Kansas church that inspired the Extension movement celebrates centennial

Catholic Extension relived a little of its own history this past fall, taking part in the centennial celebration of a small Kansas parish whose plight 100 years ago helped launch the Extension Movement.

It was 1905 when Father Francis Clement Kelley, a priest from Michigan, visited Ellsworth, Kansas, as he toured Catholic churches on the Midwestern frontier. Visiting St. Bernard Parish, he was shocked when he saw a rundown, weedy church and a pastor living in complete poverty.

On the train ride home, Fr. Kelley wrote a magazine article titled "I know a little 'shanty' in the West," which caused a sensation when it was published. Urban Catholics immediately heard God's call and wanted to help, prompting Fr. Kelley to form the Catholic Church Extension Society.

Father Steve Heina, St. Bernard's current pastor, knew the story well and asked Catholic Extension to send someone who could stand in for the countless thousands of those who for 100 years have financially supported Mission America through Catholic Extension.

Edward Vogel of the Grants Department made the journey from Chicago and took part in the festivities, reading a letter to the parish from Father Jack Wall, Catholic Extension's president.

"Today, as you celebrate the centennial of this beautiful church of yours, and see how far you have come, be proud of the many who have been helped by the Catholic Church Extension Society that traces its roots to this very place," the letter read in part.

Vogel also presented Fr. Heina with an original 1910 receipt for $2,000 donated by Catholic Extension to finish St. Bernard Church, which opened in 1909 and is now part of the Diocese of Salina.

The proud brick building, a far cry from the "shanty" it once was, sits surrounded by well-kept, middle-class Ellsworth. Bishops, pastors and priests associated with St. Bernard's over the years came to celebrate the centennial Mass, and parishioners past and present filled the pews.

Few could have predicted the scope of the movement launched by a visit to a tiny church in a town a long way from the nation's great Catholic cities: to date, Catholic Extension has raised and granted nearly $500 million, funding the construction, expansion and renovation of 12,000 churches.

Thanks to a faithful base of 60,000 contributors, Catholic Extension also supports social services, seminarian education and other church-building initiatives.

But as Fr. Wall said in his letter, the work is far from finished.

"Remember, too, the many Catholics across this country who are like the residents of Ellsworth in 1905, still lacking the basic needs of good Church," he wrote. "Keep them and all of our missioners in your hearts and in your prayers."