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Holy Spirit Reaches Milestone to Move the Spirit Forward…

What started almost 10 years ago, with an initial campaign to create funding to allow Holy Spirit to move forward in the building of a new place of worship, reached a major milestone on April 18. The Charlotte Diocese granted Holy Spirit Catholic Church its approval to move into the next major phase of design. This milestone is the result of faithful support by our growing parish which has continued to provide financial giving, input from various committees and church leadership, as well as the development of early designs, and collaboration with the Diocese to build the body of Christ for the future of Catholics in the Denver area.

                                                                                                         Views of Church - Completed

For the last several years, Holy Spirit Church has been working with the Diocese as the standards (or design norms) of churches of tomorrow were being developed to address a shift from large, mega-churches to more traditional churches founded in Catholic architecture. The most recent design of our new church has evolved in design and function as these design norms were developed and approved. So too did our design team evolve to bring to Holy Spirit a team that could envision the union of our faith with our new worship facility. ADW, the original architectural firm hired for this project, has brought on William Heyer, of William Heyer Architect, to serve as the Design Architect. Bill Heyer brings a wealth of experience in Catholic Architecture from across the country and was introduced to the Holy Spirit Parish on April 18 to provide an overview of the schematic design drawings that were approved by the Diocese.

Working with Hickory Construction, which was hired to be the General Contractor for this project, the project team developed an updated estimate of construction to present to the Diocese for review and approval. While the design of the new church evolved, the most recent capital campaign to raise funds for the expected cost of the project, initiated in 2022, was coming to a close this year. The initial goal for this campaign was $3 million dollars, based on the expected cost of the project being about $10 million. In addition, we had over $5 million cash on hand from the previous fundraising, continued giving by parishioners, and additional funding through other special gifts and contributions. We have exceeded $2.9 million in pledges, which, in combination with the new estimate for the project at $10.7 million, was sufficient to reach over 70% in committed funds, a requirement by the Diocese to allow for the project to continue to move forward. The remaining amount would be borrowed from the Diocese in a loan to be paid over a 10-year period.

                                                               Church Floor Plan                                                                               View Towards Sanctuary

On the evening of April 18, the Parish was presented with an update on the progress, the great news of the Diocese’s approval of the recent design, and a presentation by Bill Heyer. The design drawings were reviewed, along with a report on our finances, and how we envision paying for this project. Several elements of the church design are scheduled for future phases, as funds become available. For those who have not participated in the financial support of the new church, they were encouraged to consider making a pledge and for those who have previously pledged to consider continued support.

The presentation made on April 18 to the Parish was recorded and is available for viewing on the church website under the section entitled “Parish Groups” and “New Church”. Refer to the website for additional information, such as the latest church drawings, as new information becomes available.

Moving forward, the project will enter the “Design Development” phase of design, where the plans will be advanced in detail, and a new estimate of construction will be provided. This phase will be reviewed and approved by the Diocese, estimated to be in August. The final phase of design will begin the development of “Construction Documents” for use by Hickory Construction to obtain bids from subcontractors. This will provide us with the final cost estimate of our project. Estimated construction duration is 16 months. We are planning to start some construction by the end of this year, in hopes of having our new church ready for worship on Easter of 2025.

Father Carmen, the Building Committee, and the Capital Campaign Committee thank everyone who helped us reach this major milestone!