Borger Parish To Celebrate 90th Anniversary

“The completion of such a fine structure, a landmark in the kingdom of Christ on earth, involves much vision and planning and providing on the part of many good people. Among those who have merited greatly is the pastor and his committee, and the former pastor, Father Matthew Schafle under whose zealous direction the development of St. John’s on the hill began to take shape so auspiciously.”
—Bishop John L. Morkovsky,
letter to parishioners at St. John’s
Jan. 3, 1962
 
Borger—Parishioners at St. John the Evangelist Church will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the parish Saturday, Jan. 7 with a 5:00pm Mass celebrated by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek, followed by a meal in the St. John’s Auditorium, adjacent to the church at 201 St. John’s Road.
 
Cost of the meal is $35 per person, according to parish spokesperson Peggy Newcomb.
 
The history of Borger goes back to 1924, when the city was founded by A.P. Borger, after oil was discovered. It’s been written that the discovery of oil led to the creation of Borger and that the presence of the Catholic Church has complimented its existence.
 
In 1925, one of the first Catholics to set roots down arrived—his name was Jack Bauman. A year later, there were five churches in Borger, including a Catholic Church.
 
Father John H. Krukkert, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Amarillo, told Catholics that with a possibility that one would not last, said that there would be a church, even though in his opinion, Borger was nothing more than a boomtown.
 
During the fall of 1926, Father Krukkert scoured the streets of Borger in a eager quest to gather the faithful together for Mass. At first, Catholics gathered at the Rig Theatre for Mass. Shortly thereafter, a fire destroyed the theatre and many parishioners offered their homes for Mass while Father Krukkert purchased three lots west of town for a new church.
 
The first St. John the Evangelist church building, which would be remembered as the “tar paper” or “bunkhouse” church, was made of 1 x 12 planks, 22 feet in length, covered with tar paper. The new building provided no side rooms nor a place for Father Krukkert to sleep.
 
The parishioners did the work of building the church. The building’s cost was $1,000, with many stepping forward to provide funding for the new building.
Father Krukkert soon began discussions with his parishioners about building a newer church building. But those discussions about a new building went nowhere, since it was the opinion of a rig builder that insisted that Borger would last no longer than five years.
 
The “tar paper” church could seat 100 people in its rough pews. Occasionally, coins from the collection would fall through the large cracks in the floor. When Bishop Rudolph A. Gerken came to Borger, a Presbyterian family, Mr. and Mrs. W.O. Kelly loaned the “host” chair of their dining room suite to serve as the bishop’s chair.
 
Legend has it that once when Father Krukkert was celebrating Mass, the fury of a sandstorm began to lash the building. The participants heard the sound of materials being torn loose and feared the roof would blow away. A number of them quickly went outside and soon the sound of hammers mixed with the wailing of the wind and the Latin of the Mass inside.
 
In 1928, parishioners began work on the second church building for the congregation, located at the corner of Hedgecoke and Adams Streets, which was dedicated by Bishop Gerken on Nov. 4 of that year. A $2,500 donation from Catholic Extension assisted in the construction of the church.
 
Another story of legend in Borger involves Father (later Monsignor) John Steinlage, who was assigned to St. John the Evangelist Church in 1932. According to diocesan records, his Easter Mass has the “record” of the longest Mass in the diocese.
 
Father Steinlage started the High Mass at 10:00am, but shortly before the Epistle, he summoned 16-year-old altar boy Jim Payton to run an unusual errand.
 
As he began his homily, Father Steinlage was embarrassed to admit that he’d forgotten to bring the hosts from Panhandle and that Payton had gone to get them.
 
Father Steinlage then proceeded to proclaim the Passion in its entirety and gave a resounding homily on the Resurrection. The choir sang its entire repertoire.
 
Meanwhile, young Payton had raced down to Panhandle, but when he arrived at St. Theresa’s Church, he discovered that he had forgotten the key to the church.
 
Undaunted, he simply broke in and was promptly arrested by the alert Panhandle police, who were hard pressed to believe his story.
 
Eventually, a local Catholic layman secured his release and, hosts in hand, Payton raced back to Borger. Mass finally finished at 1:30 that afternoon.
 
Father Andrew Quante became the first resident pastor in Borger, in 1934. He was followed by Fathers James Daly in 1938, Walter Washila in 1939, Charles Knapp in 1942 and Matthew Schaffle in 1946.
 
In 1953, 20 acres of land west of Borger was purchased. The school, convent and rectory were constructed first and Mass was celebrated in the auditorium, with the first Mass celebrated in the parish’s “third” church on Christmas Day 1955.
 
Father (later) Monsignor B.A. Erpen became pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church on Sept. 10, 1960. He immediately set to work on building a new church, near the rectory, convent and school. Ground was broken on its hilltop church building on April 27, 1961 and the new church, the fourth for the parish was dedicated by Bishop John J. Morkovsky on Feb. 25, 1962.
 
In 1986, Monsignor Norbert G. Kuehler was appointed pastor. On March 27, 1989, a remodeling project began at St. John the Evangelist Church.
 
The remodeling also included an addition, which gave the parish a narthex, religious gift shop, nursery and classrooms for Faith Formation. The project also resulted in a new chapel and reconciliation room. The chapel also included the addition of several stained glass windows. The new addition was blessed and dedicated by Bishop Leroy T. Matthiesen on May 13, 1990.
 
Another addition to the campus at St. John the Evangelist Church took place on Dec. 8, 2011, when then-pastor Monsignor Michael Colwell, JCL, dedicated Mother Mary’s Grotto/La Gruta de Nuestra Madre Maria. Bishop Patrick J. Zurek blessed the grotto prior to Mass Dec. 10.
 
Mother Mary’s Grotto/La Gruta de Nuestra Madre Maria is 12 feet high and 24 feet wide, according to Monsignor Colwell. It contains a bronze statue of Mary that is 5½ feet tall.
 
“When we dedicated Mother Mary’s Grotto/La Gruta de Nuestra Madre Maria, we as a parish dedicated ourselves to Mother Mary’s patronage,” he said in an article in the Dec. 18, 2011 issue of The West Texas Catholic. “Together we recited a prayer of dedication and consecration to Mother Mary and then, follow the example of St. John Vianney, the names of every parishioner were written on specially prepared cards and in procession were placed in a pouch, in the shape of a heart, with the Immaculate Heart of Mary embossed on it, and the heart was placed in the praying hands of Mary, symbolizing her constant prayers, intercession and advocacy for us, her children.”