CHURCH OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE
REPORT AND EVALUATION PRESENTED TO THE ABBOT AND CHAPTER OF CONCEPTION ABBEY BY FR. ALEXANDER LUETKEMEYER. DATE: NOVEMBER 21, 1984
Table of Contents
1.History
2.The Physical Plant
3.Geography & Sociology
4.Demography * Sociology
5.Campus Ministry
6.Parish Finances
7.Fund Raiser
8.Conclusions, Projections, Ideas.
1. HISTORY
St. Paul's Parish in Tarkio embraces all of Atchison County. Atchison County is within the boundaries of the Platte Purchase. Hence everything that enters into the history of the Platte Purchase enter into the history of Atchison County and St. Paul's Parish. In meaningful terms this suggests some developments will be lagging behind other counties and towns in the state. And given the fact that Atchison County represents the extreme of both the Platte Purchase and also the state of Missouri, its development probably represents the completion of the initial stages of Missouri's development.
The nearest approach to a history of St. Paul's Church in Tarkio was compiled by Raymond Leisman. Ray was retired and over seventy years of age when he decided to correct some errors he found in a mini-history published in connection with the dedication of the new church in 1960.
According to the data supplied by Ray Leisman, the J.C., St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad was finished in 1869. (Later this would be the Burlington, and then the Burlington Northern.) Branch lines soon connected the neighboring regions to the main line. One of these branch lines began at Corning and ran up the Tarkio River valley in a northeasterly direction to Clarinda, Iowa. Tarkio, Fairfax, and Westboro owe their birth to the railroad.
Tarkio was laid out in August 1880, by Chas. E. Perkins, and the first Baptismal Register indicates that a Fr. C.P. Hurley was appointed missionary rector on or about October 19, 1890. Following is a copy of the title page of this register:
BAPTISMAL RECORD OF MISSIONS AS FOLLOWS
1) St. Paul's, Tarkio, Missouri
2) St. Boniface, Watson, Missouri
3) St. Bridget, Forest City, Missouri
4) St. Agnes, Bigelow, Missouri
5) St. Pius, Phelps City, Missouri
and all other places in Holt and Atchison Counties and Nodaway in Andrew County, Mo.
Fr. Hurley was stationed at Tarkio, Mo., presumably because Tarkio had the largest concentration of Catholics (and people) in the two counties of Atchison and Holt, counties which border the Missouri River in NW Missouri.
I will estimate or indicate something of the number of Catholics below, but first it might be asked where the Catholics were coming from. Here the history by Ray Leisman is helpful.
From the year 1880 until about 1900 there was a large influx of German Catholic families from Dubois County in southern Indiana into the Watson community. My grandfather's family was among them. They were mostly farmers and thrifty hard working people.
Fr. Hurley was stationed at Tarkio, Mo., presumably because Tarkio had the largest concentration of Catholics (and people) in the two counties of Atchison and Holt, counties which border the Missouri River in NW Missouri.
I will estimate or indicate something of the number of Catholics below, but first it might be asked where the Catholics were coming from. Here again, the history by Ray Leisman is helpful.
From the year 1880 until about 1900 there was a large influx of German Catholic families from Dubois County in southern Indiana into the Watson community. My grandfather's family was among them. They were mostly farmers and thrifty hard working people.
Presumably other Catholics were Irish settlers who arrived with the railroad. Still others could probably trace their ancestry back to opportunities perceived from trafficking up and down the Missouri River. In any case the only two Catholic parishes to survive to the present day are St. Bridget's in Forest City, the only Catholic Church in Holt County, and St. Paul's in Tarkio, the only Catholic Church in Atchison County.
What about size and numbers? In the Baptismal Register (1890-1925) mentioned above, there is a note that bears the date of April 2, 1907.
Rev. J. Th. Harmon was appointed M.R. (missionary rector) of this parish of St. Paul's and missions by compulsion of Bishop Burke. Since the building of their church in 1870(sic) many families have moved away. At present I find only 18 families in St. Paul's Parish.
The missions, I would think, had fewer families than the parish where the pastor or missionary rector lived.
