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Templeton parish serving community for over 100 years

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
(Email Katie)

TEMPLETON - Sacred Heart is an “old parish with good, solid faith,” said Father Dale Reiff, pastor.

The parish currently has 170 households and is a part of the cluster with St. Augustine in Halbur and Holy Angels in Roselle. Father Reiff has been pastor since 2000. He is also the pastor in Halbur and Roselle and lives in the rectory in Halbur.

The ministries offered to parishioners include Knights of Columbus and Catholic Daughters, each in collaboration with other parishes. There are communal penance services offered for parishioners as well at different times of the year.

Students of the parish attend Catholic school at Kuemper Catholic in Carroll and religious education at Sacred Heart in Manning or Holy Spirit or St. Lawrence in Carroll.

“They (parishioners) are very supportive of Catholic education,” said Father Reiff.

History
Catholicism began in Templeton when three pioneer families of John Schlichte, Joseph Drees and G. Henry Halbur arrived and settled in 1874. In the summer of 1874, Father F. W. Pape, a newly ordained associate pastor in Council Bluffs, traveled to celebrate an open air Mass at the farm of one of these settlers.

In 1883, a small wooden frame church was built on the John Schlichte farm. The first, and only, Mass celebrated on this site was offered on Aug. 15, 1883.

Since railroad tracks were being laid farther south, the decision was made to move the church. The church was dismantled, moved by wagon and rebuilt at the site of the present church.

In 1884, Father Bernard A. Schulte was appointed the first resident pastor of Sacred Heart. He built the first rectory, school and convent. In 1900, he supervised the building of the present church.

The church is of Gothic style and features a central transept and transverse façade. The church, 57-feet by 136-feet, was once supported by a lofty spire 150 feet in height and four flanking towers about 60 feet high.

A large bell was purchased and placed in church. It hangs in the center of the main spire, and is said to be the largest bell in Carroll County. It weighs more than two tons and can be heard for miles.

The altar cost $5,000 and the church cost $28,000. The statue of Michael the Archangel is made of stone imported from Italy and the stained glass windows are imported from Munich, Germany.

A nearly 100-year-old Espy pipe organ is located in the balcony. The main floor seats about 600 people and the balcony seats 100.

Many parts of the church were remodeled and redecorated in 2008 and 2010. (See story below)

Former pastors at Sacred Heart include Father B. A. Schulte, Father Anton Erdman, Msgr. W. A. Pape, Msgr. F. H. Huesmann, Father F. P. Schultes, Father William F. Buchholz, Father Leo C. Harpenau, Msgr. A. W. Behrens, Father Eugene T. Schumacher, Father Joseph Steib, Father Eugene Walding, Father Laurence Burns, Father Steven Brodersen and Father Gary Snyder.

Catholic school
Catholic school education began in Templeton three years after the town was built. A brick structure was constructed in 1889 and an addition was built in 1916. High school classes were first offered in 1917.

In 1959, Sacred Heart High School became part of the Kuemper Corporation. A new grade school was constructed in 1963. Templeton and Halbur combined grade schools in 1969 and Roselle joined the system in 1974. The system was called Holy Trinity School. The school in Templeton was closed in 2003.

Parish information:

Pastor: Father Dale Reiff
Mass times: Saturday – 6:30 p.m.; Tues. and Thurs. – 8 a.m.
Confessions: Before Mass on Saturday evening
Linked with: St. Augustine in Halbur and Holy Angels in Roselle
Address:
220 W 5th St.
PO Box 104
Templeton, IA 51463-0104