Divine Mercy Parish
555 W. Main Street
Gardner, KS 66030
114 E. Nelson Street
Edgerton, KS 66021
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(C) Copyright 2012 | Divine Mercy Parish. All Rights Reserved | Mailing Address: PO BOX 267, Gardner, KS 66030 | P: 913.856.7781 F: 913.856.8893
About Us
Our Journey:
From our inception in 1870 to today, we have been blessed with an exciting vision and
committed parishioners. We began with 15 families and our name was “St. Columbia”.
From our very humble beginnings, we have grown to over 1,000 families who call Divine
Mercy Church their spiritual home.
Just like those who have gone before us, our current church began as a vision. Out of
the ground in the middle of a wheat field, with God’s continual guidance and blessing, we
built our current spiritual home. Just like those, over 140 years ago, we are being called
to make sacrifices to complete the vision and to provide for current and future
generations of parishioners.
Our Current Challenge:
Divine Mercy has grown from 400 families to 1,000 in the last 5 years. Our Religious
Education program has more than tripled from 120 to 400 children. There are just as
many children in our preschool program. We anticipate doubling again in the next 10
years.
We have a sufficient size worship space but we lack an adequate size parish hall for
parish events and classrooms for our growing Religious Education. Our current location
for our children’s CCD is very small and the parking is very congested which is a very
dangerous situation for our children because they must maneuver around cars as they
enter and exit the hall. The cost of a new parish hall with classrooms and a kitchen is
approximately $2.6 million. We are not able to cover the cost of the new building with
our current operating budget of $500,000. A capital campaign was conducted from 2008
– 2012 which raised $1.3 million. Before we can begin to build our parish hall, the
diocese requires us to have 100% of the needed money in the bank or in commitments
to a capital campaign. This reflects a recent change in policy than before when they only
required 50% of the cost of the hall in the bank.
Our Plan:
Construct a parish hall on the west side of the church that will be two floors and three
times the current hall, including future development of 14 classrooms for our growing
CCD Program and space for parish and community meetings. The hall will
accommodate 800 people siting at tables and a full size kitchen. Since the hall will be
immediately accessible from our worship area, we will be able to provide coffee and
doughnuts after Mass and Fr. Joe will have adequate space to meeting and greet people
as they arrive for Mass. The parish hall will also serve as a storm shelter.
Our Process:
The Parish has contracted with Church Development, a local consultant firm, to conduct
a feasibility study to assess the readiness of parishioners for a second campaign. Upon
completion of the study, the parish will approach the diocese for permission to conduct a
capital campaign to raise the remainder of the funds to begin construction of our new
hall.
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