After Fr. Hurley first resided at Tarkio in 1890, he was succeeded by a Fr. T.C. Ahearn, who yielded to a Rev. Lambert Nipper. From the record it appears that Fr. Nipper was pastor from 1896 thru 1901, when Fr. Hurley returned. Fr. Ahern listed the various places where he conferred baptism, indicating that he baptized in Tarkio, Bigelow, Watson, Forest City, Pock Port, Craig, Mound City, Langdon, Westboro, High Creek, Nodaway and Napier.
The Baptismal Register is signed in 1907 by a Fr. Thomas Harmon, and in subsequent years by Fr. C.A. McLeod, and Fr. Santerre until 1912.
Fr. Austin Fleming, Ph.D., in bold handwriting, notes that he took charge of St. Paul's on the first Sunday of October, 1912, adding: Ora pro mihi quando in aeternam ero. (Pray for me when I have departed this life). After Fr. Fleming, a Fr. J.J. Cafferky signs the register, and in 1918 Fr. James S. Ryan, identifying himself as pastor of St. Bridget's in Forest City. ]n 1923-24, Fr. C.A. Miller does the recording and again lists himself as rector.
The next book containing sacramental statistics is a small ledger (intended for finances). Entries begin with Fr. C.A. Miller, who is succeeded by Fr. L.E. Gassman in 1927. The last entry by Fr. Gassman is in 1933, and in 1934 the entries are by Fr. Fidelis Goetz, OSB. Fr. Fidelis signs the register a last time in October 1946. Fr. Fred Yehle became pastor in 1947. Apparently one of his first acts was to purchase a new combined Church Register, the one still in use today.
Fr. Yehle was succeeded by Fr. S.S. Hoppe, then by Fr. Tom Waterman, then by Fr. Lackamp (Franklin), who yielded to Fr. Alexander Luetkameyer (myself).
2. THE PHYSICAL PLANT
In June of 1960, a new St. Paul's Church was dedicated. A copy of the article (with pictures) which appeared in the Tarkio Avalanche includes the following facts:
a) The first Catholic Church in Tarkio was dedicated June 12, 1892.
b) The first Mass in the "old" St. Paul's Church was Christmas Day 1891. One of the 15 parishioners receiving first Communion that day was Mrs. Julia Nocton, who was then living in Tarkio.
c) The modern brick church and rectory, on the NE corner of Elm and Tenth Streets, replaces a 70 year old frame building across the street.
d) The new St. Paul’s Church (and rectory) cost 122,000 dollars.
e) Bishop Cody dedicated the new buildings.
What were the conditions leading to the building of a new church and rectory? After having heard some reminiscences of one elderly parishioner, Chub McAdams, I asked him to record some of his memories. Of the old church he said:
Father (Fidelis Goetz) was a wonderful religious man, a hard worker, a good counselor, always ready to help if you asked him. And I know I was able and willing to help with anything he asked for, repairs or whatever. I remember at this time building a new tabernacle out of beautiful lumber, also a canopy over the altar, and also a large window in the choir 10ft thru to the belfry in line with an outer window, plus electrical wiring and repairs.
All this was in the old church, across the street from the present church. The house just east of the old church was bought a little later from the Gaffney family as the rectory. At any rate Father and I tore the steeple off the old belfry as it was getting dangerous, especially in high winds.
In the History by Ray Leisman, the following is recorded:
In 1950 we (Ray Leisman family) purchased the Rock Port Market and our family moved there. This put us much nearer to Tarkio and St. Paul's Church. It was only nine miles of good paved road. I believe that Fr. Yehle was the priest at that time. It was about this time that a building fund was started for a new church. Fr. Hoppe soon became our next pastor and the building fund continued to grow. Subsequently Bishop LeBlonde retired and Bishop Cody became head of the diocese.
As the building account grew, and the 1950.s advanced, Bishop Cody had the diocesan architect draw up plans for the new church and rectory. Fr. Hoppe, after looking them over, decided they were too elegant for our parish and sent them back. The next set was felt to be too rich for our parish. We did finally accept the third set of plans, although we couldn't figure out why we needed a rectory with 4 bedrooms and
4 baths. The present church was the result of these last plans. The cost was still quite a bit more than we had amassed in the building fund. It took us a few years to payoff the balance.
