History

History is made by great visionaries.  As the great parish of St. Joseph was growing and expanding during the time of the pastorate of Rt. Rev. Msgr. A. J. Galowitsch the idea of a new parish came up in his mind.

After much prayers and reflections Msgr. Galowitsch asked for the blessings from Most Rev. Hilary B. Hacker, D.D., to begin the process of putting the foundation for a new parish family. Considering the tremendous expansion of the parish family of St. Joseph, Bishop Hacker whole heartedly gave permission for the program which has its primary objective as the development and growth of Catholic life in our area. 

Because of the tremendous growth of the catholic community of that time, the facilities were not able to accommodate the many people who came to St. Joseph's Church.  As per the request made by Msgr. Galowitsch, Bishop Hacker gave his permission to raise funds for the construction of a new church, school, and rectory to relieve the crowded situation and thus make it possible to give better service in carrying on the work of the church.  In order to get this work underway it was necessary to raise approximately $400,000.00.

In his letter of approval and permission to collect this money, Bishop Hacker said, "This amount can be obtained without too much difficulty if every wage earner will contribute one day's wage each month for the next 30 months.  This amount is less than five percent of gross income and is less than half the amount recommended in the Sacred Scriptures."
 
On Sunday afternoon, September 8,1957, St. Joseph's Church in Mandan launched its campaign to raise funds for new parish buildings.  The most Rev. Hilary B. Hacker was guest of honor at the kick-off meeting. Bishop Hacker gave his blessings to all 400 men of the parish who are working on the campaign.   The bishop spoke on the great need of a new parish for Mandan.  He also stressed that a parish is above all things for the parishioners themselves. The construction for the new building started in the spring of 1958. Bernard Hillyer of Bismarck was the architect and the campaign was conducted by William M. McNally and Associates of New York.

The ground breaking ceremony for the new church and the school building was held on April 13, 1958 and marked the official "go ahead" for the work on Mandan's second parish...to be named in honor of Christ the King.  Bishop Hacker turned the first clump of Morton County sod and spoke briefly on the importance of dedicating a particular area of land for the service of Almighty God.  Msgr. Galowitsch, Pastor of St. Joseph Church in Mandan took the shovel next and continued with his effort.  All those present witnessed the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of the catholic community in the Mandan area.  With the help of Grace of God and the hard work of the members of the Catholic community and the generosity of the people in the area the work progressed and they were able to open the grade school section of the Christ the King School in the fall of 1958. The work of the parish church also progressed rapidly. 

As the fruit of hard work and cooperation of the people of Mandan, with the grace of God, and prayer, they were able to complete the task of building a house for God here on earth. The dedication ceremony of the new church took place on April 28, 1959 at 3:30 p.m. (MST) followed by Pontifical High Mass presided by The Most Rev. Lambert A. Hoch D.D.

​Below you can find the approval letter from Most Rev. Hilary B. Hacker, Bishop of Bismarck diocese to begin the process of forming the new witnessing community of Christ the King parish.  Thanks to the great vision he had in his mind and as we see in the pages of the history Msgr. Galowitsch fulfilled this mission with a passion for the Kingdom of God.  Let us be grateful to all those who have gone ahead of us.  What we have today is the fruit of the hard work of our forefathers whose sacrifice made this place a blessing.  Let us continue to cherish and nourish those same gospel values and witness Christ our King in our daily lives.

           Here is an extract from the local newspaper 'The Mandan Daily Pioneer':

The opening procession led by the visiting clergy singing The Litany of the Saints to the last remark by the master of ceremonies after the banquet, the dedication of the Christ the King Church, Tuesday, was a joyful occasion.  The Rt. Rev. Msgr Galowitsch, Pastor of St. Joseph Parish, hosted the celebration of the start of a new parish. The procession around the church ended with the blessing by His Excellency, the Most Rev. Hilary B. Hacker, D.D. Bishop of Bismarck.  The pontifical high mass which followed was celebrated by His Excellency, the Most Rev. Lambert A. Hoch, Bishop of Sioux Falls, SD and former head of the local diocese.  The choir of the new church organized only five weeks ago was under the direction of Mrs. Joseph Steckler. In all there were about 80 visiting clergy swelling the crowd of parishioners which filled the church for the afternoon services.

General Persons of the dedication of Mandan's newest church were Clem Albers and H.A. Kautzmann.  The dining room of St. Joseph School was filled for the banquet later in the evening.   Dr. Philip Blumenthal was master of ceremonies for the banquet program and made the introductions of the distinguished guests.

Speakers were the bishops and Msgr. Galowitsch for the clergy and Walton Russel and Mrs. Joseph Steckler for the trustees and women of the parish respectively.  The general tone of the after dinner talks was one of appreciation for the cooperation and support which made the new church a reality. 

Then the children of the new parish contributed to the occasion with a medieval history display in the entrance hall of Christ the King School.  With corrugated board, mirrors for water in the moat and toy knights and pipe cleaner dolls, a castle and village were depicted.

Among the guests were number of people who had a professional interest in the actual building of the church, school and rectory.  Msgr. Galowitsch introduced Bernard Hillyer, the architect.  Fritz Lunn represented his father and Lunn Construction Co., general contractors.  Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Toman and Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Toman were also introduced.