The previous Immaculate Conception Church was damaged by March 2025 storms
The bright yellow construction equipment is a glimpse of the promised land for Father Gerald Blessing.
On Sept. 12, Holy Family Parish broke ground on a new church. Since storm damage forced the parish to discontinue use of the previous Immaculate Conception Church building in spring 2025, the in-between has felt somewhat like the Israelites waiting in the desert, Father Blessing said.
“Once they could see the promised land from afar, now their focus, their attention could be not on what they left but what they’re headed to,” Father Blessing said. “I feel like we are on that step here as this construction starts. We are going somewhere.”
Holy Family Parish was formed in August 2023 from the merger of the former St. David and Immaculate Conception parishes in Arnold. In fall 2024, the parish started celebrating all of its Masses at the Church Road (former Immaculate Conception) campus.
Construction has started for a new Holy Family Church in Arnold. The previous Immaculate Conception Church was razed to make space for the new church, which will comfortably seat about 400 Massgoers.
Immaculate Conception Church, which dated back to 1895, was already in need of some repairs. Then, a March 14, 2025 storm that caused damage throughout Jefferson County caused additional cracking in the church’s bell tower. The cost to repair and reinforce the bell tower, along with the additional repairs needed, pushed the parish to move forward with plans for a new church.
Since March 2025, the parish has been celebrating Mass and holding adoration and confession in its parish center and chapel. Immaculate Conception Church was demolished in October 2025.
Holy Family Parish sold the former St. David Church on Tenbrook Road to Rockport Baptist Church for $1.75 million in February. Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski had relegated both the churches to profane but not sordid use in June 2025.
After a feasibility study, the parish conducted a capital campaign this spring, raising $5.7 million. With the money from the St. David campus sale and another approximately $1 million in reserves, some of which had been raised for a new church fund in previous years, the parish has about $8.5 million (including pledges) for the project.
The parish hired Chiodini Architects, who also designed St. John the Beloved Disciple Church in Imperial, and Musick Construction to spearhead the project.
Father Blessing has been in close consultation with the parish building committee, which includes several people with construction trades expertise, the parish leadership team and Holy Family School leaders as they worked with the architects on the new church design. Deacon Bob Eichelberger, who worked for Murphy Company for more than 30 years, has been an extremely valuable part of the team, Father Blessing said, as well as input from several fellow priests.
The new church will be located on the same site as Immaculate Conception Church, just with a slightly bigger footprint: a rectangular building a little bit wider and a little bit longer. It will seat 400 people comfortably (and about 500 at capacity), while the old one could fit “350 stacked in and packed in,” Father Blessing said.
The design includes a narthex, the gathering space outside the doors to the nave, and restrooms — two things Immaculate Conception Church lacked.
Another feature that was important to everyone was a tall steeple visible from afar, Father Blessing said. Immaculate Conception’s steeple could be seen from I-55, a landmark announcing the Church’s presence in Arnold.
“I’m hoping to have that same experience with helping people to see that the Catholic Church is here,” he said.
Holy Family Church will also feature elements from both previous churches: the original stained glass windows from Immaculate Conception and the Stations of the Cross from St. David. The church is scheduled to be completed in early December 2027, and Father Blessing hopes it will be ready to celebrate Christmas Masses, he said.
The capital campaign was a healing experience for the parish, Father Blessing said. A parish merger involves grief and some growing pains as multiple communities come together to form something new, and having the common goal of a new spiritual home to rally around and invest in made a big difference.
“All of these things coming together are real,” he said. “We see a vision; we see the renderings; we see the hope.”
