“A Restoration With A Little Addition”

Turkey—After nearly two-and-a-half years, a parish restoration project at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church has reached the finish line.
Bishop Patrick J. Zurek blessed and dedicated the church Feb. 11 during an evening Mass, which was followed by a fiesta across the street at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish Hall.
The restoration project included the addition of a sacristy, a confessional and additional seating for the church.

Parish History
According to a parish profile of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in the Jan. 18, 1998 issue of The West Texas Catholic, the church building in Turkey wasn’t exactly known as the stationary building it is today once upon a time.
Prior to its now existence in Turkey, it was known as the “little traveling church of the rugged Big Ranch Country.”
It all began in January 1929 in Rotan when the church structure was completed with the assistance of funds from Catholic Extension Society. But with changing times and shifting populations, churches in Aspermont, Jayton and Rotan were temporarily abandoned.
But then-Bishop Rudolph A. Gerken, the first Bishop of Amarillo, was not about to deny the Faith to any portion of his sprawling diocese.
In 1934, Bishop Gerken gave care of the Jayton and Rotan churches to newly-ordained Father Rupert Schindler. Father Schindler took care of the vast territory and organized the Church in that area. In the late-1930s and 1940s, then Father (later Monsignor) Peter Morsch served the area mission parish.
In 1948, Father Edmund Hartigan moved St. Mary’s Church to Spur. The going there had been rough before a building was obtained. Often parishioners met and worshipped in mesquite brush country of the Garcia Ranch, at the Caprock. The original St. Mary’s had been moved from Rotan to Jayton and then on to Spur.
But the story of that little church does not end there. In 1954 the parishioners at Spur built a new church and used the “traveling church” as a parish hall to serve Spur and its two outlying missions in Jayton and Matador. In 1971, the hall was remodeled and continued in use in Spur.
Meanwhile the Catholic community in Turkey was having a hard time getting started. The congregation, which began as a station of St. Mary’s Church, Spur, in 1963, met everywhere from under trees to an old, abandoned VFW recreation hall.
In September 1977, the Catholic families in Turkey petitioned the Diocese of Amarillo that a permanent church might stand in Turkey. In February 1978, after years of fundraising, the “traveling church” from Spur was sent on what hopefully was its final trip: 68 miles north of Turkey to serve 48 families. The journey took two days with the building arriving in excellent condition. In fact, parishioners were so glad to see their new church building that they came out to watch the final three miles of the trip as it moved down the highway.
As parishioners were fixing up their new house of worship for its dedication, the original altar placed in the “traveling church” back in 1929 was donated to the Turkey Faith community from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Matador. Father Malcolm Neyland, pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, remembered that there was an old altar at the church in Matador. After the parish council there voted to donate the altar to the church in Turkey. Father Neyland spent some 60 hours removing old coats of paint when he made a startling discovery. He found out that the old altar was made of red oak and date by unnamed craftsmen “1864.”
The new St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church was dedicated May 7, 1978 by then-Bishop Lawrence M. DeFalco.
In August 1980, then-Bishop Leroy T. Matthiesen appointed Father (later Monsignor) Harold Waldow to serve as administrator at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. Other priests who have served in Turkey include Father John Dalton and since Sept. 1, 2011, Monsignor Arturo Meza.

New Features
The newly-restored St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was expanded to the south and includes several new additions.
“Through our own experience of celebrating the sacraments and the Sunday liturgy we did not have a proper sacristy nor a confessional chapel,” said Monsignor Meza. “We thought it was very important for the community to have those spaces available for daily services. We decided to add those two rooms at the entrance, a sacristy (on the left) and a sacramental confessional (on the right). We’re also using the area above the two rooms to set up speakers and install a complete sound system. We did not have a sound system before. Now the people will be able to hear well and better participate in the liturgies and sacramental celebrations.”
A unique feature of the newly-restored church building: no windows.
“Instead of windows we will have six niches, places for the saints, three on each side, west and east,” Monsignor Meza said. “We already have four statues in the church; one is Our Lady of the Light, a very old statue. We also have a statue of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, patroness of the church, which will have a very special place in the sanctuary on the side opposite the ambo. We have St. Michael the Archangel, because this is a very popular devotion for families who come to worship here. The hometown of some in our parish is San Miguel, Mexico. We also have a statue of St. Jude. We’re not yet sure of which other two statues will be put in the other niches. Outside at the entrance to the church is a stone statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, given by a family, made in Mexico. It will be able to resist the heat, the rain and snow.”
Other additions to the 94-year-old building: a dome, near the front of the altar and two towers at the entrance of the church.  
“Traditionally speaking, old churches had towers and domes. The dome is a very important sign of heaven,” said Monsignor Meza. “As you look up and see the dome you are always reminded of people who live on the earth and are called to holiness in heaven. The dome will help us connect to the reality that Jesus promised us on the Cross—salvation, heaven and eternal life Even though we had a small church before, we thought we could add this as a sign of our Faith. It will be sustained by the iron which will hold the dome. It is not a big dome, only 10 x 10. We also want a painting of Christ the King inside the dome. We can then really understand Christ has the highest honor in our Christian Faith and lives.
“With the dome, we added two towers. Sometimes we cannot dream that a small building can have extra things. We have only added the space at the entrance and the towers on the top of the church. The towers are usually used for bells. In this modern era, we will not have bells but a computer system to simulate the sound of the bells.  We want to finish the basic things and then another year we will be able to install bells.”
As one enters the newly-restored St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, another new addition is a stone entrance.
“The church is not on level ground,” said Monsignor Meza. “We had to raise the area to keep it level as the people come into church. Before entering the church, there are really beautiful steps of stone that beautify the entrance, make it more natural, like the ground.  On the sides we have some bricks that have been put together to finish the entrance. The entrance will help people feel at home and seem embraced as they enter the church. It reminds us we are all members of the same family; we are at home and welcome here.”
Even though the restoration project for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church began during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Monsignor Meza said the work never stopped.
“We never stopped working, even during COVID,” he said. Everything has been done consistently, with individual donations and volunteer work. I see beautiful work and I am very proud of everyone who really participated in this work. There were people from Amarillo, Turkey and Lubbock, who all helped. We had assistance from people from Chicago and Arkansas as well.”
What’s next for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church?
“We will come and praise the Lord and continue to build the community, a very small, simple Catholic community,” Monsignor Meza said. “The parishioners have always worked in the fields. Their children come on weekends to Turkey to visit their parents and to participate in our liturgies. We want to become a good sign of the Christian Faith to Catholics and other people in the community, according to the Gospel and the teachings of Christ. I think it is a restoration with a little addition.”