Holy Trinity Parish was officially established in 1880 and was under the direction of the pastor of St. Joseph Church in Shawnee until 1906 (with the exception of one year, 1892-1893 when it was a mission of Eudora, Kansas). Sunday services were held at people’s homes.

  


 In 1892, the parish grew to about twenty families and it was decided that a church would be built. The four lots bought at that time cost the parish about $160.00 and the cost to build the small church was $1,200.00. They were still dependent upon St. Joseph Parish in Shawnee for a pastor.









In the fall of 1906 Holy Trinity Parish increased to about sixty families. They felt they could now support a resident pastor. Fr. Herberichs, pastor of St. Joseph and Holy Trinity discussed the matter with Bishop Thomas F. Lillis and permission was granted. Fr. Herberichs was appointed as first resident pastor. A pastor’s house was soon built at a nominal cost. After three years, Fr. Herberichs, owing to illness, went to Europe to regain his health. Fr. A.J. Blaufuss took charge of the parish in his absence. In 1910 Fr. J.A. Haefele was appointed pastor by Bishop Lillis.

Due to the growth of the parish at this time the little frame church, built in 1892, was becoming too small. The decision was made to build a stone church. The excavation work was done by the parishioners in order to keep the cost to a minimum. The stone was donated by Mr. & Mrs. M. Zahner and was hauled into the building site by the men of the parish.

In the spring of 1911 the corner stone was laid by Bishop John Ward. The church was completed in the fall of 1911 at the cost of $16,000 and was dedicated by Bishop Ward on Thanksgiving Day of that year. Following the dedication services a turkey dinner was served to the bishop, visiting clergy and parishioners in the basement of the church.

Shortly after the building of the stone church it was decided that the thriving congregation of Holy Trinity should have a school. The old church building, which was on the site of the present rectory, was renovated and converted into two classrooms and living quarters for the Benedictine Sisters of Atchison, Kansas who would staff the school. In the fall of 1912 Sister Lucina and Sister Simplicia were the first Sisters to teach the children at Holy Trinity School.

The parish continued to increase and the school soon outgrew the old accommodations. In 1917 Fr. Haefele and the people of Holy Trinity decided to build a stone school. Again the parishioners donated part of the labor in order to save expenses. Fortunately the parish had a number of mechanics, carpenters, electricians and stonemasons, who were able to help with the building of the school. The school was built at a cost of $10,000. It contained three classrooms and living quarters for the Sisters.

For a few years in addition to the elementary grades of one through eight, there was a four-year high school program. Because of shrinking enrollment in the high school it was lowered to two years and then to a two-year business course. The business course too had to be discontinued after a few years because most of the students after 8th grade stayed at home to help with the farm work. However, the elementary school enrollment increased continuously from the opening to the present time.

The next parish improvement was the building of a stone parish rectory, which was begun in 1923 under Fr. Haefele’s supervision. Again the parishioners donated their time and talent, besides contributing the cost, which was $14,500. The old parish house was moved north of the rock school and renovated for the Sisters convent. Fr. Haefele encouraged his parishioners and labored with the workmen to see the task accomplished.

On May 1, 1931, owing to ill health, Fr. Haefele was compelled to resign as pastor. He was succeeded by Fr. E.R. Embleau. A stone garage was built next to the rectory and the basement of the school was fully equipped for a dining hall.

Following the death of Fr. Embleau in 1937, Fr. William Landwehr was administrator of the parish for a few months. Fr. John J. O’Keefe was appointed pastor of Holy Trinity on June 18, 1938.

During the 1940’s and 1950’s the annual chicken dinner and carnival was the main fund-raiser. The end of the year school picnic was an event for the entire family. It was held at the Clarence Schweiger farm near 87th Street.

Fr. O’Keefe became seriously ill in 1951 and died later that year. A shrine to Our Lady of Fatima was built as a gift to the parish from Fr. O’Keefe after his death.

Fr. William O’Shea was temporary administrator from August 1951 to September 1952 when Fr. Francis Staab became pastor. During his time the Mother’s Club was formed and a few years later it became the P.T.O. It assisted the school, raised funds, and brought parents together for card parties and entertainment.

Fr. Paul Miller was successor to Fr. Staab in 1960. Holy Trinity had at this time outgrown the rock school ("University" as it was fondly called). Under his direction and encouragement a new two-story brick school was constructed and dedicated in 1963.

Fr. Miller was transferred in 1967, and Fr. Quigley became pastor. Under Fr. Quigley’s direction, a new activities building was constructed. This brick building is on the corner of 92nd and Summit Street. At it’s beginning it provided housing for the Sisters, upper grade classrooms for the school, a library, and religious education offices. At the present time the building houses Holy Trinity Child Children's Center and Pre-School.

