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The Rectory
Stewardship Makes Parish Rectory a Reality Southern Nebraska Register (October 10, 2005) After completing construction of a new church and parish hall last fall, North American Martyrs Parish in Lincoln wanted to bring a conclusion to their construction endeavors by building an on-site rectory. A house some distance from the church had served as the temporary rectory since 1993. Since the parish had just completed payment on the school building in 2003, and is currently servicing the construction debt on the new church and hall, they did not wish to borrow any additional funds to complete this project. Instead, the parish relied upon the time, talent and treasure of its own parishioners, as well as several subcontractors and businesses across Lincoln, to construct a well-designed, attractive and efficient home for their priests. North American Martyrs Parish was established by Bishop Bruskewitz in 1993, and completed construction of their initial school building in the spring of 1996. A school addition was completed in the spring of 2003, and the Bishop dedicated the new church and parish hall on September 26, 2004. With the blessing of the new rectory that was held as part of an Open House the weekend of October 1st & 2nd, the parish marked the conclusion of some twelve continuous years of designing, building and soliciting pledge gifts for the parish's various facilities. Planning for the new rectory began in January of 2004 when parishioner Jerry Buettner of Summit Homes helped develop a floor plan that was subsequently approved by the Diocesan Building Commission in March. The parish was next required to obtain a special use permit from the City of Lincoln to expand the amount of the parish's property covered by its buildings. By the time this permission was obtained in September of 2004 construction costs had risen substantially, and the project was placed on hold. Then in late November a parishioner offered to fund $40,000 of the cost if other parishioners could donate the remaining $25,000 needed to complete the rectory without a loan. The parish reached, and then surpassed, this challenge gift goal by donating over $36,000 from December of 2004 through February of 2005. With a $25,000 trust gift to the parish from the estate of Joseph Martin and proceeds from the sale of the old rectory, the parish then had sufficient funds to build the new rectory without assuming any additional debt. A Parish Rectory Committee was established in January of 2005 to oversee the design, bidding and construction of the rectory. Parishioners Steve Douglas, Bob Ruskamp, Paul Rohrs and Father Joel Panzer researched the preferred materials and features to incorporate in the rectory and assisted the Parish Council during the bidding process. Particular attention was paid to reducing energy costs by installing efficient windows and additional insulation in the exterior walls. Mr. Rohrs offered to donate his time and talent to install an efficient radiant floor heating system in the rectory, which was the same heating system he had previously designed for the new church. Parishioner Matt Kleinschmit of Pride Homes offered to forgo all of his contracting and construction fees as a form of sharing his gifts with the parish. To further reduce construction costs, Mr. Kleinschmit then solicited additional donations of materials and labor from numerous subcontractors involved in the project. Parish volunteers set the porcelain tile flooring without charge, and also spent three Saturdays installing the backyard fence and performing the construction cleanup work. The total value of these many Stewardship gifts was approximately $75,000. The rectory exterior incorporates red brick and an arched entryway that helps tie in this priests’ residence with the architecture of the existing church and school. The 2500 sq ft interior features a private bedroom and sitting room for each priest, with common office, kitchen, dining room and living room areas. To minimize costs the basement was left unfinished, but provides ample room for future parish needs. The priests and members of North American Martyrs are grateful to Bishop Bruskewitz and the many parishioners and other generous individuals across Lincoln who made possible this final phase of their construction endeavors. The parish feels truly blessed by God to enjoy such a beautiful, thoughtfully-designed, and now completed facility in which to worship, learn and socialize as a church family. |