The face of our Catholic Church is changing very rapidly. With the Catholic population in Reedley now well over the original 24 families who built our beautiful stone church back in 1906; we the current membership are committed to "Savor the Past, Build for the Future".
Thanks be to God, we are blessed to now have two beautiful Churches here in Reedley : the Historical Stone church located at 1060 F Street and the New Church located at 1218 N. Frankwood Avenue. The Historical Church seats nearly 200 people, and the New Church currently seats 985 people.
During the 1980's, Monsignor Francis G. Tasy recognized the great need for a new larger Church for our Community of Faith. He spearheaded the "Forward Together" campaign to raise money for the purchase of the land for the New Church. $1,000,000 was pledged, and nearly $800,000 was raised.
Following the unexpected death of Monsignor Francis G. Tasy in 2006; Bishop John T. Steinbock assigned Msgr. John Esquivel to become the pastor of our Parish in January 2007. Knowing that he would be charged with the duty of constructing a new Church, Msgr. Esquivel was able to use the money saved over the years by Monsignor Tasy to arrange for the purchase of land where our beautiful New Church is located today.
With the land purchased, Monsignor John Esquivel then began the Capital Campaign "Savor the Past, Build for the Future". He started the process of forming Design and Capital Campaign committees.
The Complete design of the new church called for a mission-style cruciform shape (a central nave with north and south transepts) to approximately 1,500 parishioners. Since the total cost approached $7,000,000, the committee decided to build the central nave only, with the transepts to be built at a later date. This lowered the building cost to $3,500,000.
The Groundbreaking of the New Church took place on September 15, 2010. Participants of the groundbreaking ceremony included Most Rev. John T. Steinbeck, Bishop of the Diocese of Fresno; Monsignor John Esquivel, Pastor; Sister Lucy Cassarino, FDZ, Principal; Doug DuRivage of the Diocese of Fresno; Anita Betancourt, representative of the City of Reedley; Bryan Awbrey of our parish finance council; Jim McGahan of the Design Committee; Mark Garza of the Capital Campaign Committee and various members of parish group leaders.
Thanks be to God, the new church was constructed less than two years after the groundbreaking ceremony. The Dedication and Consecration Mass was held on March 8, 2012 with Most Rev. Armando X. Ochoa, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Fresno as the celebrant.
A third Capital Campaign has since been created "Savor the Past...Build for the Future, Our Future is Now". Currently the parish continues to pay the Diocesan Loan payment with a balance of approximately $900,000 due to the ongoing support and campaigns by our parishioners and to the brothers August and Ralph Madrigal who together bequeathed over $1,000,000 to our parish upon their passing.
As we move forward and continue to Savor the Past and Build for the Future we ask for your continued financial support. There are many ways to donate. You may make a one-time donation using PayPal by clicking the "Donate Now" button. You can also call the parish Business Office at 559-637-0591 for information on other methods of support such as pledging a monthly donation. Donate Now