By 1970, Lenexa had a population of 5,240 people.

In 1974 the rock school and frame convent were demolished and a " Parish Center" was erected. It was dedicated in 1975. Fr. Quigley died in 1976 while still pastor of Holy Trinity.

Fr. James F. Wright came to Holy Trinity as pastor in 1977. He was pastor of the parish for eleven years. During his years as pastor it was very important to Fr. Jim that the children in both Holy Trinity School and its School of Religion have the best Religious Education possible. He also offered many programs for adults to further their spiritual life through parish missions, bible study, speakers, and through the Sunday Liturgy.

Lenexa’s population grew to 19,000 by the end of the decade. From 1980-1990, Lenexa was the fastest growing city in all of Kansas in percentage terms - 82.6% to a population of 34,034. What was once a spacious worship and education quarters, gradually became overcrowded. Even with the splitting of our parish with the establishment of Holy Spirit parish in 1980, Holy Trinity still grew from 1,200 to 1,700 families by the end of the decade.

In 1988, Fr. Raymond Burger became pastor of Holy Trinity. One of Fr. Ray’s important goals for the parish was to nurture the faith life of each of the members by offering parish weekend retreats, thus forming Living Faith Communities, which would help individuals and families strengthen their faith life and make it possible for them to become an integral part of the larger parish family.

In 1989-1991, Holy Trinity spent $250,000 renovating and redecorating its two churches – The old, stone church known as the "Chapel" and the "Worship Center" as it was formally called was renamed as our main "Church."

In the fall of 1993, the expansion of our grade school began. It involved adding 20,000 sq. ft. for 14 classrooms at a cost of $1,300,000. It was blessed and dedicated by Archbishop James P. Keleher in August 1994. This building was completely paid for when finished.

In the spring of 1994, preliminary work began on our New Church. Throughout the next 12 months, the parish sought special multi-year pledges, which were tied to "memorials." Over 1,000 households made a commitment allowing construction to begin in the fall of 1995. Four properties, some dating back to the 1910’s, were purchased which enabled the new church to be built at its present site. It seats 1,200 people. The stained glass windows and bell come from Fr. Burger’s boyhood parish of St. Thomas Church in Armourdale, which was closed some year’s prior. It was dedicated on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 1996 to a full house. A reception followed in the social room. It cost $3,800,000 to build.

After a short break, the need existed for a renovation of the Parish Center and new office spaces. This began in the spring of 1998. Once again, parishioners were asked to help finance this " multipurpose/multi-appeal" effort through an extra sacrificial pledge and they responded with a $1.3 million dollar commitment.

The first part of the renovation involved turning the former church into our "Parish Center," complete with hardwood floor, retractable basketball goals and bleachers, kitchen, restrooms, and improvements to the roof and lower level. It was dedicated on September 25, 1998 and completed at a cost of $750,000.

The next component involved the construction of our Administrative Office building, which originally was in the former church, then moved to the top of the Children's Center once construction began on the PC renovation in mid-January, 1999. This structure, built on the corner of our campus at 92nd and Pflumm, is 4,000 sq. ft. on the ground level with a 1,300 sq. ft. basement. It was dedicated on August 18, 1999 at a cost of $700,000.

Other improvements associated with this phase involved the "Children’s Center" which is home to nearly 250 children throughout the week. New energy efficient windows were installed in September 1999 along with new carpeting, fresh paint inside and out, and restroom renovations.

In July 2001, Father Ray Burger, after thirteen years as pastor, departed for Holy Family Church, Eudora. He was succeeded by Father Tom Dolezal, coming from Axtell and Father Bala Swamy, an Indian Priest with a three-year commitment to the Archdiocese. In 2003, Fr. Bala was reassigned and our associate pastor became Fr. Richard Osei-Bempah, a priest from Ghana, on the Gold Coast of Africa. In the summer of 2004, Father Richard was asked by his bishop to return to Ghana to assume pastoral responsibilities there.

In April of 2005, as the Cardinals of the Church were electing Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to assume leadership of the Church as Pope Benedict XVI, a young priest arrived at Lenexa from his home in India.  His name is Father Regie Saldahna.  Father Regie was ordained for the Catholic Church in New Guinea, but with the growing number of native priests, his diocese offered to let Fr. Regie bring his ministry to the United States.  At the invitation of Archbishop Keleher of our Archdiocese, Fr. Regie headed for the United States, and in particular Holy Trinity Parish in Lenexa.  We are very pleased to welcome Fr. Regie to Holy Trinity as our new associate pastor.