Christ the King

Originally, it was to be located at 78th and Holmes "south of Waldo. The original boundaries ran a zig-zag course from 75th Street and Troost to Martin City on the south and from Cherry to State Line on 80th Street. Fr. Thomas J. Connelly was the first pastor. He did a census of the proposed parish area and discovered 17 families. A storeroom north... east of 85th and Holmes was rented, and the congregation celebrated its first Mass together on the Feast of Christ the King, October 30, 1938. Five weeks later they moved into a small tin barn at 808 W. 85th Street. It had been a nightclub called the "Silver Barn" and after the first Sunday mass, Fr. Connelly was visiting with a parish member outside the church. A gentleman drove up who had evidently been touring the county in search of "libation". Upon seeing the people leaving he asked, "Where is everybody going? I was just going to buy the house a drink. The following week a cross was erected on top of the church so that passersby would know the Silver Barn existed no more. In 1941, a lot with a large house was purchased on the southwest corner of 85th and Wornall from T. Eugene Crawford. Construction on a new church in a mission style was begun. There were about 75 families. On May 24, 1943, the church burned to the ground and took the rectory with it. The property was in the county at the time and there were no firefighting facilities. Parishioners immediately began to clear the ruins and by the following Sunday they were able to have Mass in the basement remains of the church. They built a new church identical to the former one, which was blessed December 19, 1943. At the blessing ceremony Bishop Edwin O'Hara told the people the area was going to grow rapidly and encouraged them to plan for a school. In the fall of 1945, the basement of the church was divided into three classrooms and school opened with 46 children. By the fall of 1946, a new school was prepared for occupancy. It was made up of four classrooms and an office and cost $68,000. By 1950 there were ...Read More