Lots of Love and a Bit of Elbow Grease: The Physical and Spiritual Rejuvenation of Sacred Heart Parish in Denver
- Jacqueline Gilvard Landry
- 6 minutes ago
- 7 min read
The Denver parish’s fresh paint and physical repairs point to a deeper, spiritual stirring
The trees were budding in Sacred Heart Parish’s lush, newly renovated Marian Garden as a crowd of worshippers spilled out onto Denver’s Larimer Street, holding high their palm fronds as Father Eric Zegeer, the parish’s pastor, read the Gospel to begin the ceremonial Palm Sunday procession.
The soaring bell tower — soon to be repainted and lighted with grant money — stretched toward the clear blue sky as Father Zegeer led the procession back into the recently relit and reconfigured sanctuary for Mass.
While the buzzing, standing-room-only crowd settled in for the opening prayer, a different kind of rejuvenation was stirring behind the impressive physical renovations.
Renovations from the outside-in
Sacred Heart — structurally — was falling apart, said Maria Garcia Chavez, the church’s secretary for 33 years and a parishioner since childhood.
“The second floor was scary,” she said. “You could see the outside.”
With years of wear, tear and neglect, the roof was in terrible need of repair; there was water damage; stairs were not up to code; and, among many other safety concerns, some fire extinguishers had not been tested in ages, Father Zegeer said.
So, when he arrived at Sacred Heart from Risen Christ Parish in Denver in August 2022, he had two goals: to make the property safe and to “instill a pride in the people of the parish, who, with very limited personal resources, find great joy in seeing their home repaired, improved and beautified,” he said.
Father Zegeer has gone far toward meeting those goals, largely thanks to two $250,000 grants from the Colorado State Historical Fund that are helping pay for “decades of deferred maintenance,” he said. Sacred Heart — a mainly poor, Hispanic “church of immigrants” — is a registered historic building in Denver and is the oldest continuously operating church in Colorado.
Father Zegeer said the first grant, in 2023, went toward items like a 50-year warrantied shingled roof, brick restoration, painted and lined gutters and downspouts, regrouting of the foundation, updates to several access gates around the property and more. The second grant will soon be used to repaint and light the bell tower; replace dry, rotted wood around the roof base, bell tower and stained-glass windows; and redo the main stairs going up into the church. Work will begin in late May or June.
Chavez marveled at the progress, saying she is more excited about the church.
“The outside, inside, parking lot, roof, steeple, everything – the stairs … Father got here, and he went to work,” she said.
Javier Trujillo, chair of the parish finance council, said these and other grants obtained since Father Zegeer came to Sacred Heart add up to about $659,000. With this money, plus rebates, donations and some of the church’s own funds, numerous other improvements have been completed — a four-page list of projects, programs and progress that includes a restored chapel, a new vented hood in the kitchen, an efficient HVAC system, LED lighting, security cameras and signage. Work is planned to install solar panels and eventually place protective UV material over the stained-glass windows.
Trujillo credits Father Zegeer with cutting costs and bringing in revenue by, for example, renting space to Fidelis Credit Union and charging for public parking during non-Mass hours.
Looking up: A sacramental surge
Behind the fresh paint and repaired brick, another kind of rejuvenation is stirring.
“The way things work with structures, everything has to be fixed from the outside in. While it’s a lot of work, it is a lot easier to do. The spiritual life is the opposite … and that takes a lot longer,” Father Zegeer said. “With the spiritual life, it starts very slow and quiet on the interior and works its way out.”
All indications are that progress has not been all that slow or quiet. Mass attendance increased 58% during Father Zegeer’s first year, before a dip when he extended the Religious Education program from eight months to two years. He said attendance is now up another 20% in his third year, and the number of registered families has grown to 559. Father Zegeer, who is Hispanic and bilingual, has added a Saturday anticipatory Mass and more weeknight Masses in Spanish to accommodate the need.
In her decades working at the church, Chavez said she has seen attendance ebb and flow, and she is thrilled that more people are coming to Mass.
“There’s more participation and more pride in the parish. People are more inspired,” she said.
Trujillo, who joined Sacred Heart (his wife’s home parish) after moving from California two years ago, said he has also observed greater participation, including additional lectors. He said Father Zegeer has recharged the liturgy with “outstanding homilies” that are “theological and scriptural and relevant.”
