Coralville community celebrates new church

By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger

CORALVILLE — For years, St. Thomas More Parish prayed and planned for a church big enough to accommodate their growing community. Their joy was palpable as they filled the pews of their new worship space for the first time Aug. 24. “We’ve got a lot to celebrate,” Father Chuck Adam, the parish’s pastor, told the congregation after Bishop Dennis Walsh dedicated the new worship space.

During the Rite of Dedication, a first for the bishop, parishioners placed authentic relics into the altar. Bishop Walsh poured chrism oil on the center and four corners of the stone altar to represent the five wounds of Christ and spread the oil across the table. Afterwards four parishioners wiped the oil with white towels and dressed the altar. Four priests anointed the four dedication crosses spaced around the church. Parishioners later lit candles at those four locations.

“Congratulations to this parish community for having built this beautiful church,” the bishop said during his homily. “It is here, where dwells the Eucharistic presence of the Lord, where God convenes his family to hear his word, grow in faith, and celebrate the sacraments through which Christ gives the Spirit for new life.”

New features

The new worship space is an addition to the original church, built in 2009. The 1,800-household community, which welcomes about 100 additional families each year, had long outgrown the original 475-capacity worship space, Father Adam said. The new worship space seats between 1,000 and 1,050 individuals. Contractors converted the original church into a gathering space and parish offices.

The new worship space’s design feels fresh but familiar, observed Father Walter Helms, a retired diocesan priest who served the parish from 2000-2013. It features many of the same design concepts of the former worship space, including wood touches and stone from the original building but utilizes additional natural lighting through windows overlooking the tree-lined property.

The renovated and expanded lower level features a new kitchen, large social hall, music ministry practice room, conference room, 10 refurbished classrooms and a workroom for religious education preparation.

Youth Minister Angie Goodwin and Logan Vittetoe, a high school senior and a member of the parish council, are excited about the possibilities of the new youth group room downstairs. “Before, we met wherever we could, using whatever (space) was open,” Goodwin said. Vittetoe said he is grateful that the parish wanted to invest in the younger generation. “It couldn’t have happened without all these people,” he said, referencing the multi-page list of donors in the Mass program.

Making space

St. Thomas More Parish broke ground on the $12.4 million addition in April 2024. With the worship space under construction, the community primarily celebrated Mass in the lower level.  The parish celebrated Easter Mass in the Iowa City West High School auditorium and moved to Regina Catholic Education Center in Iowa City for three weeks in July while contractors worked on the lower level.

The parish’s history of nontraditional worship spaces dates back to 2005 when then-Bishop William Franklin asked the parish to move from Iowa City to the growing Coralville area. Occasional summer Sunday evening Masses were held at the North Liberty Community Center and later, monthly Saturday evening Masses at North Liberty United Methodist Church, according to parish documents. From 2006-09, parishioners gathered for Sunday Mass at the Coralville Brown Deer Golf Course clubhouse. The parish broke ground on the original church in 2008 and moved in about 18 months later. The worship space, with movable chairs instead of pews, was meant to be temporary, Father Adam said. The parish had planned to construct an addition and convert the majority of the worship space into a gathering area.

Father Adam acknowledges the parish’s resilience and flexibility through the years. “We’ve celebrated Mass in many places,” including the parking lot during the COVID-19 pandemic. As beautiful as the new worship space is, “it’s the people that make up the Church… wherever we have Mass, they come.”

A community effort

Parishioners offered input into the new church’s design and shared their time, talent and treasure in a variety of ways, Father Adam said. “We want (the church) to be a place where people feel welcomed and valued, and where their talents can be used to grow the kingdom of God,” he told The Catholic Messenger.

A shrine near the back of the worship space features a rotating cast of icons to honor the various cultures that make up the parish. Parishioner Jorge Lopez and the parish art committee designed the four seasons-inspired stained glass window behind the altar, inspired by the parish’s mission to be “A Parish for All Seasons.” Parish artist Don Hetzel designed the Holy Spirit-themed stained glass window above the baptismal font and designed a new front for the ambo with symbols of the four evangelists. Former parishioner David Johnson created oak legs and a wood outline for the new altar and crafted a new wooden deacon’s chair.

The ambo features a wooden stand atop a limestone base, created for the original church by parishioner Vern Miller. Parishioner and former Coralville Mayor John Lundell designed Stations of the Cross and created a new wood backing for the four dedication candles.

Parishioner Randy Clarahan, a construction executive, volunteered to supervise the project. Jean LePeau organized the campaign record. Knights of Columbus assisted with some of the physical labor and demolition work.

“It was a collaborative effort,” said Meliza Wise, a parish council member who helped with fundraising efforts. “It really makes you feel like it was built by the people.”