November 6, 2009
Ground broken for new church at St. Clement, Boonville
Among participants breaking ground for the new St. Clement Church in Boonville are Ron, Tubbs, Dan Harpenau, Richard Lasher, Kevin Callahan, Father Lowell Will, Bob and Ann Martin, Bernard Peter and Joe Derr; also participating but not in the range of the photograph were Boonville Mayor Pam Hendrickson and Julie Malone. (Message photo by Paul R. Leingang) Click for a larger version.
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
“Finally!” That was the first word shouted enthusiastically by Elaine Ritzert as she welcomed people to “Sing a New Church” at St. Clement Church in Boonville. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held at the church Nov. 1.
The ceremony was attended by about 125 people — enough to nearly fill the small church structure that has served the parish since the 1880s. Following the opening hymn in the church, Father Lowell Will began the ceremony with a prayer written for the occasion by Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger, who celebrated two confirmations that day and was not present for the Boonville ceremony.
Father Will and Deacon Thomas Lambert led a procession to the site of the new church building, which had been marked off in chalk just behind the current structure. Father Will noted that all of the people present were inside the location of the new worship space.
“It’s a great project,” said Ritzert in an interview following the ceremony, explaining her enthusiastic shout. “We’ve got to rejoice, we’re going to the house of the Lord!”
At the building site, Ritzert led the participants in the hymn, “All Are Welcome,” which includes the words, “Let us build a house where love can dwell,” and where “the love of Christ shall end divisions.”
“Yes, there were differences along the way,” Father Will noted in his comments. But now he prayed that the parish would “unite in love to move forward.”
“This is a victory for our entire parish,” said the pastor. He offered “congratulations and sincere thanks” to the parish community “on this momentous and God-blessed moment.”
He said the present church was “a tribute to our ancestors” and that the new church would be “a gift of faith and love to our children and grandchildren and all future generations.”
That was a thought echoed in an interview with Michael Greer, a parishioner and photographer who is documenting the building project.
“Every major event of my life took place in this [current church] building,” he said. He was baptized, received communion, went to confession and was confirmed at St. Clement. He and his wife were married there; their three children and three grandchildren were all baptized there. But, “if the good Lord is willing and the creek don’t rise, my funeral will not be held here,” he joked.
Greer said his mother was upset with the construction plan, but he is convinced that “for the future of this parish we have to have a new church.”
Father Will blessed the new site with holy water, and then a dozen people joined him in the ceremonial groundbreaking. They included Boonville Mayor Pam Hendrickson; Ron Tubbs, parish council chairman; Dan Harpenau, chairman of the St. Clement planning committee; Richard Lasher, from Peyronnin Construction Company; Kevin Callahan, architect with Callahan and Associates; Bob and Ann Martin, co-chairs of the capital campaign committee; Bernard Peter, finance committee chairman; Joe Derr, president of the men’s club, and Julie Malone, treasurer of the ladies’ club.
Father Will then circled the site, strewing handsful of ashes from palms that had been used on Palm Sunday earlier this year. Young members of the parish joined him in spreading the ashes, which he said are “a sign of victory.”