The Lord has truly built this house

When Fr. Joseph Evinger arrived as pastor at the small church of St. Joseph in Twin Buttes in 2018, it was evident that the mice greatly outnumbered the parishioners.

The rodents were often present at Mass running across the ceiling tiles. The mice had good company each autumn when the army of carpenter ants moved into the main entryway of the church. Aside from the rodents and insects, the church was not functioning well and hadn’t been for years.

The sacristy, confessional, furnace room and storage were all the same room. The room was next to the nave of the church so the furnace made it difficult to hear during Mass.

“Since there was no sound system, I quickly found out that turning the heat up a few degrees when I arrived and then turning it down as Mass began made it possible to hear the readings and homily,” shared Fr. Evinger. “Since the building was hardly insulated, it would drop seven degrees in about 25 minutes. Once I heard the furnace beginning to start up, I knew it was time to wrap up my homily or lose my voice from having to speak so loudly.”

On average, there’d be about 7-13 people at Mass or if the “regulars” were away, as few as three would show up some Sundays. People might have asked, “Why don’t they just close the parish?”

“This thought was the furthest from my mind,” Fr. Evinger said. “In fact, a big desire to rebuild the church filled my soul. I brought it to prayer again and again and the Lord made it clear we needed to rebuild. It’s not welcoming to anyone to have mice running around, ants crawling on the floor or a noisy furnace during Mass. So, I started to look for a general contractor in the summer of 2019.”

However, one Sunday, father arrived for Mass and no one showed. He waited a few minutes and two ladies came, so he started. That day, driving back to his home in Killdeer, he felt quite discouraged.

“Why should I rebuild this church when only two people come to Mass?” he asked himself.

“So I brought it to Jesus and told Him that if He wants the renovation, He must bring one person back to the Church in the next two months, and it must be a man.” Two weeks later, the husband of one of the parishioners started to attend Mass again after being gone for many years. He is a faithful Mass goer now.

“Jesus converting him gave me the strength, encouragement and desire to keep going forward. As Psalm 127 says, ‘If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders labor.’ This verse rang in my ear during the whole project. The Lord has truly built this house.”
 
History of the parish

The history of St. Joseph’s parish of Twin Buttes, located on the south side of Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, dates back to 1928 when the Mandan people, under the pastorship of Fr. Peter Fehrenbach, had a chapel built at Crow’s Heart (about 10 miles upstream from Elbowoods on Highway 8) at the confluence of the Little Missouri and Missouri Rivers.

As Garrison Dam was built and Lake Sakakawea filled up, the church had to be moved to higher ground. It was moved about a mile south of the Elbowoods’ bridge along Highway 8. This was 1951 and it stood there in use for about 20 years.

Since the people, during those 20 years, settled in the town of Twin Buttes four miles southwest of the church’s location, it was decided that a new church should be built where the people lived. Construction for a new building began in September, 1971.

The recent renovation project kicked off August of 2020 with the removal of the entryway. The concrete for the addition was poured that September. In October, the wood framing began for the addition which would include a steeple. The inside demolition began also in October; this entailed removing ceiling tile, dry wall and cinder blocks. The church was dedicated and the restored altar brought over from the 1951 building was consecrated on March 19, 2022 (the Solemnity of St. Joseph). The gathering area was completed this February and the kitchen cabinets are being installed now.

Family of builders

The renovation turned into quite a family project for Fr. Evinger. An original contractor backed out due to Covid, so he turned to his brother.

A younger brother, Anthony, who owns A+ Construction, took on the job, and, older brother, John, owner of Quality Air and Electric, did the electrical work and installed a new central air system.

“Since I had much more time on my hands because of Covid restrictions, I was able to help Anthony on many occasions,” Father added. “Saint Joseph, our intercessor and parish patron, was truly interceding for us. I had not done wood working since back in high school much less taken on a project like this. I thank St. Joseph for helping me build the altar backpiece, niches and altar rail to match the altar. A good portion of the wood from the old oak pews was used to make these items. The main wooden doors from the gathering area to the church are from the pews and the glass is from the old windows we took out.”

This recent project stripped the building to its bones, Father explained. “All that remains from the 1971 structure are the concrete slab, steel frames and purlins; everything else is new. From the original building below Lake Sakakawea, we have the bell dedicated on March 19, 1930. Also, we have the original altar which was restored, the images of the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart, and a small crucifix which now hangs in the sacristy.”

It was important to incorporate items from past churches to honor the legacy of those who built this parish community.

“Parishioner Diana Tomlin, through the years, has made the stained glass windows,” Father explained. “We made sure that the new windows would allow the stained glass to be reinstalled. There is one more window to be made. We received permission from Bishop Kagan to have one installed of Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk, a South Dakota native. To have stained glass windows made by one of our own parishioners is a big deal! Diana has been generous with her talents.”

Parishioner involvement

There has been much support from parishioners, Father noted. “The input that parishioners gave made it possible. Throughout, parishioners lent their equipment to move materials and do the exterior work, particularly Kenny Fredericks and his brother, Jeb, let us use their lifts and tractors. Greg and Michelle Grisham let us use their scaffolding. Since we had Mass in the building during the whole construction, every weekend, chairs needed to be dusted, set up and taken down. The parishioners were very good about helping.”

Reaction to the renovation from the parishioners, Father said, has been “absolutely amazing! The project turned out way better than any of us thought it could. Saint Joseph’s hand was truly in how it’s turned out. After the dedication Mass, one parishioner said to me, ‘Father, I never thought we would have a church that looked like a Catholic Church in Twin Buttes.’”

Funding for the project was from the generosity of the parishioners, the Three Affiliated Tribes working through Councilman Cory Spotted Bear and other visitors to the parish (particularly to Robert Franzen who gave the largest amount).

No more mice

Father noted that about 10 families attend Mass regularly. Also, those who come to the lake attend during the summer. Mass time is 2 p.m. central time every Sunday. 

No longer in attendance are the mice who once nearly took over the place.

“After many years of trying to solve the mice problem, with no luck, when I arrived and saw how the rodents were coming in, I proposed to the parish a major renovation with one promise: ‘After the project is finished, the only way a mouse will be able to come in is through the front door like everyone else.’ This promise has been achieved. Of course, this was an opportunity to beautify the place like never before, all for the Lord,” Father said.

He added, “It is humorous though that the statue of a saint added to the church is St. Martin de Porres who had a problem with mice coming into the monastery kitchen. The Lord caused the mice to listen to Martin’s voice when he simply told them to leave. For us, we had to rebuild the place. Saints Joseph and Martin are most likely laughing about it in heaven now. The church already had three statues: St. Joseph, Our Lady of Grace and, when St. Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized, Judy Fredericks bought one of her. Judy also purchased the one of St. Martin de Porres during the renovation. We chose St. Martin because he is the patron saint of mixed races. His mother was half native and half African. His father was a Spaniard who would be part European and part Asian.”

They are awaiting two seven and a half foot angel statues to arrive from Italy. Wall stenciling, floor inlays and a bit of work outside is planned before the project is declared finished.

“The Lord has been so good to us. St. Joseph has really seen the project through,” said Fr. Evinger.

—Staff report with contribution from Fr. Joseph Evinger, pastor of St. Joseph in Twin Buttes, St. Joseph in Killdeer and St. Paul in Halliday.