St. Michael is changing. Even transplants see new homes sprouting in area fields and lament that we are growing into a small suburban city. But this area has always attracted those looking for a better life. The current church is the fourth to bear the archangel’s name, and the German Catholic farm families that settled here literally carved a community out of the wilderness, preserving the faith and traditions they brought from Europe to America.
Throughout its history, St. Michael has been known as the Holy Land, God’s Country or “the Catholic bubble” thanks to the deep influence of the Church even on secular life. The faithfulness of the people—and their essentially German character and culture—persisted through most of the 20th century. In the past 20 years, the parish has grown and diversified, but continues to thrive and bear fruit. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Pictured: The statue of St. Michael in our current worship space dates to at least the wood-sided church that preceded the historic brick church. Photo courtesy of Michelle LeMonds.
Pioneer families began homesteading the Crow River Settlement in the mid-1800s, clearing and cultivating fields by hand. Draft animals were few, and the “roads” were little more than trails: When the first priests came here to minister, they traveled on foot because the paths were unsuitable for wagons or even single horses.
In 1856, Bishop Joseph Cretin dispatched Benedictine priest Fr. Demetrius di Marogna and two newly ordained German clerics from St. Paul to establish the monastery that became St. John’s University. Not long after their arrival, they invited a popular Jesuit speaker, Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, to preach missions in the area. Fr. Weninger required a proper sanctuary in which to preach, and that inspired the construction of a small log church somewhere near the current location of the Millside Tavern.
[According to Ignatius Gutzwiller Jr.,] Fr. Weninger dedicated the new church to St. Michael the Archangel during the first week of September 1856, and during the same week he solemnized the marriage of Anton Schnitzler to Catherine Knoebel and baptized Mary Zachman, daughter of John and Emily Zachman. When Fr. Weininger departed at the conclusion of his mission, he left behind a legacy: he had provided the name for the new parish and consequently one for the future city as well.
– Faith, Family and Farming: A History
of St. Michael, Minnesota, Bob Zahler, pg. 180
Pictured: The second St. Michael Catholic Church, finished in 1866. No photos exist of the original log church. Photo courtesy of Bob Zahler.
The parish grew relatively quickly from there: Parishioners decorated and improved the log church, even before enhancing their own homes, and expanded the structure in 1863. In 1866, a new wood frame church was constructed near the location of the brick historical church, and the historic cemetery was established. The first Catholic school and convent was opened in 1876, then, in 1892, a beautiful, brick, neo-gothic church was built in the center of town, complete with stained glass and statues. The historic church was completed with the support of just 70 local families, who must have had an eye toward the future: Its seating capacity was 500.
Pictured: The historic church welcomes horse-drawn carriages on a winter morning. This church still stands today, and was still in regular use until 2005. Photo courtesy of Bob Zahler.
As the 100th anniversary of the church building approached, it became increasingly apparent that it could not serve the needs of the parish much longer. Not only was the building showing its age, but it was far too small for our burgeoning population. By 2002, some $1.5 million had been pledged for a new church. A capital campaign was launched, and in 2003 ground was broken for our fourth church on Frankfort Parkway. On December 19, 2004, our current church was consecrated for sacred worship.