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PHOTOS | A new dawn in community: The restoration of St. Peter’s historic church in Greeley

By André Escaleira, Jr., and Neil McDonough

Years in the making, a new, beautifully renovated church at St. Peter Parish in Greeley is cause for great joy and celebration for the Greeley community.

One hundred fifteen years old, St. Peter Parish was built only a few decades after the town’s foundation, which was originally built as a utopian city without God’s presence, Father Tomasz Strzebonski, pastor of the parish, said.

“It looks very pretty, but they intentionally omitted the introduction of any churches or other things or symbols religious-related. And it took a few years before people said, ‘Yeah, we need that,’” Father Strzebonski commented.

In response to the community’s needs, St. Peter’s was built in 1909. In reporting from March of that year, the Denver Catholic Register noted that the new church “will be a handsome structure of Gothic design” and that “when completed, it will be the finest church edifice in Northern Colorado.”

Built in the American Gothic Revival style, the church is a physical representation of the spiritual redditus or return to God. Everything in the church is meant to point the faithful upwards to the heavens, to the lofty, spiritual heights, and ultimately, to God.

“Everything is aiming high, upwards. All the arches are not rounded but have a spike in the top. That’s where the Church is aiming, and that’s what we’re trying to work to reflect in a physical way,” Father Strzebonski explained. “Our aim is upwards, and the architecture of the Church is doing that so that this is the place that the Church should be any church. That’s what we’re aiming for, to make that connection between people and God and to make it in a welcoming way.”

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The historic church has long stood as a testament to the faith, an edifice dedicated to God’s glory in the Northern Colorado community, welcoming countless faithful into relationship with the Lord Jesus for more than a century. While the parish’s spirit was willing, the proverbial ‘flesh’ of the parish infrastructure was weakening as it aged. The stained glass windows had seen better days; there were spots and cracks in the ceiling; the exterior needed attention.

Under the leadership of Father Strzebonski’s predecessor, Father Greg Ames, St. Peter’s began to consider restoration, with the high altar being restored, among other projects. As Father Strzebonski began his pastorate at St. Peter’s, the effort continued and intensified, and the parish dreamt up what their new home could look like.

As they dreamed, the parish of hardworking individuals got to work, sacrificing significantly so their new home could come to fruition. Their years of sacrificial generosity made it possible for the parish to engage the renovation without any loans, a miraculous feat and a gift from God.

“How is this possible? Good people, people who really appreciate the work,” Father Strzebonski said of the incredible accomplishment. “When people see that the work is being done, they’re generous because they know the value of hard work. . . . The people’s generosity is tremendous.”

Justyna Baustert, the parish’s director of evangelization and catechesis, agreed wholeheartedly, noting that the gathering of the community has been one of the key aspects she’s noticed over the years leading up to the restoration.

“That is years of sacrifice, and that’s a sacrifice that we endured together for the greater glory of God. That is an example of suffering together, journeying together, walking together for the greater good and for that ultimate goal of holiness,” she said.

With no loans, the project began earnestly to beautify, restore, repair and position St. Peter’s for its next 115 years. All aspects of the church–from the floor to the stained glass windows to the choir loft–were addressed holistically to create a sacred environment for prayer, encounter and community.

The stained glass windows and the restoration work done upon them highlight that communitarian emphasis in a providential way, Father Stzebonski pointed out. As the parish renovation committee researched companies to assist, they found that the windows’ original creator, Watkins Glass, was still in business. Phil Watkins, the great-grandson of the artist who crafted St. Peter’s stained glass windows, answered the call, came out of retirement and took on the lofty task of restoring the windows.

“He’s in his 80s, and he was just coming here with his wife, and they were so graciously working on those windows, praying together, sitting together. So it was a very beautiful kind of witness testimony,” Father Strzebonski said. “Touching the things that his great-grandfather built and created is very emotional because that’s the pride of the family.”

Further noting that St. Peter’s is well-known for its close community and exceptional hospitality, which are especially affirmed in reviews on Yelp, Father Strzebonski highlighted that the new church would afford the parish a new avenue for connection and encounter–with God and each other.

“We go to Jesus, receive him, and then you spend time with the people that love you, and you love them because you see them every Sunday,” he said. “I feel this is a very tight-knit community.”

“We’re a family of believers, a family that shares everything together,” Baustert added, emphasizing the parish’s homey feel and the intentional accompaniment that comes along with such a tight-knit community. She noted that even as St. Peter’s looked to beautify, “upscale” and restore for God’s glory and for their community, the parish also sought to evangelize through beauty and encounter.

“Intentional accompaniment for us is very natural, and there’s a great desire for it and a great love,” Baustert continued. “It’s a very natural extension of the encounter that Father Strzebonski talks about. Once you have an encounter with a true and living God, you can’t contain that. It just overflows from you, and you can’t hold it in. You want to share it with people, you can’t help but give it away. It’s a beautiful thing that I’m seeing here. Although we are making an intentional effort to connect people together, I’ve seen that just happen naturally, people walk together naturally.

“The intention of the restoration is for the people to see God’s beauty and to encounter him. My hope isn’t that people just come to see the restoration, the building, the painting and the stained glass, but all of that to inspire them and to bring them closer to the ultimate beauty and ultimate goodness, which is Jesus,” she concluded.

André Escaleira, Jr.
André Escaleira, Jr.
André Escaleira is the Managing Editor of the Denver Catholic and El Pueblo Católico. Originally from Connecticut, André moved to Denver in 2018 to work as a missionary with Christ in the City, where he served for two years.
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