About Sacred Heart · Wynot, Nebraska
Sacred Heart Church is a Roman Catholic parish in Wynot, Nebraska, situated in Cedar County in the northeast corner of the state. It is one of three worship sites of Holy Family Parish — together with Immaculate Conception in St. Helena and Ss. Peter & Paul in Bow Valley — and belongs to the Archdiocese of Omaha. Sacred Heart was founded in 1915 by the mostly German-Catholic farming families of Wynot, and a century later the wood-frame church still seats about 250 people for the twice-monthly Friday Masses that anchor the community's prayer life. Worshippers today also gather for weekly Eucharistic Adoration, parish breakfast fundraisers, and Christmas outreach to the homebound.
- Established
- 1915
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Fr. James Keiter
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Omaha
Why belong here
Sacred Heart is a small, century-old parish where the farming families of Wynot still gather around the Eucharist and one another. The community lives its faith through twice-monthly weekday Masses, 12 hours of Eucharistic Adoration every Thursday (per the parish's centennial profile), seasonal parish breakfasts, and the longstanding tradition of delivering Christmas fruit baskets to the homebound and to a retirement center in Hartington. As part of Holy Family Parish, Sacred Heart shares priests, ministries and administration with sister churches in St. Helena and Bow Valley, giving parishioners both a tight-knit local congregation and a wider family of faith.
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
Adoration times
- Monday 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM (per masstimesusa.com / catholicmasstime.org listings)
- Thursday — 12 hours of Eucharistic Adoration of the Eucharist (per Catholic Voice profile of the parish)
About Sacred Heart, Wynot
Sacred Heart is the Wynot worship site of Holy Family Parish in Cedar County, Nebraska, part of the Archdiocese of Omaha. The wood-frame church seats about 250 people and serves around 300 registered parishioners, the great majority of them from surrounding farm families. Worship is centered on two weekday Masses each month and on a strong tradition of Eucharistic Adoration.
History
Sacred Heart was built in 1915 to serve the German-Catholic farming families of Wynot, a town founded in 1907 when the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad placed its depot a mile west of St. James. Land for the church, rectory, school and cemetery was donated by John and Theresia Arens. The parish was originally twinned with Ss. Philip and James in St. James — a partnership that lasted until 2000, when the Archdiocese of Omaha closed Ss. Philip and James and Sacred Heart joined with Immaculate Conception (St. Helena) and Ss. Peter and Paul (Bow Valley) to form Holy Family Parish.
- 1915 – Sacred Heart Church built and one-room parish school opened
- 1937 – School closed; reopens in the early 1940s
- 1955 – School closes for the final time as a Catholic school
- 1986 – Old school building torn down
- 2000 – Archdiocese closes Ss. Philip and James in St. James; Sacred Heart joins Holy Family Parish
- 2001 – New parish center built (seating for 300+)
- 2015 – Centennial Mass and dinner with Archbishop George J. Lucas
Clergy & Staff
Sacred Heart is served by the pastor of Holy Family Parish and shares administrative staff with the other Holy Family sites.
- Fr. James Keiter — Pastor (402-357-3506 ext. 3)
- Alex Nissen — Executive Assistant to the Pastor and Finance Director
- Fr. Eric Olsen — previous pastor of Holy Family Parish (around the 2015 centennial)
Parish Life & Outreach
Sacred Heart parishioners are known for putting faith into action through hospitality and outreach to neighbors near and far. Seasonal parish breakfast fundraisers bring the community together each fall and spring, while at Christmas the parish delivers fruit baskets to the homebound and to a retirement center in Hartington.
- Fall and spring parish breakfast fundraisers
- Christmas fruit-basket deliveries to the homebound and to a Hartington retirement center
- 12-hour Eucharistic Adoration as a shared prayer of the parish
- Pastoral Council work across Holy Family Parish
Visiting & Contact
Sacred Heart is located in Wynot, Nebraska, in the northeast corner of Cedar County. The parish office for Holy Family Parish is reached through the main 'Our Catholic Family' phone line.
- Address: 807 Emerson Ave., Wynot, NE 68792 (also W 8th St. & Emerson Ave.)
- Phone: (402) 357-3506
- Website: https://www.ourcatholicfamily.org/sacred-heart
Holy Family Parish — the wider family
Sacred Heart is twinned with two sister churches under Holy Family Parish. Together they share Mass times, ministries, clergy and administration.
- Immaculate Conception — St. Helena, Nebraska
- Ss. Peter and Paul — Bow Valley, Nebraska
- Sacred Heart — Wynot, Nebraska
- Approximately 900 parishioners across all three sites
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Eric Olsen
Pastor of Holy Family Parish (which includes Sacred Heart) around the time of the 2015 centennial celebration