A look back: St. Joseph's Catholic Church celebrates 175 years

By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register

Throughout its history, St. Joseph’s Church has experienced countless changes, with things being rebuilt, removed, replaced, razed, renovated, and restored. Yet, it has continued to remain, and this year celebrates its 175th anniversary. 

It’s a church with humble beginnings, when an Irish missionary priest named Michael Lynch, traveling by horseback, started offering mass in Elkader and surrounding towns. This was before Elkader had a name, before the Motor Mill milled wheat into flour and even before the Keystone Bridge was built. The first Catholic Mass held at what would become St. Joseph’s Church took place in a log cabin where the post office now stands, just a stone’s throw away from its current location. The first stone church, or “Rock Church,” was built in 1856, and still stands over 165 years later.

In those early years, parishioners had to stand or kneel on a dirt floor due to an unfinished interior, while horses and a single cow grazed on the church grounds, eventually being replaced by an iron fence and rows of pine trees. By the turn of the century, the “Rock Church” was replaced when it could no longer hold the growing parish. It was Thanksgiving Day 1900 when the new building was dedicated and the “Rock Church,” transitioned to other uses, such as hosting dinners, social events and meetings. In 2019, even the “Rock Church” got a facelift with new lighting and an HVAC system.

Similarly, the new building, a Gothic style structure built from solid stone, has undergone periods of change. A renovation in 1960 removed original furnishings and, some 20 years later, the roof was completely replaced. The pews were replaced in 1997, and the following year, woodwork was stripped and the interior was painted, among other projects. A decade later witnessed the removal and restoration of 33 glass stained windows, and a few years after that, a new kitchen was added to the parish hall.

In the course of that history, the church has survived depressions, fires, floods and pandemics, while simultaneously evolving with the changes of time, but holding firm to its core tenants, like promoting the values of the gospel and keeping Christ as the central figure of it all. 

It’s also about “reaching out to those in need” and being “kind to others,” said longtime St. Joseph’s parishioner and former Parish Life Chairperson Ellen Collins.

Reaching out to those in need takes several forms, among them the Social Justice Committee that collects food and money for the food shelf. In the last two months alone, parishioners have collected 201 pounds of food and donated $380. 

This year, in honor of the 175th anniversary, they also made an effort to collect 175 specifically chosen items per month, like 175 boxes of cereal in March, 169 cans of vegetables in May and 332 school supplies in July, with jackets, hats and the giving tree still to come.

“All communities should be raised up and strengthened by the faith communities within them. They should be the leaven of society and provide leadership by way of example, especially for the poor and marginalized,” said Father John Haugen.

St. Joseph also has a program called Mary/Martha, started by parishioner Madonna Hosch, who, according to Collins, “has done a lot to keep it going over a span of time and it has been appreciated by many for many years.” 

Mary/Martha is a group of ladies who meet once a month to prepare and deliver meals to those in need, as well as to others in the community, such as new parishioners, families who have just had a baby, for people who have lost a loved one and for those having physical or mental problems. This group recently visited my family in June after the birth of our daughter. It was a kind gesture and a reminder that, in a small town, news travels fast.

“The purpose is to show we care about others. I think our parish does a lot to remember those that are in need and to be kind to others,” Collins said.

This doesn’t even account for the Pay-It-Forward fund that helped a family secure temporary shelter and food in July. Pay-It-Forward is a small group that meets to minister to individual family needs as they arise, while discerning how best to assist in their moment of need. 

Father Haugen said, “All in all, it is not as much about a ‘program’ but the context of the ministry—’They’ll know we are Christians by our love,’ not our committees.”

These programs might not exist without willingness to evolve over time, as well as dealing with challenges that come along. Among the challenges is a shortage of priests in the Catholic Church, a decline in attendance and what Father Haugen sees as a “decreasing commitment to parish life,” but St. Joseph’s has not stood idle.

“It might be said that churches that are alive have moved from ‘If you build it (and light the candles) they will come’ to a more gospel mission oriented existence,” he said.

In meeting modern challenges, the church has developed more adult education programs, expanded understanding of the role of the parish/pastoral council and, most recently, moved from the St. Joseph’s Guild (women’s organization) to “Parish Life” teams that encompass all members, giving them a greater responsibility in the pastoral life of the parish.

St. Joseph’s has sought to become a friendlier place for young families and strengthened its religious education, while also hosting numerous book and bible studies and initiating outreach opportunities into the community, with a more robust ministry to grieving families.

“The single most important part of our presence is our worship, good music and preaching, a welcoming faith community and, most importantly, the centrality of the Holy Eucharist in our lives,” Father Haugen said.

Another recent evolution contributing to the continuation of St. Joseph’s occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. When the world was shut down and congregating at church was not allowed, churches had to find a way to reach parishioners and get the message out. St. Joseph’s started the Emmaus Pastorate’s Podcast with Sunday homilies, special liturgies and other messages.

“Society and culture present challenges that will come and go, but keeping Christ and his church central, and not succumbing to those challenges, but instead growing from them, is what sustains us,” Father Haugen said.

Sustaining for 175 years is no small accomplishment, and is highlighted by recent displays at the Carter Museum that showed a rather different look to Main Street decades ago. It’s also embodied by everything that went wrong with the Keystone Bridge. 175 years is cause to celebrate all the renovations, outreach and modernization that have led to this moment.

The parish is celebrating with special worship on Sunday, Sept. 15, at 10 a.m. A simple lunch get-together will follow in the parish hall, the old “Rock Church,” with a special history presentation by David Beck at 1 p.m. The public is invited to attend and experience St. Joseph’s and the history contained within, as well as outside, the church. 

Inside, you will find historic artifacts and a wall of old class photos from the days when a school was there. You can read the names of students whose families have endured along with the church. 

On the outside, you will notice St. Joseph’s has come a long way from a log cabin, dirt floors and a grazing cow, standing as one of the oldest structures in Elkader—almost as old as the state it resides in. That alone is worthy of celebration.