202 S 5th Avenue
PO Box 104
Templeton, Iowa 51463-0104

ESTABLISHED 1883
Current church building built: 1900

Office Hours:  at St. Bernard-Breda
Phone: 712-673-2582
Fax: x

Sunday Mass: Saturday 5:00 p.m.

The seeds of Catholicism were sown in Templeton when three pioneer families, John Schlichte, Joseph Drees, and G. Henry Halbur, arrived and settled in 1874. In the summer of 1874, Father F. W. Pape, the newly ordained associate pastor at Council Bluffs, traveled by horse and buggy to celebrate an open air Mass at the farm of one of these settlers.

During the next few years, the number of Catholic families in Templeton steadily increased. In 1883, a small wooden frame church was built on the John Schlichte farm. The first, and only, Mass celebrated on this site was offered on Aug. 15, 1883. Since railroad tracks were being laid farther south, it was deemed advisable to move the church. Hence, the church was dismantled, moved by wagon, and rebuilt at the site of the present church.

In 1884, Father Bernard A. Schulte was appointed the first resident pastor of Sacred Heart Parish. Father Schulte built the first rectory, school and convent. In 1900, he supervised the building of the present church. June 4, 1900, is remembered as one of the proudest and grandest days in the history of the parish. More than 1,000 people were present on this occasion to witness the laying of the cornerstone.

The church is of Gothic style and designed after a beautiful monastery church of the Old World. The church features a central transept and transverse façade. The church, 57-feet by 136-feet, was once supported by a lofty spire 150 feet in height and four flanking towers about 60 feet high.

A large bell was purchased and placed in church and is used today. It hangs in the center of the main spire, and is said to be the largest bell in Carroll County. It weighs more than two tons and can be heard for miles.

The altar, impressive in design, cost $5,000; the church cost $28,000. The altars are impressive in design, the communion rail is made of pure onyx, the statue of Michael the Archangel is made of stone imported from Italy, and the stained glass windows are imported from Munich, Germany.

A nearly 100-year-old Espy pipe organ is located in the balcony. The main floor seats about 600 people and the balcony seats 100.

Catholic school education began in Templeton three years after the town was built. A fine brick structure was constructed in 1889. An addition was built in 1916 and high school classes were first offered in 1917.

In 1959, Sacred Heart High School became part of the Kuemper Corporation. A new grade school was constructed in 1963. Templeton and Halbur combined grade schools in 1969 and Roselle joined the system in 1974. The system is called Holy Trinity School. In the fall of 1993, kindergarten classes were begun for the first time.

Serving as pastor at Sacred Heart include: Fathers B. A. Schulte, Anton Erdman, Msgr. W. A. Pape, Msgr. F. H. Huesmann, F. P. Schultes, William F. Buchholz, Leo C. Harpenau, Msgr. A. W. Behrens.

Also, Fathers Eugene T. Schumacher, Joseph Steib, Eugene Walding, Laurence Burns, Steven Brodersen, Gary Snyder and Dale Reiff.

Sacred Heart Parish currently has 190 households and is a part of the cluster with Saint Augustine, Halbur and Holy Angels and Roselle. Father Dale Reiff is the current pastor.