After the new church and rectory were built, apparently two priests were stationed at Tarkio, The arrangement did not last, but it does explain the 4 bedrooms and 4 baths. I would conclude that there was one bedroom and bath for each priest, for a housekeeper and for a guest.
The architectural plans (available in St. Paul's rectory) indicate that the original design called for a church 24 feet longer than the present structure. I do not know the reason for the retrenchment, although it probably had something to do with money.
The present church seems inordinately small. Seating capacity is about 100. There is a basement which serves as the parish hall and religious education space. Many features of the church are les~ than praise-worthy. The double entrances at the front have been designed in such a fashion that it is quite unworkable to bring in a casket thru them. Fortunately one of the side doors will satisfy that need, but in turn creates other problems, such as casket bearers slipping and sliding thru the lawn in bad weather trying to maintain a stately grace and dignity in spite of the treacherous footing.
The lack of foresight in providing some suitable quarters for religious education is not easily explainable. By 1960 it surely must have been clear that where parishes did not have a parochial school, and where none was contemplated (as I have to believe to be the case in Tarkio in 1960) some provisions for suitable space and equipped quarters were necessary requirements for the teaching of religion, especially to the young. Within the past week (August 17, 1984) the parish council voted to attack this vexing problem by accepting a bid to redo the parish hall (church basement) in view of making it more suitable for education classes. The ceiling will be lowered, the hall divided by a folding door, and dividers or separators used to create rooms for the individual classes. (This corrective surgery is now finished. (Week of Dec. 9, 1984).
An additional problem with the church structure has been leakage. This problem can be traced to the architectural plan to provide stairwells and confessional space by adding projecting rectangles to the church building. The church is topped by a gable roof, but the extensions are covered with flat deck roofs. The flat decks have been the source of water problems, and the parish council approved the erection of dormers over these extensions, which had to be tied into the gabled roof. This rehab work was done in the summer of 1984 at a cost of $2500.00.
The reader will have noted the above reference to 4 bedrooms and 4 baths made by Ray Leisman. Apparently the new rectory has been a source of contention dating back to its erection. Every problem of space in the parish turns the eyes of parishioners toward unneeded space in the rectory. Rectory space was advanced as a solution to the religious education space problem.
It was suggested that three of the bedrooms be turned into permanent classrooms. The problem is complex. The rectory serves as house and office. But the offices are inadequately undersized, unable to serve as a meeting room for pastor and two people. There is neither basement nor attic in the rectory. Storage is a consistent problem. Access to classrooms in the rectory which would preserve some privacy of the pastor also constitutes a problem.
3. GEOGRAPHY & SOCIOLOGY
St. Paul's Parish embraces the whole of Atchison County. A county is a generous amount of territory for a parish. If there were only one town in the county, the problem would be simplified. However, Atchison County has three population centers, Tarkio, Fairfax and Rock Port. There are two other villages, Westboro and Watson, but they gravitate toward the other population centers. A population center here signifies the generation and focusing of personal loyalties toward the center. It means that the unity of the parish has to contend with the loyalties generated by cultural, social, or religious magnetisms. Three high schools in the county means that there are three sources of athletic competition, three diverse allegiance pulls, three different interests, schedules, acquaintances, etc ...
Here are some applications to help understand what the foregoing means in terms of application to parish life.
If we decide to have an annual parish picnic, we ask in each year whether the picnic is to be held in Tarkio, or Rock Port, or Fairfax.
When a parishioner collapsed one Sunday morning during Mass, it was painfully obvious that the people of Fairfax, where the parishioner lived, were the truly concerned people, as they were the ones who waited around the church until the ambulance arrived to take the stricken parishioner to the hospital.
Three populations centers mean that certain segments of the parish know parishioners of one region better than those of another. And it is a woeful fact that many never get to know the names of all the parish members. Various efforts to overcome this problem have enjoyed only limited success, principally due to the non-recognition in the parish that this is a problem. Some examples: A parish album was started as a means of enabling any parishioner to identify an unknown person. However, only half of all parishioners were willing to submit a picture for the album. The attendance at the annual parish picnic also betrays a kind of indifference toward the responsibility of getting to know parishioners by name.
Three population centers place obstacles in the path of organizing the youth of the parish. Common times for meetings and activities are not easy to find even when the personnel are willing.
