Faith on the Frontier: Episode 4 - Renewal and Recommittment

As Catholic schools across Montana faced declining enrollment, rising costs, and the loss of traditional support structures, many wondered whether the system could survive. This episode explores the renewal that followed, driven by families, educators, parish communities, and lay leaders who recommitted themselves to the mission of Catholic education and helped secure its future for the next generation.

This is our last episode before a brief summer hiatus. We will be back in August with new episodes of Rooted & Rising!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Across the wide plains and open skies of eastern Montana, distance has always mattered. Communities formed where the land allowed. Faith took root where people gathered. And education emerged not from abundance, but from commitment. Long before there were school buildings, there were teachers. Long before systems, there was mission. This is the story of Catholic education in eastern Montana and of how Billings Catholic schools came to be. Shaped by land, carried by people, tested by time, and sustained by faith. This is Faith on the Frontier. By the end of the 20th century, Catholic education in Billings had survived. Schools were open. Students were enrolled. Faith continued to be taught. That alone set Billings apart at a time when Catholic schools elsewhere had quietly disappeared. But survival was never meant to be the finish line. The question facing Catholic education in Billings was changing. No longer, how do we make it through this year? But what kind of Catholic education are we called to offer now? Backett had shifted the trajectory. The endowment did not remove challenges, but it created margin. Time for planning, time for discernment, time to think beyond crisis management. Here's St. Francis Catholic, fifth through eighth grade principal, Jim Stanton.

SPEAKER_04 1:54

Just look at those names of those people that really probably in some regard saved the system. You know, just the support they they gave the school and just genuine support. It wasn't any favors asked or anything like that. They just they just wanted what was best for the system. So that was a motivating factor too.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Leaders could begin asking deeper questions about governance, quality, Catholic identity, and sustainability. Not because the future was guaranteed, but because the panic had eased. This transition was not easy. Institutions built in moments of emergency do not automatically thrive in moments of calm. Structures needed to evolve. Expectations needed to be clarified, and leadership needed to be intentional. Catholic education in Billings was entering a new phase. One defined not by crises, but by stewardship. With stability came opportunity. Billings Catholic schools began to look carefully at how education was being delivered across campuses, grade levels, and parishes. For decades, Catholic education in Billings had grown organically, parish by parish, school by school, often independently. That model had served its purpose, but it was no longer sufficient for the realities of modern education. Leaders began to see the benefit of deeper coordination, shared vision, shared resources, shared identity. Catholic education would remain rooted in parish life, but was increasingly shaped by system-wide collaboration. In 1986, the parish schools at Holy Rosary, Little Flower, St. Pius, and St. Patrick's consolidated, joining Billings Central Catholic High School as one district, Billings Catholic Schools.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

I mean, I think of even how how through the years we consolidated those schools, those individual schools to become one faith community, and how important that was. Before that, we were all in competition. You know, who who taught better? Whose school was better? How how was it better? I mean, I grew up in that, my own self in Butte. We had more schools there than we ever had here.

SPEAKER_04 4:29

The history said that these, you know, these were parish schools. So I mean, really, we were connected to St. Pat's and and most of the population still called it the Frat Building, you know, and and that it was it was just part of that, and and then the Holy Rosary was part of that church. So really that really there was there were strong ties to those churches still, even though there was nothing really financially or policy driven, but that just the just the historical connection to those churches was still pretty strong.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Even after consolidation, there were still challenges that needed to be overcome. What began with consolidation culminated in significant physical and organizational change in 2017, when St. Francis Catholic School opened in a new purpose-built facility. The building itself sent a message. The Catholic education in Billings was not retreating, it was investing. Designed for collaboration, safety, and formation, the campus brought together students who might once have been divided across different schools. Elementary and middle grades can now see themselves as part of a continuous story. But that didn't mean that everything would be easy.

SPEAKER_04 5:47

And it was it was hard too because each building was going to give up a lot, you know, especially as a medical school principal, we're coming into an environment where we knew that our freedoms were going to be kind of taken away a little bit, as as far as for the kids, you know, and staff a little bit too, because you get comfortable and now you have to you have to tie the whole K-8 together. And it's just a total different beast of different age level level of kids. And so that would that was that was a challenge for sure. And it's still ongoing challenges with that too. We're the biggest K-8 school in the state. I mean, we we went we went from you know, K-8 schools aren't 600 students. You know, they're they're in smaller communities and they're grade specific in bigger communities like Billing. So that was a challenge because you don't want to, you know, the middle school attitude, the way they roll you know, versus a first grader. You wanted to make sure that you've taught respect and that they understood that they were leaders and they had an obligation to to to be good, you know, and sometimes putting away their junior high nonsense for the better of the school. So like the giving of that was was really was really hard. I didn't have any elementary experience, so it was really hard for me to understand this age group too. And why are we lining up at the door? Let's just get into the school. You know, things like that were really hard for me because it seemed, you know, it just trying to massage a a school that fit all the needs was difficult. And it's ongoing and it still is, and that's always going to be a challenge. And we look for our older kids to be leaders, but we also want to understand that they're gonna do goofy things sometimes and it interferes with their eyes are I we always tell them that the little guy's eyes are on you all the time, you know, whether good or bad. And and so just you know, different teachers having experienced with little little kids were intimidated by the older kids. They're they would, you know, they would come to me, hey, you need to they're afraid to talk to them because they didn't really know them. And now they can get to know the kids throughout the process. So that was a challenge too, because trying to connect the staff and trying to not divide them and although it was a natural division, if that makes sense. And and I think that's that's really gotten better over the years, but just that just the give and take was was was hard.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Staff, administrators, and families carry Catholic education forward through daily choices, how they teach, how they discipline, how they care. Buildings make formation possible.

