This is Pastor Tim’s article which appeared in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Like many of you, I watched the videos online of St John Church in Maria Stein burn and I was sick to my stomach. All of that history and beauty in that old Church building that will never be able to be salvaged. I know they will get some things out, but there will be no replacing that old building and my heart goes out in every conceivable way to the people of that parish and that community. No living person today knows of a time when that Church was not standing. The people of that parish lost the most, but let me be honest, all of us lost something in that terrible fire.
According to their website, the St John congregation dates back to 1836. Three years before that, in 1833, three families came together to form a little town called St Johns. How did they settle on the name? Well, the patriarch of each of the three families were all named John, so there you go.
As the little town grew, they decided they needed a church. The very first Mass of the St John congregation was celebrated on June 24, 1836. That means that at the end of this month, the congregation will be 189 years old. The Civil War was still 24 years in the future for that congregation.
The first Mass was held in the current building on November 11, 1891. That was 20 years before November 11 was declared Armistice Day, marking the end of World War 1. We know that date today as Veteran’s Day. That means that Church building was 134 years old. If that Church were opened today, 134 years from now would be the year 2159. That is how long that Church stood.
In those times, countless weddings and baptisms took place. Millions of people have passed through the church looking for comfort, guidance, and connection to God. Many people have had their lives celebrated as they have gone home to heaven. Prayers have been said, songs have been sung, fears have been relieved. Families have been sustained, community has been created, and God’s word has been proclaimed. Priests have served and many lay people have served their Lord and their parish to make sure the ministry continued for 134 years.
All of it under the roof of St John Church. Sure, we know that building was nothing but bricks and mortar, but Churches are more than the sum of their parts. That Church was a sacred space for 134 years and last week because of an unthinkable tragedy, that sacred space is gone.
First, let me tell you what the people of that community already know. Church is not a building, it is a people. Whatever the good people in that parish decide to do, ministry will continue. I have no idea how devastated I would be to find out my home church was lost in this way and I have not stepped foot in my little home church in years. But so many of my foundational memories of my faith and my growth into the man I am today are tied to that place. It is more than brick and mortar to me, just like St John Church was to the people connected there.
Please continue doing the work of the Church. Whether you rebuild or go some other direction, please continue because even though that precious building is gone, there is a whole generation of people who are going to need to experience the God that building represented for 134 years. Even without the building, the ministry must continue. Whatever you decide, I encourage our community here in St Marys to pray for the St John community because the only thing that would be a greater tragedy than losing that beautiful Church building is to lose all the souls who connected there.