Paynesville Church Celebrating Its Quasquicentennial Anniversary

PAYNESVILLE (WJON News) -- An area church is celebrating a major milestone this year. St. Louis Catholic Church in Paynesville is celebrating its 125th anniversary. The parish started as a mission church of St. Cloud in 1899 before becoming a permanent parish in 1912.

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Courtesy of Richard Butler

Director of Religious Education Hannah Voss says St. Louis is a tight-knit generational community:

"My granddaughter goes to mass here, she's a year and a half, and my father-in-law goes to mass here so that can be four generations sitting right in the same pew, and they're not the only ones, they'res ones so it's a very established community but it's just so fun to see generations all attending mass together is just very special."

The parish moved into a new building in 1959 where they are still located today but the original 1899 structure still stands and now houses an antique store.

Courtesy of Richard Butler

The bell from the 1959 church has been in storage for over 20 years but thanks to donations and a lot of volunteer hours the parish was able to build a new home for the bell and cross which they unveiled earlier this year. Voss says it was great to see everyone pull together for the bell:

"It's just one big happy family. It's good to see traditions continue and that the church continues to flourish with young and old families."

Courtesy of Richard Butler

Voss says they do still have a few married couples that were wed in the original building as part of the parish. and the area has a strong tradition of faith communities and family traditions. Recently St. Agnes Church in Roscoe and St. Margaret's in Lake Henry both celebrated their 100th anniversary.

Courtesy of Hannah Voss

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