Shakopee Catholic churches uncertain about future

Members of three Roman Catholic parishes in the Shakopee area were pleased to learn that none of their churches was marked for closure under the archdiocese's restructuring plan announced last month.

But that doesn't mean all the questions about the future have been answered.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will close 21 parishes and restructure others as it deals with a priest shortage, tighter budgets and shifting demographics. The situation is particularly complex in Shakopee, where three historic churches -- two are on the National Register of Historic Places -- are among 33 being asked to "cluster," meaning they will share a priest with one or more other parishes.

The decision was made "with the expectation that the churches will eventually merge," said Dennis McGrath, communications director for the archdiocese.

In contrast to bitterness in areas where churches are closing, his announcement was a relief to many Catholics in Shakopee, who attend St. Mark's or St. Mary's in Shakopee proper, or the smaller St. Mary of the Purification church in nearby Marystown, which is known almost universally as the "Marystown Church."

"Some people were really worried the archdiocese was going to close down Marystown outright," said Lynn Bowman, a parishoner at St. Mark's who serves on a tri-parish committee with members from the two other churches.

Duane Marschall, a long-time communicant at St. Mary's, was pleasantly surprised to see that St. Mark's, which is by far the largest of the three, serving about 1,600 families, was included in the cluster.

The fact that Shakopee was included on the archdiocese's list was a surprise to no one. "We have one big church less than three blocks from another medium-sized church, that's about an eight-minute drive from the smallest church," said Marschall. "I guess you could say we saw the writing on the wall."

Plans have taken detours

In fact, Shakopee's Catholics have been prepping for this announcement for nearly 40 years. In 1971, the three churches began collaborating on their school programs. That effort culminated in the Catholic Education Center south of Hwy. 169 that opened seven years ago.

Then, in the mid-2000s, a tri-parish committee was formed to map out a best-case scenario for the three churches. One popular idea was to build a brand-new, much larger church next to the Catholic Education Center. It would sit halfway between St. Mark's and St. Michael's in Prior Lake. The new facility would replace St. Mary's, but the old church would remain as a place for weddings and funerals, or maybe as a chapel for a senior high-rise.

The idea gained so much traction that St. Mary's purchased 10 acres of land next to the education center, and the parish administrator, Steve Hofer, entered into discussions with the Scott County Community Development Agency to get the senior high-rise up and running.

"It used to look like everybody was moving out to the third-ring suburbs, but maybe that's not really the case anymore. No one is sure what's happening with the economy, or what kind of timeline the archdiocese is on," said the Rev. Bill Stoltzman, a retired pastor at St. Mark's.

Unanswered questions

Where that leaves Shakopee is undetermined. Earlier this year, Archbishop John Nienstedt issued an archdiocese-wide building moratorium until major decisions could be made. The archbishop has not issued any comment on the senior high-rise plan. Even the tri-parish committee suspended its meetings for several months because there were so many unanswered questions.

"We decided it was kind of counterproductive to keep meeting until we know what's happening," Bowman said. "It's all a big question mark right now."

It's possible, Hofer said, that the original plan could still go through, or that one or two of the churches would close, and the remaining churches would simply share a priest. Or it's possible that the three churches would share a brand-new name and act as satellite campuses. For his part, Hofer is examining the historic funding that's available that might make the churches more enticing to the city of Shakopee. "In Rosemount, they turned St. Joseph's into a performing [arts] center and auditorium, and in Lakeville they turned All Saints into a arts center," Hofer said.

St. Mary's was founded for English-speaking immigrant populations in 1865, and was recently restored by a team of volunteer communicants.

The Marystown church is an unusual Romanesque design and was built of native stone by the church's first congregation.

"I would say there's a fair amount of nervousness," said Betty Valiant, a 47-year member of St. Mark's, who raised her five children in the church. "Clearly, everyone wants to stay in their own church. The priests are telling us not to worry."

Stoltzman, for his part, has a philosophical perspective. "When I have a parishioner who is feeling a lot of anxiety, or feeling some kind of wariness or hurt in their lives, I tell them to take a deep breath, and take a step back from their lives, to gain a fresh perspective.

"This is merited here. We must have faith that God will take care of us."