Father Zegeer believes interior changes have also helped people feel more “confidence, hope and dignity.” He said he raised the altar platform to the highest point in the sanctuary, which “naturally raises people’s eyes ‘to the heavens from where shall come our help.’” He added, “I told them, ‘People who do not have hope always look down … but if you are going to be able to pray and see the Mass, you have to look up. From now on, we look up.’”
Another sign of hope is that sacraments are rising, with about 50 children in faith formation and sacramental preparation. The children are instructed alongside their parents, at least one of whom per child is asked to attend presentations, give 24 hours of volunteer time and attend a yearly family retreat at Annunciation Heights, an archdiocesan camp near Estes Park.
Father Zegeer said a resulting “huge blessing” is that more of these parents seek the sacrament of Matrimony. He said the number of confessions has also increased, adding he has been continuously and “gently” preaching about pursuing both sacraments since he came to the parish.
‘Everyone’s pitching in’
People aren’t just showing up, they’re stepping up.
“Everyone’s pitching in,” Father Zegeer said. “The money raised keeps growing year over year, end over end.”
Though Sacred Heart remains a low-income parish, the weekly collections and donations to the Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal have increased significantly over time.
The people have responded to the call to love their church, not just with money, but with time, Father Zegeer added.
“I really believe firmly in leading by example. People see me climbing up on roofs, cleaning this, sweeping that, blowing with the blower this, helping outside, and they want to help, too,” he said.
So, people of all ages are cooking, cleaning, serving at Mass, offering prayers and planning events through the church’s ministries.
“And then there’s the food!” Father Zegeer exclaimed, explaining that onsite taco sales add to the parish tremendously. Rotating teams cook and sell the tacos with donated ingredients to passersby and parishioners every other week. Worried that people were working six days a week and then volunteering for hours on Sundays, Father Zegeer initially paused the sales, but the volunteers insisted they continue.
“People take pride in what they’re doing. People hang around, they spend time eating, joking, laughing, talking,” he said.
From sidewalk to sanctuary, teen Evelyn Ramirez has supported the ministries as an altar server for 10 years.
“Being an altar server gives me a purpose and a strong connection to God. I feel as if God is guiding and inspiring me to not just sit and listen during Mass but to jump in and help,” the Prairie View High School senior in Brighton said. She said she is off to Colorado State University in the fall.
‘It’s your home’: Building the Kingdom
Father Zegeer said he wants parishioners to feel invested in the church.
“I tell them, ‘Remember, when you clean, when you cook, when you volunteer, when you contribute … it’s your home that you’re sustaining and keeping vibrant and active, and it will be your home for many years to come for your children and your grandchildren.”
Chavez is a good example of that loving commitment to the parish. She was married at Sacred Heart; her children received their sacraments there; and they all still attend.
“I love it here,” she said. “Everybody is welcome. Everybody.”
“I do consider Sacred Heart church to be my home,” Ramirez said, “because my family and I have visited other churches closer to home, out of state and (around) the country, but none of them feel right like Sacred Heart. I love it, and it is awesome that … I get to help at such a historic place, walking in areas where someone like Julia Greeley once walked and prayed.”
Father Zegeer noted that despite demographic changes in the parish’s River North (RiNo) neighborhood, parishioners who now live miles away will make the 45-minute drive to church.
“They’re never going to leave their home, and their home is Sacred Heart,” he said.
Efforts are underway to invite more souls home to Sacred Heart, especially some of the new RiNo population. Despite seeing more young adults at Mass, outreach like church tours and social events has yet to bear fruit among the neighbors.
“We won’t give up,” Father Zegeer said.
As the church bell tower is lit by the end of the summer, Sacred Heart will be seen around the city, “to let people know that we’re here, we’ve always been here, we will always be here, and we’re here for anyone and everyone with our doors open,” he added. “Little by little, we’ll build the Kingdom.”
In gratitude
Father Zegeer also expressed his thanks to Jim Paull of JP Architecture and Mary Ann Hand for their donations and essential roles in securing the grants from the Colorado State Historic Fund. He also thanks Dan Wagner, Rita Pohlmeir and Denise Crooks, along with the Archdiocese of Denver and the City and County of Denver, for their help and partnership.
