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The infant parish of Christ the King had parishioners, an administrator (Father Goes), and property, but no buildings whatever. For the first few months of the parish’s existence, the new parishioners gathered for Mass at Blessed Sacrament Parish, but on October 25, 1953, on the Feast of Christ the King, the parish began celebrating the Sunday liturgy on its own, using the newly built West Toledo Knights of Columbus Hall on Secor Road.
(When the Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quas primas in 1925, the last Sunday of October was the designated feast day; in 1970, as part of the revision of the liturgical calendar, Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to the last Sunday in ordinary time, that is, the Sunday before Advent.) Two Masses were celebrated each Sunday morning, at 8:30 and 10:30. Raising money to put up parish buildings was a necessary task, to which parishioners applied enormous energy and creativity. The first parish festival was held at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Saturday and Sunday, November 14-15, 1953, but this was just one event along with doll-making, block parties, bake sales, raffles, and card parties. After bills had been paid, the first festival accounted for net earnings of about $3,100. The first Parish Council consisted of Lawrence Abair, Dr. John Hillabrand, Virgil Grosjean, Joseph McCarthy, and Franklin Gentner. A Women’s Committee was organized in place of an Altar Society; its officers were Mrs. Franklin Gentner, Mrs. Lawrence Abair, Mrs. Robert Lanzinger, Mrs. LeRoy Tuttle, and Mrs. Virgil Grosjean. A decree dated at Rome on May 31, 1954, established the parish’s Rosary Society, and a similar decree authorized the parish’s Holy Name Society on March 1, 1955. When officers were elected for Altar Society, as it was then called, in March 1955, those chosen were Mrs. G.A. Anderson, president; Mrs. Carl Trompeter, president-elect; Mrs. L.W. Martin, vice president; Marie Dunn, secretary; and Mrs. R.J. Burnard, treasurer. In the same month the first officers of the Holy Name Society were elected: Father Goes, president; Melvin Miller, vice president; Franklin Gentner, secretary; and Virgil Grosjean, treasurer. Meanwhile, Father Goes continued to live at Blessed Sacrament where he was still earning his room and board as vicarius cooperator (assistant pastor) to Father Gosser, as well as fulfilling his duties as administrator of the fledgling parish. Weddings and baptisms continued to be celebrated at Blessed Sacrament. The first baptism Father Goes registered in the books of Christ the King Parish was celebrated on Sunday, November 1, 1953; the first wedding on Saturday, February 13, 1954, and the first funeral on Saturday, March 20. Page 2 of 16 |