The church of St. Paul is located in Tarkio. So naturally the pastor is a member of the ministerial alliance in Tarkio. But the parish is also in Rock Port, where there is a ministerial alliance, and also in Fairfax where there is a ministerial alliance. So the pastor is privileged to belong to so many alliances, but handicapped when the church undertakes an equal burden of participating in services in nursing homes, transients' assistance, food pantries, etc ....
4. DEMOGRAPHY AND SOCIOLOGY
The present size of St. Paul's Parish is about 90 families, plus or minus. There is a mobility rate of close to 10%. This means that approximately 9 families will move or leak from the parish annually, and about the same number will move in or resume practice or join the catechumenate. Generally the parish should gain in these turnovers because of the favorable percentage of Catholics in the country as contrasted with the percentage of Catholics in Atchison County.
A recent count of individuals embraced by the 90 families revealed that there were 194 persons. If everyone attended Mass on a given Sunday, it would mean that the church would be filled two times. Actually the parish does schedule three Masses weekly, which are not really required to care for the worship needs of the parishioners.
Of the 90 families, 25 constitute one member households. Twenty-five have children enrolled, or should be enrolled, in religious education. The range is from grades one (even K) to twelve. Attendance, however, is often less than desirable.
Four (five) parishioners are in nursing homes, and two live in senior citizen's housing. The parish participates in a meals-on-wheels program which serves the senior citizens, and there is participation in a Sunday worship program conducted in turns by the churches of Tarkio (and Rock Port).
Several years ago the parish was analyzed according to the occupations of the parishioners. This revealed that 28 families were engaged in farming, 14 in buying and selling, 10 in teaching, 19 as industrial or blue collar laborers, 8 retired, 7 in finance, and 5 in medicine. (Since the closing of the beef plant in 1984 at Phelps City, the percentage of blue collar workers has probably declined somewhat. These figures do show that while the parish may be classed as rural, it is not necessary comprised mostly of farmers.
5. CAMPUS MINISTRY
One of the challenges that comes with St. Paul's Parish is Tarkio College.
The college in 1984 has an enrollment of plus 500 students. Sizeable portions of them are Catholic, perhaps close to 20 percent.
What percentage of these Catholic practice their religion? Impossible to answer. If we accept a round figure of 100 Catholic students, 20 to 25 may attend Mass on a weekend. Some of the students in the immediate region may return home on weekends. However, it is distressing to see students begin the year bravely with fidelity to Sundays, and then fall by the wayside.
In a meeting with the students after Mass on September 18, 1983, I outlined these plans.
a) Some liturgies on campus. (We had one, not well attended. I believe seven or eight students present. Publicity may have been the reason for poor attendance. We didn't get the word around.)
b)Asked for volunteer members, one from each class to form a group of leaders to work with in doing some planning. Result: Got four volunteers but was unable ever to gather the four at anyone time to do any planning.
c) Indicated that we would welcome participation of the students as readers, singers, organists, etc., in the Sunday liturgies. Practical result the same year was nil. When college was assigned in Bulletin, a Catholic teacher generally supplied. This year there has been a good participation by students in taking liturgical reader. Some interest has been shown in the area of organ & music.
The diocese grants St. Paul's a modest sum of $400.00 to carry on a campus ministry. Of the $400.00 received in the past two years, approximately $100.00 to $200.00 spent on food and drink. Some help to one student, who made a TEC Weekend. Some went into the VCR, and the rest is still in th€ bank. lam of the opinion that subsidizing weekends (TEC or'Koinoia) would be the most effective use of the money we could make. In any case this is one area of St. Paul's Parish Ministry in need of a booster shot.
6. PARISH FINANCES
Finances at St. Paul’s Parish are not totally reassuring. Here are income figures for the past three fiscal years:
1984--$20,850.1983---$21,181.951982---$21,398.64
The figures show a slight decline in income over the three year span. Income has been keeping ahead of expenses, but the margins have been narrowing. Over the past three years income exceeded expenditures by $1,752.00 in 1984, by $1932.70 in 1984 but failed to meet expenses in 1982 by $1,173
At the Parish Assembly in 1984, I had to point out that the new budget for 1984-85 would show an increase of expenses and that unless we had an increase of income in the present fiscal year, we would not be able to meet operating expenses. In August of this year the parish council sponsored a drive to increase income by asking for an increase of one-third in their (parishioners') giving. No efforts had been made during the previous five years to boost parish income. The net result was that 40 parishioners signed pledge cards to increase their donations.
