Church dedication tribute to decades of planning, dreaming, and prayer

Intermountain Catholic

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Diocesan Administrator Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald (above) anoints the altar of the new St. James Church in North Ogden, as Pastor Father Erik Richtsteig goes into motion.

NORTH OGDEN — The prayers of hundreds of parishioners living and dead and eight pastors were answered June 9, when the new St. James Catholic Church was blessed and dedicated by Diocesan Administrator Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald in the presence of parishioners and a host of diocesan officials.

Those attending the Friday evening dedication were met at the door of the new church by Deacon Bud Wardle, 90, the oldest active member of the clergy in the diocese.

"I wasn’t sure I was going to get to see this happen," Deacon Wardle told the Intermountain Catholic. "I’ve been waiting for this for 40 years."

Founded in 1966 by the late Father David C. Goddard, St. James Parish has centered its ministry in a temporary church for four decades. Under six pastors, the parish grew, and its people became more and more eager for a larger, permanent church. Under Father Donald E. Hope, pastor from 1996-2003, a serious capital campaign, "Dream to Reality," was undertaken. But the actual building project would not begin until 2005, under current pastor, Father Erik J. Richtsteig.

The beautiful new church, rich in dark wood and a marble altar, filled quickly with generations of parishioners, many of whose donations for the building of the church had been added to those of their parents and grandparents.

The choir and the congregation sang "Let Us Go Rejoicing" as Msgr. Fitzgerald, four former pastors, diocesan consultors, and deacons and priests from throughout the diocese entered.  

With Diocesan Chancellor Deacon Silvio Mayo acting as master of ceremonies, Msgr. Fitzgerald blessed the new church, sprinkling it and the congregation with holy water. After the Liturgy of the Word, and the homily, prayers of dedication and anointing were said, including the Litany of the Saints.

Before the anointing of the altar, a first class relic of Saint John Vianny, the Curé of Ars, was embedded in the altar. Msgr. Fitzgerald anointed the altar of the new church, and Fr. Richtsteig anointed the walls in a ritual that goes back centuries.

The altar and the church were censed by Deacon Hershel Hester, the incense a symbol of the prayers of the people rising to God.

In his homily, Msgr. Fitzgerald spoke of the perseverance and faith of the Catholic community in North Ogden.

"In a few minutes we will pray the Litany of the Saints, invoking those who went before us and were faithful disciples of Christ in our history," he said. "We will anoint the walls and altar with Sacred Chrism, the same oil that is used to anoint the newly baptized and confirmed and those who are ordained priests and bishops. We will solemnly light the candles and turn up the lights of the church as God’s light was one of His first gifts to us. Christ is the light of the world; there is no other. We will place the Holy Eucharist in the tabernacle, that Christ might dwell here continuously in a sacramental way."

After Communion, the Holy Eucharist was placed in the tabernacle, which Msgr. Fitzgerald then blessed with incense.

In his comments, Fr. Richtsteig recalled some of the early parish members who first contributed to the building of this church – John Loffredo, Deacon Wardle, Helen Van Heussen Yeager, and others.

"I am reaping what I did not sow," he said of the work of the pastors who preceded him.