News

Parish marks 125 years

By Tony Staley
Compass Correspondent

FLINTVILLE -- Back in 1884, it was obvious that the members of the year-old Ss. Edward and Isidore mission in Flintville needed a church and couldn't keep gathering for Mass at various sites.

So 18 parishioners donated a total of $200 to buy four acres from Ed Donahue, who had offered to donate $25 for the church if they paid for the lot within two weeks.

The cornerstone was laid in June and parishioners went to work on the 24- by 48-feet church, built largely with wood from the town's mill and forests. The volunteers had to scramble to finish the church in time for a double wedding ceremony for Sarah Phillips and Willard Burdeau, and Josephine Burdeau and Alfred Bouchard.

Flintville has changed a lot since then. The forests and mill are long gone, as is that original church, but reliance on parish volunteers to do building projects - "Flintville style" - is as true today as it was in 1884, said Fr. Dave Kasperek, pastor.

Ss. Edward and Isidore will celebrate its 125th anniversary at Masses at 4 p.m. April 26 and 8, 9:30 and 11 a.m. April 27.

A potluck supper will follow the Saturday Mass.

"Honored guests will include the priests who served as pastors, members of the parish who are 90 years of age and older and the rest of the parishioners in attendance," said Fr. Kasperek, pastor since 1982.

Receptions in the parish hall will follow Sunday Masses. Artifacts and a video history of the parish will be shown Saturday and Sunday, Fr. Kasperek said.

Once a logging town

Flintville was a booming logging town with a small Catholic population when Fr. Edward Francis Van Hootegem, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish, Duck Creek (now Howard), founded the mission in 1883.

Parish lore holds that it was named for Fr. Van Hootegem and St. Isidore, patron of farmers and rural communities, on whose feast they bought the land.

After the church was built Fr. Van Hootegem came from Duck Creek at least every three weeks for the next 11 years to offer Mass. In 1892 he recommended that Flintville become a parish, a change that took three years and a decision by Fr. Arthur Belle, by then the pastor at Duck Creek, to build a rectory and an addition to the small church. Fr. Francis Laslow, the first resident pastor, completed the work and the parish was incorporated in 1896.

Pew rentals

Annual pew rent was set in 1897 "at no more than $12 and no less than $7." Each pew had a sign showing to whom it belonged.

By the turn of the century, the once dense forests had been converted to farm land, but hunting, trapping and fishing were still popular both commercially and as hobbies.

The church interior underwent its first remodeling in 1905 under Fr. Francis Nowak. More extensive work, including the addition of electricity, took place in the 1930s under Fr. Florian Marmuroucz. Other work included adding a pastor's office to the rectory, landscaping, remodeling the bell tower and building a stone grotto to honor the Blessed Virgin.

The church interior was again painted and redecorated in 1958 for the parish's 75th anniversary Mass, celebrated by Bishop Stanislaus Bona.

Because of continued growth, a multipurpose building was added in 1973 under Fr. Robert Karuhn on the site of the original church and rectory. The 400-seat church included from the original church its stained glass windows and a cross made from its hand hewn beams. Bishop Aloysius Wycislo dedicated the church on Feb. 3, 1974.

By 1977 it was apparent that a larger parish center, housing a social hall and nine classrooms on two levels, was necessary. Work began in 1979 under Fr. Henry Bedessem and Bishop Wycislo dedicated it in 1980.

Additional growth since Fr. Kasperek became pastor led to remodeling of Fellowship Hall for additional classrooms and offices (1984), a new rectory (1991) and converting the old rectory into offices and meeting rooms (1992).

More than 3,000 members

By 1996, the parish had more than 3,000 members, some of whom had to watch Mass on TV in the hall. So the parish built a church that was twice as large, which Bishop Robert Banks dedicated on Nov. 30. The parish burned that mortgage in 2005.

Today, Ss. Edward and Isidore has more than 6,000 members - many of them younger families - and continues to grow, said Don Jaworski, a 30-year member.

"You hear a lot about people not going to church, but it seems we have quite a few people finding meaning here," Jaworski said. "It's a meaning not only in what the readings are or the message is that Sunday, but in the relationships to each other, that we support each other all the way from baptism to death."

The welcoming atmosphere is a major reason why Jeanne Nolle said she and her husband John joined the parish six or seven years ago. "Everyone is included right away. Even though it is a large parish we felt welcomed and that we belonged when we attended our first Mass."

Welcoming parish

Michel (Mikey) Stencil also cited "the warm, friendly, inviting atmosphere." She said she and her husband John planned to sample different parishes when they moved to the area five years ago.

"We felt so comfortable at Ss. Edward and Isidore, that's where we stayed," Stencil said. "We get so much out of going to Mass and interacting with parish members."

Jaworski attributed a great deal of the parish's appeal to Fr. Kasperek's preaching, the relationships he has with people of all ages, and how active the parish is.

Nolle said she liked the opportunity to get involved. "Every parish is looking for volunteers, but sometimes they are hand-picked. Here, it's open to everyone. If you want to be involved you have the opportunity."

These opportunities include the Altar & Rosary Society, Newcomers Committee, Health & Wellness Committee, St. Vincent De Paul Society and Justice & Human Concerns Committee.

Parishioners also give generously to help others.

"Doing things 'Flintville style' - never paying for something we can do ourselves - lets us stretch a buck," Fr. Kasperek said. "People take their gifts and talents and share them with the parish in a way that lets us share with people around the world." That translates into $200,000 to $300,000 in assistance annually to help people locally at St. John's Homeless Shelter, Freedom House, Marion House, Wellspring, Hospice and Love Life; nationally at Hope House in New Orleans and So Others Might Eat (SOME) in Washington, D.C.; and internationally at a mission in Mexico, through educational assistance to children in developing countries and for scholarships to students in India.

"The Christian formation program is terrific," Nolle said. "Our kids have learned a lot. As a catechist working with 3 and 4 year olds I've seen them go home and talk about God with others in their family."