Published: June 20, 2009 09:08 pm      

St. Mary of the Knobs to build new church in Floyd County

$8.6 million pledged to project

St. Mary of the Knobs parishioners will soon be caught in a time war.

The old church, built in 1909 with a capacity of 350, will be dwarfed by a new state-of-the-art facility nearby which will seat up to 800 people.

The church received planning and zoning approval this week to build the new facility along St. Mary’s Road, near its current church which sits along Martin Road in Floyds Knobs. The church purchased the property two years ago and began a capital campaign with a target of $8.6 million. It has received that amount in pledges.

“We are pushing forward,” said the St. Mary of the Knobs Rev. John Geis. “It’s very exciting. We have had a lot of people involved with the design and meetings ... well over 100. God willing, we will continue to move forward and make it happen.”

Gary Libs is one of the co-chairs of the new building committee and said a study was completed two-and-a-half years ago to assess the parish’s needs. A larger church, activity center and sports fields were at the top of the list.

“The people have really embraced it,” said Libs, who is a sixth-generation church member. “Others did it for us 100 years ago.”

Libs said the $8.6 million will be paid with a five-year pledge from church members.

The design of the new church will be shown to parishioners three days this week — at 7 p.m. in the Parish Hall, following 4:30 p.m. Mass Saturday and noon Mass Sunday.

The new church and activity center will sit on 94 acres. And while it will become the new St. Mary of the Knobs Church, it will not totally replace the current structure. It will be used as a chapel for daily Mass, weddings or funerals, and for children’s ministry.

Geis said his congregation has outgrown the church. He said there are 1,000 families who belong to the church, and the school has 150 children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

“We just need more worship space,” Geis said. “One thing we really need is a gathering space to fellowship with each other. With the current church, you are either in or out. There is no space to congregate. We are growing; many people have moved into the area, and we want to expand that.”

Libs said the new activity center and fields also should help with the growth of the school.

“We feel like with the added facilities, it will help spur growth in our school,” he said. “We will offer about everything a school needs.”

Libs also said there are about 500 active families and 140 have joined in the past five years. He said 45 third-graders recently received first communion.

“That shows you the growth of the church,” Libs said.

The new church and activity building are being designed by Kolvert Hawkins Architects in Jeffersonville.

“They have really listened to the people with what they would like to see in the design,” Geis said.

St. Mary of the Knobs opened its log cabin church in 1823 and is the oldest Catholic church in the Indianapolis Archdiocese which covers Southern/Central Indiana. A brick church was built in 1836, which was replaced by the current structure in 1909.

There are still several steps which have to be taken before ground is broken. The church’s parish council and the Indianapolis Archdiocese have to approve the plans. And half of the $8.6 million will have to be collected before the work begins. Libs said more than $3 million has already been collected.

“We still have a lot of work ahead of us,” Geis said. “We would like to do some of the outside work this fall. But the main work will not start before next year.”

Libs said he is “very, very proud” to be a sixth-generation member of the church. He said his son and grandson will make it eight generations.

“There are multiple families here who are six- to eight-generation members,” he said. “We are very excited about this. People have embraced this despite the poor economy.”

Geis, who has been at the church for 16 years, is eligible for retirement. He said he will stay at least one more year and then take it “year by year.”

“We are taking it one step at a time,” he said. “We are praying each week for God’s guidance.”