The Holy Family Catholic Parish recently celebrated a successful capital campaign pledge drive that exceeded the parish’s goal of $5 million to help build a new church.
About 100 people attended a pledge drive celebration on May 3 after the recent announcement that the campaign has netted $5,787,833 in pledges to build a church at 2300 Church Road in Arnold.
Holy Family was formed when the Immaculate Conception and St. David parishes merged in August 2023 as part of the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ “All Things New” initiative.
“It is a testament to how much everybody loves this parish,” Holy Family member Jim Hentz said. “At first, we thought, ‘Wow, that is a lot of money.’ When you saw everybody jump on board, attend the meeting and everything, I was pretty sure we were going to make it.
“This is a great day for us to be able to say we have the money and can build a church for many generations past us. Just like those people who built the church in 1895, they built that for us. It is our turn now to pay it forward to the next ones.”
The Immaculate Conception Parish was established in 1840, and the St. David Catholic Parish was established in 1960, with the cornerstone at St. David Church blessed in 1964.
The Immaculate Conception Church was built in 1895 and was torn down because of structural issues. The parish stopped holding Masses in the church on April 6,2025, due to storm damage the building sustained in March 2025 when a tornado ripped through Arnold, and the church was demolished in October 2025.
Holy Family stopped using the St. David Church on the Tenbrook Road campus, 2334 Tenbrook Road, in 2024 after its HVAC stopped working.
“I was upset when the building had to go at first,’ said Linda Blaha, 71, who said she has been a member of the parish her entire life. “Then I came to terms with it, and I realized that we needed to move on and do what we needed to do. My grandparents and great-grandparents had done what they needed to do for us. It is our turn to do it. We are joyfully doing it.”
Holy Family launched its capital campaign to raise $5 million to build the new church on Feb. 1.
The parish also sold the Tenbrook Road campus, 2334 Tenbrook Road, which was home to the old St. David Catholic Church, to Rockport Baptist Church for $1.75 million.
Rockport was able to purchase the Tenbrook Road campus after selling its church property, 3761 Telegraph Road, for $2 million to the Rock Community Fire Protection District.
“It is nice to celebrate milestones,” said the Rev. Gerald Blessing, Holy Family’s pastor. “This is a good milestone for us. We are moving along. I am excited that we are at this point. We can start to build what this community has been wanting to do for several years. I am happy to be at this point and to celebrate the community and this goal. It is a great accomplishment, and we should be happy about what we have done.”
During the celebration, parish members Amanda Macke and Brendan Dierkes, who also are members of the building committee, showed early artist renderings of the outside of the church and the current floor plans.
The new church will have a steeple similar to the former Immaculate Conception Church, and the building will be able to seat up to 400 people.
The floor plans show there will be four sections of pews with a choir area, storage area, multi-purpose room and bathrooms in the back of the church. The altar at the front of the church will be flanked by the sacristy and a servers’ vesting and storage area.
Church officials have said Holy Family has about $2.5 million from the sale of the Tenbrook Road campus and other church funds to add to the more than $5.7 million that has been pledged to build the church.
Chiodini Architects is designing the church, and Musick Construction will be the general contractor.
“There has been a lot of work done already, and there is lots to go,” Dierkes said. “The building committee has been meeting a minimum of every other week for the past year.
“We finally have an actual budget to work with, so that will help us finalize plans. We need it done. Our goal is to have it done by Christmas of next year. I think we will meet that goal.”
The new Holy Family Church will be built where the Immaculate Conception Church was located near Church Road.
Blaha said she is glad the new church will be in a familiar spot.
“It has kind of been a landmark for Arnold,” she said. “People who come up I-55 or Jeffco (Boulevard) see it. It has always been there. I think it is going to be great to have another one there.
“I think people will watch it being built, and I think the whole community is excited about it. I watched them tear the church down. I was here all three days. There were a lot of people driving up to check it out. It was part of the community.”
Blessing said the former convent, which was next to the Immaculate Conception Church, is expected to be torn down in June.
He said the parish anticipates breaking ground for the new church early in the fall, and Holy Family hopes to have the new church built by the end of 2027.
Blessing said the construction should not interfere with activity on the Holy Family campus, which also includes a school, cemetery and Parish Center. Holy Family has celebrated Masses in the Parish Center since closing Immaculate Conception.
“We will not have to close any buildings as we do this,” he said.
Hentz said he was a member of the volunteer maintenance crew, and while it was hard to see Immaculate Conception Church be torn down, he is excited about the future of the parish.
“We put a lot of band aids on it,” he said. “It was hard (when the church was torn down). Now, you see this (the new church). It is going to be fabulous. I can’t wait to see it come out of the ground.”