Please note the following dates, times, and locations for 2023 Advent Penance Services.
Sunday, December 3rd
Cure of Ars, Leawood, 3:00 pm
QHR, Overland Park, 3:00 pm
St. Agnes, Roeland Park, 3:00 pm
St. Paul, Olathe, 7:00 pm
Monday, December 4th
Good Shepherd, Shawnee, 7:00 pm
Holy Trinity, Lenexa, 7:00 pm
Holy Spirit, Overland Park, 7:00 pm
St. Michael, Leawod, 7:00 pm
Tuesday, December 5th
Holy Cross, Overland Park, 7:00 pm
Prince of Peace, Olathe, 7:00 pm
Ascension, Overland Park, 7:00 pm
Wednesday, December 6th
St. Joseph, Shawnee, 7:00 pm
Divine Mercy, Gardner, 7:00 pm
Sacred Heart, Shawnee, 7:00 pm
St. Pius X, Mission, 7:00 pm
Sunday, December 10th
QHR-WEA, Bucyrus, 3:00 pm
St. Ann, Prairie Village, 3:00 pm
John Paul II, Olathe, 3:00 pm
Nativity, Leawood, 7:00 pm
This year's "Giving Tuesday" is slated for the "Annual Christmas Gift Fund" and is the best way to show appreciation of the hard work done by our teachers and Holy Rosary Wea staff. Participation is voluntary and donations may be tax deductible. Thank you so much for your generosity!
The building committee is pleased to report that the master planning effort is nearing its long awaited completion and more detailed information will be provided over the next few months. The goal of the master plan is to provide a holistic look at the entire campus and make recommendations to meet the long term needs of the parish.
The archdiocese requires master planning to help parishes prioritize improvements and to be the best stewards of the parish’s resources. An architectural firm (SFS) was hired to put together the master plan. SFS started with a full evaluation of all the buildings and infrastructure onsite. They then met with school and parish staff, parish organizations, and solicited feedback from parishioners through a public town hall forum to determine the facility needs for all activities. From this evaluation, input and information from the Archdiocese, SFS mapped the current and future needs of the parish to the existing campus facilities and identified deficiencies.
The primary outcomes were:
Middle School Classrooms. The middle school classrooms currently reside in pre-owned modular buildings that were added to the North end of the middle school setting. Improving the middle school layout would allow for a more traditional 6th thru 8th grade middle school setting and help the school attract and retain the older students. The recommendation is to build new middle school classrooms on the East end of the current classroom hallway of the school.
Angel House. The Angel House (daycare) structure has some fairly significant issues with the foundation, exterior siding and wood rot. The layout of the building is not efficient for daycare functions and severely limits the operational capacity (there is currently a 2 year waiting list). The daycare shares food and nursing services with the school and having it located across the parking lot from the school is inefficient. The recommendation is to build a new daycare connected to the North end of the school building.
Church. Our historic church has served our parish well for many years but will present challenges as we move into the future. There are no accessible bathrooms, no indoor gathering space that can be used during cold weather, and shared facilities with the school present logistic and security challenges. Based on population data provided by the archdiocese our area is expected to see more than a 20% increase in the next 10 years and our current church has no spare capacity to accommodate future growth. SFS evaluated the existing structure and adding onto or expanding the church is very difficult and costly given its design, site constraints and code requirements. The recommendation is to build a new church West of the school parking lot.
Special Thanks to our building committee for their time and dedication given to the Master Plan.
Mark Benne
Jessica Garder
John Loyd
James Schaid
Greg Hadel
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Please click on the following link for the most recent Master Planning Presentation by SFS Architects.
Master Plan Presentation
Master Site Plan 9-11-2023
Please click the following link to view the video of the Town Hall Meeting held on Sunday, Dec. 11th in the Parish Hall.
Please click the following link for the presentation and notes from the Town Hall Meeting.
Town Hall Meeting Presentation & Notes
If you'd like to provide additional comments please click the link below.
What a wonderful and successful event was the 2023 Oktoberfest Wea Auction!! Success can be measured many ways including the monetary donations that help support our students through funding our School HVAC, Roof, and Security. But just as important and maybe more so, is the Holy Spirit working in our parish community as was supremely evident Saturday night. You could actually feel the good will and fellowship of our Catholic community permeate the crowded gym and parish hall. This is our largest fundraiser of the year and the support provided by our parish continues to humble all involved.
A deep and sincere appreciation to all who painstakingly prepared the event, coordinated the activities, and volunteered their time, talent, and treasure. You make a difference. These are the treasures that last. St. Francis of Assisi says it best -
"Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you received - only what you have given."
2023 Wea Auction Committee Chairs -
Andre & Callie Trudell
Auction Team -
Mike & Kelli Dorrell
Ron & Pat Kalcic
Gaby Deramus
Michael & Kirsten Keating
Carlos & Sarah Baldelomar
Diana Roth
Katherine Guetterman
Tom McGuire
Jim & Jessica Rathman
Tonyia Keating
Lisa Miller
Troy & Kata Walker
Wea Knights of Columbus
Peyton Welch
This issue won’t go away, and we have to remain diligent in how we function with respect to cybersecurity. We’ve all seen the news and probably have good firsthand experience with issues related to malware, ransomware, and identity theft. The perpetrators who are producing these emails & scams are getting really good. They’ve matured and can be very stealth in how they go about gathering information. Please click the link below from Catholic Mutual regarding Cybersecurity Best Practices.
No parishioner or school family has the authority to use our parish name "Holy Rosary Wea" when asking for personal donations. Fraudulent misrepresentation such as this, could carry both civil and criminal penalties. If you are contacted by an individual seeking funds in this manner, please refrain from giving and contact the school or parish office immediately. Additionally, posting of personal solicitations on the parish/school campus is never permitted.
With great delight we are experiencing a renaissance in altar serving by our Wea children. They are faithful, passionate and reverent and exude great joy in serving Jesus at the altar.
Many thanks to their moms and dad for fanning the love of Jesus in their tender hearts and encouraging them to serve at the altar.
The church has always hoped that great vocations to the priesthood, religious life and married life will spring from these courageous, faith-filled altar servers.
Father Jerry
Please be aware there are some "bad guys" that attempt to steal money, gather personal identification information or do harm to our systems by posing as trusted officials asking for you to click on a link, open an attachment, or send gift cards. Some emails / texts look very official like they are from Father Jerry asking for gift cards or for you to help by clicking on a link.
Please see sample text one of our parishioners received. Father Jerry would never send anything like this.
How does this happen? There are programs that the bad guys develop that scour the internet, bulletins, and websites searching for email addresses / phone numbers, or they hack phones and gather the stored address books. They then send authentic looking emails/texts trying to scam folks. Again, just delete them. If you ever have a question as to the authenticity of a parish email, you can always call the parish office at 913-533-2464.
Please click on the button below to read the Final Church Building Assessment report that was completed by SFS Architecture. This report was accepted April 1, 2022, by our Church Building Committee comprised of:
Father Jerry Arano-Ponce
Mark Benne - Chair
Jessica Garder
John Loyd
James Schaid
What can the Ministry of Care do for you or your loved one?
*Grief support *Transportation *Visits to shut-ins at home or in a facility *Holy Communion brought to you *Meal support in time of crisis *Respite relief for caregivers *Other assistance as needed
If you or someone you know could benefit from these services, please contact Beth Albracht at (913) 706-6027 or Beth.albracht@gmail.com
There's been substantial progress on a number of projects. Please see photos below. If you have any questions please contact Merle Petz - mpetz@qhrwea.org.
Playground Equipment -
Rosary Path
Painted Classrooms