SPEAKER_04 8:29

Community makes it real. And that's a little bit what we're thirsting for, is just just to be able to have a comfort level with our young kids. And I think you know, I see these little kids walk up and down the upstairs hall and it doesn't bother them. That that would have been hard to do the first couple of years. You know, so there's a a little bit more comfort level there with that.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

By the early 21st century, Catholic education in Billings had become something its founders might scarcely have imagined: a unified, intentional system built to last. And yet, every generation of Catholic education faces its own questions. Endowments help, but they do not eliminate responsibility. Facilities inspire, but they require care. Systems provide strength, but only when people remain committed. Catholic education today exists in a world very different from the one that gave it birth. Families have more choices. Costs continue to rise. Cultural pressures test commitment to faith-based formation. The work of stewardship never ends.

SPEAKER_03 9:52

Faith certainly has a lot to do with it because a lot of people are very religious in in their faith. And but overall, even the ones that aren't that strong in in their religion, they benefited here. I mean, they s they still come back. So that shows you they had a connection that's never broken. So I I felt that way. I mean, I'm here for every game.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

You know, it's you, it's all the teachers in this building, it's all the teachers in the other buildings. It's starting with those little ones in the daycare and in preschool and in kindergarten. It's starting with all of them. What makes it important for them to be there? And how do we how do we nourish that, make it cap it, and tell the stories? Keep on telling the stories because every child is important, no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

These formative experiences over the last 50 years as an institution, those experiences have actually impacted us, impacted me and you and our leadership of these of this place.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Each generation receives the same gift and the same question. Will you back it? Catholic education in Billings has never been sustained by certainty. It has been sustained by people willing to back something larger than themselves. That decision, made quietly, faithfully, and together, became a legacy. We stood in the Bitterroot Valley alongside the Salish people and the first missionaries who arrived at St. Mary's Mission in 1841, journeyed east to the reservation era missions that emerged among the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Blackfeet, and other native nations. We watched parish schools rise across Montana communities, witnessed moments of tremendous growth, and explored the challenges that brought Catholic education to the brink of decline. And through every chapter, one thing really was clear. Catholic education was never simply about buildings. It was never simply about curriculum. It's about people. It's always been about people. People who believe that faith and learning belong together, people who sacrificed to build schools, who taught generations of children, people who chose hope when the future was uncertain, and people who continue that mission today. Obviously, the story we've told is not perfect. Like every human story contains moments of great faith and moments of real complexity. But it's a story of encounter, a story of change, a story of resilience, and ultimately a story that continues. Because the mission of Catholic education is not just a historical artifact. It really is a living commitment entrusted to each new generation. So before we close, I I really do want to offer a sincere thank you to everybody who helped make this series possible. Thank you to our guests who shared their knowledge, experience, their personal stories. Your voice has really brought this history to life. Particularly thanks to Adam Liberty, Jim Stanton, Art Geiger, Sister Hurley, and a pretty on top, Fanny Cliff, Ivan Small, Christian Coppage, and everybody who really contributed to this story. Thank you to the educators, religious communities, parish leaders, alumni, students, and families who have carried forward the mission of Catholic education and the story of Billings Catholic schools. And thank you to you, our listeners, for joining us on this journey. The historical content presented throughout the series is drawn from a variety of sources, including mission records, diocese archives, Montana historical collections, educational records, and published histories of Catholic ed and missionary activity in Montana. So a special acknowledgement to the Historic St. Mary's Mission and Museum, Montana History Portal, the Yellowstone County Museum, the Diocese of Great Falls Billings, Diocese of Helena, and all the archival materials and published works documenting Catholic missions and education throughout Montana. We're grateful to the historians, archivists, and researchers whose work helped preserve and share these stories. A great book for further reading is by Kim Larson. So I would highly encourage folks to check that out if they're you're interested in the story of the Diocese of Great Falls Helena. Ultimately, this marks the end of our first season. So over the next month, we're going to be taking a brief summer break as we prepare for the start of the new school year and begin work on what's next. And when we return, we'll continue exploring the people, stories, challenges, and successes that shape Catholic education today. So stay subscribed. Share this series with others. Keep an eye out for new episodes as we begin our next chapter. So until next time, thank you for listening. Thank you for believing in the power of faith formation, faith filled education, and thank you for helping write the next chapter of our story. I'm Andrew McDonald. This has been rooted in rising, and may God bless you, and may God continue to bless Catholic education in Montana.