Year of Faith Utah Pilgrimage: Saint Ann Parish

Intermountain Catholic

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Although Saint Ann Parish was established in 1917, the church wasn't built until 1968; before then, services were held in the orphanage/school and the convent. Scott, Louie and Browning were the church's architects. In the exterior shot above, Kearns-St. Ann School is visible in the background. This building began as an orphanage, which later was converted into the school. IC photo/Marie Mischel

(Editor’s note: For the Year of Faith, which ends Nov. 24, Bishop John C. Wester has designated 12 churches in the Diocese of Salt Lake City as pilgrimage sites. This article is one in a series about the sites. More information can be found at http://www.dioslc.org/images/year-of-faith/pilgrimage/Year%20of%20Faith%20Passport%20Booklet%20Version%20English.pdf.)

SALT LAKE CITY — Saint Ann Parish’s history is intertwined with that of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, whose care for children played different roles but who shaped the parish as it is today.

The Holy Cross sisters operated the St. Ann Orphanage from 1891 to 1900 in an old adobe building that previously had served as a rectory for Bishop Lawrence Scanlan and his priests. The sisters ran an elementary school in conjunction with the orphanage.

In 1900, the diocese established the Kearns-St. Ann Orphanage with a $50,000 donation from Thomas F. and Jennie Kearns. The Holy Cross sisters continued to administer the orphanage until 1953.

The original orphanage stood at 100 South 300 East; it was moved to a 15-acre site at 2100 South 400 East in 1900. In 1926 the orphanage served 36 boys and 30 girls between the ages of 5 and 15; the elementary school also was attended by 50 students who lived in the vicinity.

By 1953 the number of children living in the orphanage declined, and the Holy Cross sisters withdrew from the facility. Within two years, the building was transformed into what is now known as Kearns-St. Ann School, administered by the Sisters of Charity. The school opened in 1955 with 240 students in grades kindergarten through four. A new grade was added each year until 1959, when the school offered grades K-8, as it continues to do today.

The Sisters of Charity remained at the school until 1999, when it became completely staffed by lay people.

As the orphanage grew, Bishop Joseph S. Glass established a parish in the area in 1917. The boundaries extended to Murray and Midvale and served about 150 Catholics. Mass was celebrated in the orphanage’s chapel until 1955, when the convent for the Sisters of Charity was completed. The orphanage also housed the parish offices.

It wasn’t until 1968 that the parish had a church that was separate from the school/convent; the new church, at the southwest corner of 2100 South 500 East, was dedicated by Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal.

The parish gained the Thomas F. Kearns Sports Complex, located west of the church, in 1981. A new recreation center was built in 1986. With its full-service kitchen, the recreation center serves the school as a gymnasium, cafeteria and auditorium, while the parish uses the facility for meetings and social activities.

During the centennial of the Kearns-St. Ann Orphanage and School in 2000, the community celebrated with the addition of a gathering space at the church entrance. It was in this gathering space – complete with roses in bloom – that I met Terry Budel when I visited on Oct. 20. It happened to be Council Sunday, which honored the contributions of the diocesan Councils of Catholic Women.

These councils are known by different names: women’s clubs, altar societies, ladies’ guilds. Regardless of how they are called, their members contribute significantly to the Church in Utah, as the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women described in their full-page ad in last week’s Intermountain Catholic.

For me, St. Ann was the perfect parish to attend on Council Sunday, and Terry was just the person to tell me why. When I entered the church, she was standing at a table inside the door. She offered me a miraculous medal and we chatted about St. Ann’s Ladies Guild, of which she is president. The guild’s 31 members are active in a wide range of ministries, charitable work and fundraising, from volunteering at Kearns-St. Ann School to serving on the parish bereavement committee and parish council to making sandwiches and delivering them once a week to the day workers in Salt Lake City. The guild members exemplify Christian values, and Terry is justifiably proud of their work.

IF YOU GO

Saint Ann Catholic Church is located at 2119 South 400 East, Salt Lake City. The Saturday vigil is at 5:30 p.m. Sunday Masses in English are at 9 and 11 a.m.; in Spanish, at 1:30 p.m. Weekday Masses are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.