Basically the problem at St. Paul's seems to be more a matter of attendance than a problem of giving. Absenteeism at Sunday Mass is one of the defects of St. Paul's Parish: A quick check of the parish roster reveals that a good third of the parishioners do not attend Mass on a regular basis. About 75 families have' envelopes, but only about 25 of these are in the basket on any particular Sunday.
7. PARISH FUND RAISER
St. Paul·'s sponsors one fund raiser during the year, a Spring Dinner; which is held sometime during April, usually before the farmers begin work in the fields. The Spring Dinner was in disrepute a few years ago, but it was rescued from the dust bin by some strong voices in the annual Parish Assembly. The organization of the dinner is a marvel of intricate planning, usually done by a man and wife as Chairmen, who apportion the food requirements, work assignments, etc., to, parishioners without prior consultation. Naturally many failures occur. Some do not bring their food or liquids, some fail to appear for work assignments. When all the grumbling is over, the parish usually cleared about $1500.00. This extra-ordinary income is vital to the bank balance of the parish, and it would not be unwise to look into adding some additional events, such as a raffle, etc.
8. CONCLUSIONS – PROJECTIONS
The most significant fact of St. Paul’s is that it embraces a population of 200 in a sea of other Christians and non-Christians of perhaps 10,000. The Catholic percentage of the total population is about 2%. That fact has these consequences:
a) Since there is a certain mobility of population, the outgo is always from a 2% base, but the influx is from a higher percentage base. So in the logic of numbers, St. Paul’s must experience some growth on the basis of mobility.
Being in a sea of non-Catholics means that the prevailing morés are not necessarily Catholic, and the Catholics incline toward acceptance of the morés in the environment. One example will help. The attendance at Mass on Holy Days of Obligation is almost scandalous. I would estimate that less than one third of the parishioners observe the Holy Days with the exception of Christmas.
A second fact of significance is the isolation of the parish in the diocese. The nearest parish. St. Benedict's in Burlington Jct., is 17 miles distant. The nearest parish with a priest, St. Gregory's in Maryville, is 34 miles away. Some consequences:
a) To take part in any program offered at St. Gregory's, a parishioner has to be willing to travel a long distance. There is little inclination to do this, and even less when opportunities are farther away. Likewise there is little inclination on the part of either deanery or diocese to do the long trek to Tarkio.
b) The priest is also isolated. Generally this would mean that someone who is gregarious should not be stationed at Tarkio. Fr. Lackamp once referred to his stay in St. Paul's as his missionary experience.
c)The parish is the farthest removed from K.C. and that is a handicap for attending functions in the See City.
A third significant fact is the territory of the parish, embracing as it does three high schools, three newspapers, and three ministerial alliances. My conclusion here is that religious and cultural centers function better when they are allies. So it has seemed to me that Rock Port, with its 30 Catholic families, should establish a Catholic parish there. There is little support for this idea in the parish, but I have held the idea for five years without any real doubts about its necessity.
A final conclusion. The rectory has 4 bedrooms, 4 baths. It was designed with several priests in mind. Today that seems like a precocious idea. Given the isolation and territory of St. Paul's, a team ministry would probably be ideal. The challenges are multiple and one pastor hardly has the talents for all the necessary ministries. A team ministry (two priests, or full time priest and deacon and/or sister) would be entrusted with the totality of Atchison and Holt Counties, (perhaps Burlington Junction in Nodaway County). Tarkio would be the operative center. Mound City and Rock Port would be centers begging for the establishment of parishes and churches.
In the history section above it was noted that in the 1890s there were churches in Bigelow, Phelps City and Watson. Nearly a hundred years has passed since the foundation of these churches. I like to think that they represent the hope of spreading the Catholic Faith that should be ours today.
THE END
(This report was given to the community at Conception. Some of the readers thought it should be made available to the parish. The parish council agreed at its meeting on December 12, 1984.
Fr. Alexander Luetkemeyer O.S.B.)
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