FORT SMITH — The yearlong festivities at St. Boniface Church’s 125th anniversary show why the parish has inspired the loyalty of families for five generations. They came because they were warmly welcomed and their children and grandchildren stayed because the church had become their family.
On Jan. 29, St. Boniface School, built in 1911, kicked off the parish celebrations with a German dinner. From 1886-1950, the church was an ethnic German parish, led by Benedictine priests and sisters, serving immigrants who came to build the railroad and needed a parish where they could worship and receive the sacraments in their own language.
On Dec. 12, the anniversary celebrations will conclude with an Our Lady of Guadalupe Mexican dinner and celebration, hosted by the newest parishioners to be welcomed into the St. Boniface family.
The church and school held an open house May 6, welcoming the community to see the church’s art, the up-to-date curricula and technology in the school.
Deacon John Burns, pastor Father Jon McDougal, KFSM anchorman Darren Bobb, history teacher Randy Kern and anniversary chairwoman Suzanne Schluterman visited with families in the church. Schluterman showed the church’s 42 relics, usually hidden behind a curtain in a glass case mounted in the sanctuary.
“We have been told our church has more relics than any other church in Arkansas,” Schluterman said, “and if we can get the authentication papers on all of them the church will be named a basilica.”
Dianne Heinrichs, music director, was in the choir loft showing visitors the first pipe organ installed in Fort Smith in 1896 and restored in 2007.
The current English Gothic-style church building was built in 1938, and the pipe organ, bells and altar of the Blessed Virgin were moved to the new building. The stained-glass windows, created by the Emil Frei Company in Munich, Germany, were installed in 1939.
A DVD compiled by Artie Berry describing the stained-glass windows and statues in the church played continuously in the school auditorium. In 2002, the sanctuary of the church, statues, stations of the cross and nativity pieces were restored.
Dr. Karen Hollenbeck, St. Boniface principal, greeted guests to the school and invited them to tour individual classrooms where teachers were present to welcome them. Three Benedictine sisters who had taught there — Sisters Elizabeth Rossi, Madeline Clifton and Elise Forst, OSB — were amazed at how the school had changed.
St. Boniface is the first school in the area to have infant/toddler education. More than just daycare, the program has been designed to provide educational enrichment, and the young pupils are even visited by the art, music and library teachers. The brightly colored classrooms are filled with age-appropriate furniture and toys, and a fenced-in toddler playground sits in the school’s front yard.
There is an up-to-date library/media center and several classrooms have smart boards. Many parish families have attended and supported the school for several generations, and Hollenbeck’s three children are the fourth generation in her family to attend the school.
“Just look at her,” Sister Elizabeth said. “My eighth-grade student is now the principal.”
The Benedictine priests and sisters who served at St. Boniface Church and School were honored by the parish on Benedictine Sunday, April 15. On June 2, the school will hold the annual Father Placidus Golf Tournament, recognizing Father Placidus Eckart, OSB, the last Benedictine pastor to serve in the parish.
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor will celebrate Mass at the church June 24, followed by a reception. In the summer and fall, the festivities will continue with an ice cream social, Lawn Social and a Thanksgiving dinner.
The little parish of 50 German families in 1886 has grown ten-fold to a multi-cultural parish of 550 families.