Three Churches, One Parish Family: Denver's All Saints Celebrates 75 Years
Through fire, rebuilding and generations of faithful parishioners, the Southwest Denver Catholic community has remained a spiritual home — and, as Bishop Jorge Rodríguez reminded those gathered, a place where God continues to make saints.
In January of 1953, just over 16 months after it was dedicated, the first church for All Saints Parish in Southwest Denver was destroyed by fire.
Last weekend, God’s providence in both good times and bad — and the faithful dedication of thousands of parishioners over many years — was on full display when the Solemnity of All Saints landed on a Sunday and the parish, still alive and vibrant, commemorated its 75th anniversary.
“Today we celebrate, in a particular way, the ‘factory of saints’ that All Saints Parish has been for 75 years,” Denver Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodríguez said in his homily at the 10:00 a.m. Mass, which, like all Sunday Masses that weekend, was followed by a reception.
Bishop Rodriguez spoke of how the Church is a factory of sorts, “where the artist, God, with divine skilled hands makes a saint of each one of us — each one of you.”
All Saints’ church today is actually the third in the parish’s history. The first was dedicated in 1951 and the second was ready the year following the fire in 1954. At the time, growth in the area signaled that a larger church would soon be needed, so the second church was intended from the beginning to be transitional and was converted into classrooms when the third church was completed in 1968.
The current church was designed by Architect Henry DeNicola — himself a dedicated longtime parishioner — and was dedicated on Thanksgiving of 1968. As written in the Denver Catholic Register at the time, DeNicola planned the church carefully as a place of prayer and worship: “In the new church, everything — design emphasis, structure, lighting, aisles — leads to the sanctuary. The desire was to make the altar of sacrifice the focal point of all interest. The very basic fan-shaped design with the back of the church the widest point, draws attention to the sanctuary.”
While the parish has endeavored to create multiple holy spaces for worship over the course of three-quarters of a century, Bishop Rodriguez made clear that the three buildings have never actually been of primary importance. What is central, in fact, is those who built and have occupied those churches.
“We know that the parish is not the territory. It is not the building. The parish is the community of Catholics,” Bishop Rodriguez continued. “It's not about history or chronicle or an article in the newspaper. It is about the lives that built this community that we call All Saints Catholic Parish.”
Bishop Jorge Rodríguez and other clergy reverence the altar at the start of Mass.
(Photos by Matt Walker/Denver Catholic)
Numerous current and former parishioners told the Denver Catholic at the celebration that the community of All Saints has been pivotal in their lives.
“I have been coming to All Saints Church since it opened,” said Arlene Mackintosh of Denver. “All my kids were baptized here.”
Deborah Baca’s daughter, grandkids and even great-grandchildren were baptized at All Saints.
Phil Scholl and his sister, Lawana Elder, joined in 1951, when they were kids. Lawana and her husband, Gary, were married there in 1969, and on the parish anniversary, they recreated their wedding photo in front of the same stained-glass window.
Father Sean McGrath, a retired priest in the archdiocese who helped to celebrate the Mass, was once a member of the Parish and said his first mass there.
For Father Joseph Quoc Bui, who has been the parish’s parochial vicar since his ordination in 2024, the parish became a refuge after emigrating from Vietnam. He started at the seminary in Denver a year and a half later.
For Monsignor Peter Quang Nguyen, who has served as the parish’s pastor since 2013, the anniversary is an occasion for reflection, prayer, gratitude and looking to the future.
“Many people are asking me, ‘What do you pray for for the 75th anniversary of the parish?’” said Monsignor Nguyen. “Facing this meaningful milestone, we pray to renew All Saints Parish together, so that this place truly becomes ‘a house of prayer for all people,’ a sacred space of welcome, sharing and shining love.”
Celebrating the past, but with an eye towards the future, the hope of all is that the parishioners of All Saints will continue to allow God to work in their lives, so that one day they will join the Church Triumphant in heaven and become a part of the very same All Saints that have so long been their patrons.
