dream of a new parish church began to take shape in the spring of 1980 as the parish appeal, known as OPUS DEI - the work of God, began. The announcement of this monumental project was made to the parish family on April 20 in a special homily.  Father Sean O'Shea, pastor of Holy Cross at that time, formed committees to raise funds and draw up plans for the permanent church. Thirty committee members, directed by Father O'Shea, met weekly for seven weeks. In addition, approxi­mately 70 parish volunteers made personal visits to each family in order to insure total participation. A final eighth meeting, called Impact Day, concluded the mass canvass­ing made of parish families. Funds of $1.8 million were raised, and the parish dream began to materialize as the ground breaking for the new Church building took place on No­vember 1, 1981. This ceremony officially began the con­struction phase of the new structure.

Description of the Church

The exterior of the church was built of cottonwood li­mestone, which is native to Southeast Kansas. The layout and exterior design of the church formed a cross symbolic of the parish name and representative of Christ crucified.

A bell tower and steeple rises from the body of the church. The tower, measuring 100 feet from the floor of the church, is crowned by a steeple covered with durano­dic finished aluminum. A gaelic cross sits atop the roof to the right of the steeple. It measures 8 feet high, 51/2  feet wide, and weighs approximately 4,000 pounds. The steeple and cross were assembled in Campbell. Kentucky.

Former Pastors

  • Fr. Vincent Brown - 1957-1964
  • Msgr. Irvin Lampe - 1964-1967
  • Fr. William Wheeler - 1967-1973
  • Fr. Sean O'Shea -1973-1985
  • Fr. David Cushing - 1985-1987
  • Fr. Robert Hemberger (pastor pro-tern) ­Oct. 1986-March 1987
  • Fr. Victor Bieberle - 1987-1995
  • Fr. Brian Egan - 1995-2001
  • Fr. Colin Boor (interim pastor) ­April 2001-July 2001
  • Fr. Brian Bebak - 2001-2002
  • Fr. Joseph Eckberg - 2002-2015
  • Fr. Roger Lumbre - 2015-2017
  • Fr. Aaron Spexarth - 2017-present

Celebrate 60 Slide Show