ÿþ<html> <head runat="server"> <title>Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church Newton, KS</title> <link HREF="/css/large.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <meta http-equiv='Content-Type' content='text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' /> </head> <body> <div id ='container'> <div id='topbar'><a href='http://olgnewton.org'><img src='/images/logo.jpg' /></a></div> <div id='advbar'><img height='12' src='/images/topcurve.jpg' width='180' /></div> <div id='lftbar'> <p> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href='http://www.olgnewton.org/location.htm'>Our Location</a></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href='http://www.olgnewton.org/massschedule.htm'>Mass Schedule</a></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href='http://www.olgnewton.org/confessionschedule.htm'> Confession Schedule</a></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href='http://www.olgnewton.org/liturgicalroles.htm'> Liturgical Roles</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href='http://www.olgnewton.org/prayforus.htm'>Pray for Us</a></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href='http://www.olgnewton.org/whatshappening.htm'>What's Happening&nbsp;</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href='http://www.olgnewton.org/history/history.htm'>Our History</a></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href='http://www.olgnewton.org/email.htm'>Email</a></p> </div> <div id='rtbar'> <p><img src='/images/IMG_19292.JPG' /></p> <h1><a href='http://olgnewton.org/calendar.htm'>Calendar</a></h1> <h1>Contact:</h1> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</a><br> <a href="http://www.respology.com/wiki/contact.aspx?emailString=tim@respology.com&Name=Tim%20Otter">Contact Webmaster</a></p> <br> </div> <div id='main'> <b> <p><a href="historyImages.htm">Our History in Pictures</a></p> <p><br /> The Beginning... <br /> </b>At the turn of the century, the desire to link our country by rail created a huge demand for industrious labor. Rail pioneers, such as the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe appealed to laborers from Mexico with wages estimated to be as much as 1400% higher than those in their native land. In 1905, the first family from Mexico settled in Newton. From then on, families began to take up residence in the community. Soon, a Mexican colony whose livelihood depended on the Santa Fe Railroad established itself. Endowed with a deep Catholic faith and steeped in Christian traditions, the colony found spiritual refuge in St. Mary s Church. As the colony grew, it became imperative to establish Divine Services to serve the spiritual needs of its 40 families. In 1920, under the direction of Msgr. William Schaefers, members of St. Mary s and the future Our Lady of Guadalupe built a mission chapel. The chapel was located on the 600 block of West First St. on ground leased by Santa Fe. All could take pride in the new church.</p> <p>Priests from St. Mary s served The Chapel until 1933 when the Augustian Fathers from Hutchinson began to care for its needs. In 1938, Father Joseph Munoz O.S.A. was appointed the first resident Pastor and resided at a rectory at 604 W. First. </p> <p><b>Dreams of 1948...</b> <br /> In 1948, guided by Father Oliver Kreseminski, the 119 families of the parish established a building fund for a new church. In 1955, plans were made to buy property (located on 17 acres of land at South West 5th Street) for the new facility. Two additional years of fund raising ensued to allow for construction of the church. With the spiritual leadership of Father Francis Cox, construction of the new parish began in July 1958. Over $60,000 in one<span lang="en-us"> month was pledged to the building of the new church. The  miracle church as Bishop Carroll called it was completed 10 months later. Father Francis Cox wrote about this achievement of the people of faith:  This is a great day for the people of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and this beautiful church will always stand as a memorial and tribute to the loyalty, cooperation and sacrifices of its truly devoted people. </span></p> <p><span lang="en-us">In 2004, a Golden Jubilee Committee was formed to raise money for improvements in the hall kitchen, and to renovate the foyer and parish office (Phase I). Upon completion of Phase I, the parish undertook the renovation of the parish rectory (Phase II). This project included a complete interior remodel, replacing the roof and windows, finishing out the basement with meeting rooms, the addition of a detached garage for storage, and the creation of an educational center for meetings on the first floor of the rectory. In 2006, discussion resumed on renovation of our church sanctuary and a Golden Jubilee Renovation Planning Group was formed to facilitate this project (Phase III). A school project at St. Mary s School is also developing.</span></p> <p><b>Together as a Community... </b> <br /> <i>Throughout Our Lady of Guadalupe s history, there have been many opportunities for church members to participate more fully in both the church and the local Catholic community:</i> </p> <p>The first Altar Society, after the dedication, contained the following members: Jeanie Estrada, Concho Terrones, Anita Luna, Connie Palacioz, Belen Terrones, Edith Rodriguez, Mollie Gomez, Rosie Camargo, Josephine Terrones and is still serving the needs of the parish community. </p> <p>The first Holy Name Society consisted of Trino Camargo, Robert Hernandez, Elmer Vega, John Solis, Joe Solis, Alfredo Terrones, Frank G. Lujano. The men s Holy Name Society established the first men s Cursillo. </p> <p>The CYO originated in the 1950 s and participated in district meetings and conventions and took awards for theatrical productions for two consecutive years in the 1970 s. </p> <p>Choir  The first choir was directed by John White and accompanied by Armando Martinez. The Spanish choir sang at Mass and joined diocesan choirs for various occasions. In 1972 the youth choir presented an Easter pageant on channel 12. </p> <p>In 1948 OLG hosted its first men s softball tournament with teams from surrounding towns. After the church and rectory were completed, the OLG ball park was organized in 1961. From 1961 through the early 1990 s, Guadalupe Park provided entertainment as well as fundraising activities for the parish. Teams from all across the USA journeyed to Newton to participate in the fast-pitch softball tournaments held on July 4th holidays. Some tournaments attracted as many as 27 different teams. In 1995 the Mexican-American Athletic club was formed to continue the tradition of July 4th past-pitch tournaments in Newton. The annual tournament continues today with 22 teams coming to Newton each year. </p> <b> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div> </form> </body> </html>