Pre-Conference Tour Options
Cost:  $45 per person & includes lunch
Buses depart from the Wyndham Garden Inn, 3100 West I-40 at 9:30am.
* If you are driving your own vehicle, meet to leave for tours at Wyndham Garden Hotel
Minimum of 25 needed for each trip

Option 1
Cross Ministry Tour
Groom, TX
9:30am-12:00pm
Meal provided by Christian Mother’s
(Cowboy Stew, Cobbler, etc.)

Welcome to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries and the marvelous story of what God is doing through this 19 story cross located on Interstate 40 at Groom, Texas.

Construction of the cross frame was done in two shops in Pampa, Texas by more than 100 welders and erected in July of 1995. Truly, all things are possible for those who believe.

Ten million people pass by every year. One thousand stop each day. This 190 foot tall free-standing Cross can be seen from twenty miles away. 

The construction you will see here took eight months to complete. Every piece had to fit together when the frame was transported and assembled at the construction site forty miles away. When completed, the cross would weigh 1,250 tons or 2 1/2 million pounds.

Meet God's chosen builder Steve Thomas and his wife, Bobby. A CD "God's Timing" is available in the visitor's center at the Cross on which Mr. Thomas tells his incredible story of how God put this project together.

When the sections were completed they were loaded on a flat bed truck for the cross county trip to Groom.

Our prayers were answered. The journey of the Cross to Groom was a special spiritual experience of, "Take up your cross and follow me."
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Option 2
St. Mary’s Catholic Church
Umbarger, TX
9:30am-12:00pm
Meal provided by Rafter G's
(Bar-B-Que)

St. Mary’s Catholic Church has bee, from the beginning a foundation that has maintained the closeness and unity of the community. The German Catholics that settled Umbarger brought their religion with them and made it the focal point of their lives.

St. Mary's Parish has humble beginnings. The Diocese of Dallas officially assigned our first parish priest to Umbarger in 1910 after years of having Mass celebrated in homes throughout town.

The present Church structure was built in 1929. The Church was dedicate on March 18,1930 by Bishop Gerken. The altar and tabernacle were donated at the the time the Church was built. The statues were brought from the old Church.

Father John H. Krukkert was pastor from 1944 to 1947. During his time as pastor, many changes to the church were seen. The inside of the Church was hand painted by Italian prisoners of war, held at a camp in Hereford. Franco di Bello, Achille Cattanei, Dino Gambetti, Bario de Cristofara, Leonida Gorlato, Carlo Sanvito, Erico Zorzi, Ardiano Angerilli and Spinello Aretino were the artists. A guard would drive them daily to Umbarger to work on the Church and as payment, the Altar Society would prepare lunch every day for the men.

There are 27 symbolic paintings in the nave of the Church and are above the stained glass windows and along the front of the choir loft.  The East angel holds a symbol of the face of Christ on Veronica's veil. The West angel holds a symbol of the inscription on the cross -- INRI.  The wood carving of the Last Supper on the altar, as well as the decorative trim in the Sanctuary were carved by Carlo Sanvito. Parishioner Meinrad Hollenstein provided the wood that came from one-by-six planks that he had bought to make a cow pen. He came to the church daily to watch the progress.