ST. Monica Catholic Church

St. Monica Catholic Church is the first Catholic Church founded for African Americans in Kansas City in 1910. St. Katherine Drexel provided the funding to establish a mission and school for “the education in religion and secular knowledge for Colored People.”  The former school and church built in 1913 is still in use today.

Early in 1909, the late Bishop John J. Hogan noticed that there were between 23,556 to 35,000 Colored people in the Kansas City area. At the time, most were economically deprived, maligned, and treated as second class citizens. They lived in dilapidated shanties in overcrowded communities. Because of discrimination and segregation, Bishop Hogan believed the church needed to do something for colored Catholics. He asked Fr. Cyprian Sauer to start a mission. He canvassed the neighborhood and discovered several superstitions about Catholicism.  Ruth Lange identified 30 fellow black Catholics she knew.

On Sunday, October 2, 1910, the St. Monica Mission for Colored Catholics was formally opened as the first Church for Black Catholics in Kansas City, MO.  Bishop Hogan donated $50 of his own money, Bernard Corrigan contributed $1000 and St. Katherine Drexel donated $8000, for the land and the buildings for the education of colored children. Nearby churches contributed items and artifacts necessary for conducting mass. After three years, the buildings became too dilapidated for use as a church and school.  The congregation was then allowed to celebrate masses in the Saint Joseph Sanctuary located at 19th and Harrison Avenue.      

Dr. Thomas E. Purcell, led the fundraising efforts to repair the buildings. The school occupied the first floor and basement and the church was built on the second floor. A convent was in the back of the building and the priests occupied another cottage on the property.  The church was rededicated on October 26, 1913. The service included the baptism of 30 adult converts.

The desire and demand for a catholic education for colored children was great, but their parents could not afford to pay.  In 1912, the Society of St. Benedict the Moor was formed to provide financial support to the school and evangelization. Bishop Lillis confirmed 65 new converts in 1916, and by 1924, 140 students were enrolled in the school. That same year, St. Monica provided foster care for three Negro children in Jackson County. 

The St. Monica Institute for Girls was opened in 1927, and boys were admitted shortly thereafter. Daycare for working mothers was included along with free medical, dental and eye care. A part-time public health nurse provided services as needed. The Institute closed in 1937 when better facilities became available in the city.  

Three Masses on Sundays were required to serve the congregation. In response to such vigorous growth, Bishop O'Hara formally presented the old St. Joseph Church building at 19th and Harrison to the parish on January 27, 1940. The church was renamed “Saint Joseph” and 145 persons were confirmed during its first event in March. The school remained Saint Monica, and was expanded to provide a high school. In 1944, the high school was proud to hold its first graduation.

A choir, Girl Scout Troup, school cafeteria and later a credit union were added to serve parishioners and their children.

Parishioners were involved in street evangelization. In 1945, a second church for Negro Catholics, Holy Spirit was opened to address the growth of black Catholics while protecting the segregated congregation at Holy Name.

In 1949, approximately 300 students were enrolled in the school. Father Alvin Deem negotiated the integration of four catholic high schools without incident by sending four St. Monica eighth-grade graduates to each school during the 1949-1950 academic year. The following year St. Monica students were free to attend any Catholic High School in the diocese and their small high school closed.

From December 18, 1958, to January 1959, the elementary school was closed while extensive repairs were made to eliminate several fire hazards. The name was officially changed to St. Joseph School in September of that same year.

A new St. Joseph Church and Rectory between 16th and 17th Paseo Boulevard, was dedicated on April 16, 1961.

In the fall of 1963, an enriched accelerated curriculum was introduced to remedy poor test scores. Three years later, students in grades three through eighth grades obtained test scores that exceeded the national averages.  The results increased enrollment requiring the addition of mobile classrooms.  More than 100 students were turned away every year. When the Christian Brothers closed De La Salle in August 1971, St. Joseph’s School purchased the building allowing expansion, relief from overcrowding and the need to make required repairs.  A Child Development Center opened to provide daycare and preschool using Montessori teaching methods in August 1987.

In the 1980’s the Food Pantry was expanded to include other social services and became known as the St. Monica’s Social Ministry Center.

In January 1989, the church was renovated and repairs were completed. The school was renamed St. Monica and consolidated in September 1989. Classes for students in grades six to eight were delivered in the De La Salle building.  The day care, preschool, kindergarten and primary grades were taught at the St. Therese Little Flower School at 58th and Michigan Ave.       

The history of Saint Monica, the first black catholic church in Kansas City is filled with the past of not just one church, but several inner-city parishes.  Holy Spirit opened in 1945 and merged with Holy Name in 1956. Holy Name and St. Vincent parishes closed in 1975 when the congregations consolidated with Annunciation parish and changed their name to The Church of the Risen Christ. Blessed Sacrament and St. Augustine closed in 1991. The merger of Risen Christ and St. Joseph Parishes on October 22, 1995 serve as the foundation for today's St. Monica parish.

A Capital Building Fund Campaign was designed to build an 11,500 square foot Sanctuary with seating for 750 people.  This new edifice was attached to the St. Joseph church building at 1616 Paseo Boulevard. The Sanctuary of the new Saint Monica Catholic Church was dedicated by Bishop Raymond Boland, on October 21, 2001.  

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