Bismarck, North Dakota - News

When the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck was renovated in the 1990s, as much as could be reused, was. That was the designer's philosophy, said the Rev. John Guthrie, Cathedral's newest pastor.

"There's destruction when you renovate, so you try to reuse as much as possible," Guthrie said.

So everywhere Guthrie looks in the cathedral or in its rectory, the past underlies the present.

The black iron gates that Guthrie remembers opening and closing at the altar, are now anchored at the rear of the worship area. The marble baptismal font - the same one in fact in which Guthrie was baptized - now centrally located among the rows of pews, Guthrie remembers as standing off in the former baptistry area in a corner. The wooden baldachin that canopies the front entrance he remembers when it was suspended over the altar.

And the desk in the rectory office where Guthrie conducts his ministry as only the third pastor at Cathedral, he remembers the Rev. Thomas Kramer occupying for 32 years.

"I always wanted to be a priest when Iwas a boy," he said, "and by the grace of God, I came to be, but I never imagined I would be here, to sit at that desk," he said.

He calls the circling in of past and present and future, "a graced surprise, surreal and wonderful and blessed."

Guthrie's family's bond with Cathedral goes back all the way to its construction during World War II - his grandfather was the general contractor for the building.

Because of wartime shortages of material, the Cathedral was built of concrete; the bishop's house, just down Raymond Street, was actually built first as a test, he said.

The Cathedral was dedicated Aug. 30, 1945, to become a key to the Bismarck skyline. And even after 63 years, there is still not a crack in it, Guthrie said.

And in all those years, Guthrie is still only Cathedral's third pastor, following Kramer and Msgr. William Garvin, who was pastor when Guthrie was a young man.

"Both were family friends," Guthrie said. "Father Kramer was my mentor. It's a privilege to be following two influential people in my life. Iget a chance to follow in their footsteps."

"I'm very aware of the flow of time here,"he said. "I think about my grandparents, my mother and father. Weddings, baptisms, first communions.

"Cathedral is a touchstone for our family, the last place of our childhood."

Following seminary, Guthrie was ordained at Cathedral and served here for three years. He then spent six years in Belfield, Medora and South Heart and nine years in Williston and Trenton.

It's very important to learn, he said, that the diocese is bigger than the city of Bismarck.

"Those years were extremely blessed. Beautiful people; each parish has its own personality and history," he said.

He's been back at Cathedral for 3 1/2 months, after an absence of 15 years.

So he's spending lots of time listening, being with people, he said. He's listening for where the Holy Spirit wants to take the church named after it, he said.

"As you mature, you learn to listen more,"Guthrie said.

"When you're first ordained, you have the zeal to share what you learned. As you get older, you spend more time listening and trying to learn."

The Rev. Paul Eberle, the associate pastor, has been at Cathedral for four years, "so the associate is teaching the pastor," Guthrie said.

"But I've done it before and Iunderstand the process; the parish is in good shape, with a good staff and parish council," he said.

Patience, he said, is the key. Guthrie said it takes three to five years to really enter into a new parish.

"I'm the kind of person who would love to have everything figured out. And you never do, fully."

As Kramer had his own set of gifts, the parish will get to see Guthrie's strengths: Agood leader, he thought as he reflected on what those gifts might be - someone able to envision what parish life can be. Thoughtful. A good collaborator. A big-picture person. Someone who loves being with people.

"The tradition here is very welcoming, he said. "A parish should be hospitable, warm. Liturgies should be uplifting, nourishing, nurturing."

Where you touch the most people is Sunday Mass, he said. "There should be a strong sense of caring for those at the margins.The beauty of church is that it should reach across economic and political dividers with the love of Christ, nurturing discipleship.

"The parish should be a home. That's what I learned in smaller parishes. They were home to people. That can be a bigger challenge in a bigger parish. Iwant to help develop that.

"I'm here to pastor. I'm here to shepherd."

"And," he said, "I'm here for a time."

(Reach reporter Karen Herzog at 250-8267 or karen.herzog@bismarcktribune.com.)