Tower Topics ~ Winter 2002

Overview of campus

Welcome Center floor plans

St. Maur floor plans

Abbot announces $10.25 million campaign
New Welcome Center, seminary renovation planned

Reflecting on a rich history of cooperation between Conception Abbey and its benefactors, Abbot Gregory Polan launched the public phase of a $10.25 million capital campaign for the abbey and Conception Seminary College.

The campaign, entitled “A Living Tradition,” is the result of two years of strategic planning by monks, employees and seminarians. $6.5 million will go toward construction of a Welcome Center near the entrance of the campus, renovation of St. Maur Hall, the seminary’s 100-year-old main building, and improvements to the abbey’s roads and parking lots. The remainder will go toward the endowment, special projects and operations.

In response to numerous requests by donors, a memorial to Father Philip Schuster and Brother Damian Larson will be added to the Welcome Center plans.

The abbey received good news in July when the Mabee Foundation of Tulsa, Okla., promised Conception a $1 million challenge grant to be awarded if an additional $2 million can be raised toward the $6.5 million construction costs by next July.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the monks of Conception Abbey to extend Benedictine hospitality and service to the world,” the abbot told employees, seminarians, major donors and members of the seminary Board of Regents Oct. 11. “But as with all of our efforts, we cannot do it alone. Farmers, merchants and craftsmen from the area helped build our beautiful Basilica. Our friends and benefactors enabled us to complete its $9 million renovation three years ago. And since the day Abbot Frowin and the first monks arrived in Northwest Missouri, many, many friends have prayed for the monks of Conception Abbey and our work.”

Members of the Board of Regents and seminarians from the Diocese of
Kansas City-St. Joseph pose for a photo following the announcement of
the Capital Campaign.
Standing left to right, Dr. Tim Barry, Abbot Gregory, Evan Harkins,
Jesse Clayton, Bishop Boland, Fr. Benedict, Mick Combs, Jake Clayton,
Mark Thompson.
Seated, Bob Miller, Sue Dorrel and Rebecca Summers.

Since the renewal of the Basilica, more than 35,000 guests have visited the abbey for retreats and pilgrimages. And enrollment in the seminary has increased 75 percent since the mid-1990s. There are currently more than 90 seminarians from two dozen dioceses.

“The changes that this campaign will provide will enable us to better welcome our guests and better educate the priests who will lead our parish communities and our Church into the future,” Abbot Gregory said.

For the past 14 months, abbey leadership conducted the “silent phase” of the campaign, contacting major donors and the dioceses served by Conception Seminary College.

“These friends have been generous,” Abbot Gregory said. “In fact, they have been so generous that we already have raised more than $3 million toward our construction costs.”

The Welcome Center will house a bookstore, gift shop and the abbey’s business, development and communication offices. Renovations to St. Maur will include advances in technology, a new chapel, expanded classroom space and handicap accessibility, including an elevator.

“This campaign is important not only for the present, but for the long term,” said Father Benedict Neenan, president-rector of Conception Seminary College. “The renovation of St. Maur is a renovation for the next 50 to 100 years. We are making an investment in future generations.”

For the full text of Abbot Gregory’s announcement of the campaign, see An opportunity to serve.

1. Seminary Expansion

“What can be sweeter to us, dear brethren, than this voice of the Lord inviting us?”
          Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue 19

Conception Seminary College is at the forefront of a national increase in seminarians. More than tripling the national trend, Conception has enjoyed a 75 percent increase in enrollment since the mid 1990s, and the student body is the largest in three decades.

But as they look into the future, the monks of Conception know they must do more to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Catholic population.

As more and more students arrive, classroom space is at a premium and the student chapel is bursting at the seams. A renovation of St. Maur Hall, the seminary’s main building, will allow for more classroom space and an expanded chapel. It will also provide an opportunity to make advances in classroom technology and ensure that the seminary is more accessible to disabled students and guests.

Currently, Conception serves some two dozen dioceses throughout the country. Close to home, more than 75 percent of the active priests in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and more than 30 percent in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas were educated at Conception.

2. Welcome Center

“Let all guests be received like Christ”
          Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 53:1

Hospitality is central to a Benedictine community that seeks to draw all people to Christ. Following the renewal of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, more than 11,000 people have visited the Abbey each year. This has prompted Abbot Gregory Polan to enthusiastically add three more monks to the guesthouse staff.

As more and more friends join the monastic community for prayer, and the dining rooms and guesthouses of the Abbey Center for Prayer and Ministry routinely fill to capacity, St. Benedict’s call for hospitality presents challenges.

The monks continue to stress that, despite these challenges, they view the abbey’s increasing popularity as a spiritual center and pilgrimage site as an opportunity to share God’s love through classic Benedictine
hospitality.

The ability of the monks to welcome each of their thousands of guests “as Christ” is reliant on some major physical changes to the abbey grounds and facilities:

• Construction of a new “Welcome Center” and administrative hub will provide a central location for guests on their arrival at Conception Abbey. It will include a guest center, administrative offices, and conference rooms. It will also house a gift shop and campus book store. These changes will enable space in other buildings to be reassigned to accommodate the seminary’s growth.

• Improvements to the abbey grounds will enhance the atmosphere of natural beauty and serenity. Changes will include landscaped parking; wheelchair ramps to ensure accessibility to disabled guests; better signage both on and off campus; improved landscaping and lighting; and, linking it all, new roads and sidewalks.

The Board of Regents welcomed six new members at the October meeting.
Left to right, Fr. Benedict Neenan, president-rector, Martin Ismert (Kansas City), Fr. Brian Hughes (Sioux City), Rebecca Summers (Kansas City), Board Chairman Bishop Charron (Des Moines), Dr. Daniel Carey (Atchison, Kan.), Fr. Greg Baxter (Omaha), and Abbot Gregory Polan. Not pictured: Dr. Edward Kammerer (St. Joseph, Mo.)

3. Endowment

“That in all things God may be glorified”
          Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 57:9

Conception Abbey continues to thrive as a spiritual center and a major provider of priests for the Church in the United States. Vital to the future of this legacy is a healthy endowment.
 
Established in 1986, the endowment has more than tripled in size. Currently more than $7 million is invested for financial support of seminarians, funding for a wide variety of seminary programs and endowed chairs, maintenance of the Basilica, and charity for others. Conception Seminary College’s Board of Regents has suggested that the endowment be substantially increased to expand Conception Abbey’s service to the Church in the new century.

A living endowment must grow. Increasing the endowment through a capital campaign can help ensure that Conception Abbey and Conception Seminary College will do the same.

Back to Table of Contents