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Happening ... in the Local Church
St. Peter Parish, Winamac, celebrates 150 years
'What faith means really shows here'
 Parishioners
of St. Peter, Winamac, attend Mass on June 28. The parish is celebrating
its 150th anniversary this year. Only six parishes in the diocese are
said to be older than the Winamac parish. (Photos by Kevin Cullen) |
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| Florence Braun Bauman looks at old photos and clippings from the parish school. She is a 1938 graduate. | Parishioner Tim Roth with Father Martin Sandhage, pastor since 2007 | ||
 
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| St. Peter Church was built in 1883, but completely remodeled in 1930. | Father John Hoying, CPPS, was pastor from 1998 until 2005. | ||
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| Sister Jeanne Koehler (left), Sister Celine Tomasic and Sister Marjaleen Kelley taught Bible school at St. Peter’s. | Bishop William L. Higi was principal celebrant at the sesquicentennial Mass. | ||
 
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Top: Martin Findley, a parishioner, looks at a display. Below: Mary Eldridge and Donna Nicholson |
Stained glass windows were installed during the pastorate of Father John Becker, CPPS. | ||
By Kevin Cullen
The
Catholic Moment
WINAMAC — James Buchanan was president, slavery was legal, women could not vote and nobody — not even Pope Pius IX — had ever seen a car, a plane, a phone or a light bulb.
The year was 1859, the year St. Peter Church was founded. On June 27-28, the parish marked its sesquicentennial, or 150th birthday, with a dinner dance, a Mass celebrated by Bishop William L. Higi and a reception in the former parish school. Approximately 200 people — including former pastors, teachers and students — enjoyed cake, cheesecake, punch and coffee.
“150 years. It pretty nearly brings tears to my eyes. It’s something,” said Florence Braun Bauman, 85, of rural Kewanna. Her grandfather, a German immigrant named Frank Braun, was an early parishioner at St. Peter Church. She was baptized and married there, and she graduated from its school in 1938.
She brought her eighth-grade diploma with her, and walked through the school for the first time in years. She revisited her old classrooms, read old newspaper clippings, and smiled as she looked at class photos.
“I loved Sister Leona and Sister Amelia,” Bauman said. “I loved them, and I still do. I can see them. I never did forget them.”
Winamac is the county seat of Pulaski County, which dates to 1839.
Until 1850, local Catholics traveled to St. Vincent de Paul Church in Logansport to attend Mass. Many made that long trip only once a year.
In 1850, priests from Logansport began traveling to Winamac to celebrate occasional Masses in private homes. A mission was established in Winamac in 1858 and in 1859 the first frame church was built, at a cost of $700. Father Charles Gunkel was named the first resident pastor of St. Peter Church in 1867.
Priests from the Society of the Most Precious Blood staffed the church from 1872 until 2007. The Sisters of the Most Precious Blood ran the parish school from 1874 until 1930, when the Sisters of St. Joseph of Tipton, Ind., took charge.
The present brick church building was built in 1883 for $8,000. It was enlarged, and veneered in new brick and stone, in 1929-30. The church was remodeled again in 1963, 1977 and 1997-98.
The present brick and stone school building opened in 1930 and closed in 1970. It is now used for meetings, receptions, Bible school and religious education classes.
The sesquicentennial Mass on June 28 was concelebrated by the pastor, Father Martin Sandhage, and by three former pastors: Father Bert Woolson; Father Paul Wohlwend, CPPS. and Father John Hoying, CPPS; plus Father Ronald Schiml, CPPS, pastor at nearby St. Joseph Church, Pulaski.
Most of the 62 parishes in the diocese were founded in the 1800s, but only six claim to be older than St. Peter Parish, Bishop Higi said in his homily. He congratulated event organizers for marking an anniversary “that deserves to be celebrated.”
“Jubilees look both ways: to the past, but to the future as well,” he said.
Life is more complicated in 2009 than it was in 1859, he said. There is greater affluence and more advanced technology, yet babies are still baptized, children continue to receive first Communion and the sacrament of confirmation. People still marry and seek the sacrament of reconciliation. And when they die, funerals are still conducted.
“The call to conversion has not changed,” Bishop Higi said. “The wise do not doubt that God continues to hold each of us in the palm of his hand. These are the realities you are celebrating today.”
Today’s parishioners, he said, are part of a continuum. Like their forebears of 1859, they are called upon to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, to keep the commandments and to pass the faith to future generations.
“There is need for you to write your own sacrifices, your own vision, your own faith into the history of this faith community,” Bishop Higi said.
“There are several families here who go back many generations,” said Father Sandhage, pastor since 2007. “The faith (of the founders) has obviously been transmitted. We’re growing and thriving. What faith meant, and what it means, really shows here.”
The parish has 1,110 members. He said he has been impressed by the willingness of parishioners to pitch in — whether by organizing a 150th birthday party or donating money needed to restore the stained glass windows in the church.
“Whenever there’s a need, they come through,” Father Sandhage said. “They see the need, and do it. There’s no argument.”
“Everybody’s
really nice. It just gives you a good feeling,” said 12-year-old Madeline
Murray, who handed out souvenir programs before Mass. “My mom went to school
here. She was named after one of the nuns.”
Lifelong parishioner Donna Nicholson was among the volunteers who spent more than a year planning the sesquicentennial celebration.
She leafed through parish archives, identified people in old photos, set up displays and updated a parish history booklet.
Items on display included a 1966 cheerleading outfit, antique first Communion prayer books, an eighth-grade class ring, and a photo of the 1961 boys’ basketball team that won the Pulaski County championship … not bad for kids from a school that had no indoor basketball court.
Nicholson attended St. Peter School through the sixth grade, when it closed.
“One of the big things was going to Mass each day. There was a closeness, and small classes,” she said. “I’m still good friends with people I started out with.”
The parish always has been “very close-knit,” she said. “We look out for each other. Several parishioners administer to the elderly in the nursing home, so it extends from new people to older ones who can’t get to church anymore.”
Planning the celebration was a “unifying thing” said Mary Eldridge, another member of the anniversary committee and a 28-year parishioner. “This is a time to celebrate. We had a full house, more than 300, at the dinner dance.”
Sister Clarise Winter, CSJ, returned to her home parish, and to her old school, for the celebration. She left Winamac in 1939, at age 14, to enter the convent. She served as a nurse for 48 years.
“I haven’t been back that many times, and nobody knows me now,” she said. “It’s a wonderful experience. The excitement of all the people is just outstanding.”
Father Hoying, who was pastor at St. Peter’s from 1998 to 2005, now lives in Carthagena, Ohio, but returned for the celebration.
“There is good faith here — good, solid faith,” he said. “The kids get good training because the parents believe in religious education. A short one hour a week doesn’t do much.”
Three former Bible school teachers, all members of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, returned, too. They were Sister Jeanne Koehler, Sister Celine Tomasic and Sister Marjaleen Kelley.
“The kids were so good, we gave them cookies at recess,” Sister Marjaleen said.
“It was very heavenly here,” said Sister Celine. “The kids were so well disciplined, and quiet. They had great parents. We had a good time here.”
“I could tell a million stories,” Sister Jeanne said. “One boy said he couldn’t give up bubble gum for Lent. I said, ‘OK, then take the garbage out for your mother.’ A week later he said, ‘Sister, I’m gonna give up bubble gum. It’s easier.’”