Newly resplendent Shelbina church: home to lively, familial faith
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What could be more beautiful than a sanctuary awash in muted blue and sun-swept gold ... century-old floors, pews and woodwork made new ... and saint-inspired artwork selected to draw once-separate communities closer together?
How about a church full of people of all ages, families with babies and young children, visitors from near and far with lasting ties to the community, and a collective spirit of collaboration, lifelong formation and sacrificial ardor?
“Your parish community is a living, breathing center of charity and mercy, which stands as a beautiful reminder of the presence of God among us,” Bishop W. Shawn McKnight told the people of St. Mary Parish in Shelbina.
The bishop offered Mass in the newly-renovated St. Mary Church Oct. 20 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its dedication.
Joining him at the altar was Father William Peckman — pastor of St. Mary Parish, Immaculate Conception Parish in Macon and the Mission of Sacred Heart in Bevier.
A meal and reception was held in St. Mary Parish’s Fr. Buhman Center after Mass.
People gathered and visited around historical displays for the Shelbina parish, as well as St. Patrick Chapel in Clarence, which became a part of St. Mary Parish in 2023; the former Mission of St. Rose of Lima in Lakenan, which closed in 1988; and the former Mission of St. Michael in Hagers Grove, which closed in 1990.
“Our stories are intertwined, and we want that history to keep going,” Fr. Peckman stated.
The current St. Mary Church, constructed in the restrained Arts and Crafts style that was popular in the 1920s and ’30s, replaced a 45-year-old frame building that had been struck by lightning and deemed to small and too expensive to repair.
The new church took about a year to build while parishioners gathered for Mass and other sacred functions in a public hall.
Father Terence Mullins was their pastor.
Men of the parish dug the foundation for the new church. The cornerstone was set in place on March 30, 1924. Masses were celebrated in the basement as soon as it was completed that July.
The $30,000 church was paid for by the time it was dedicated on Oct. 13, 1924 — not quite a year after the last Mass was celebrated in the old church.
Likewise, the full cost of the latest renovation was raised before work even began.
“In reviewing your parish history, I am struck by the sacrifices and struggles of the people of this parish over these past 144 years,” Bishop McKnight stated in his homily at the anniversary Mass.
“Sacrifices made out of love are the most important things we can do in this world,” he said. “I implore you to remain faithful to your roots, to your ancestors in the faith who sacrificed so much for God and for the Church.”
Lifelong parishioner Joe Dimmitt’s mother, Emma Lucille (Buckman) Dimmitt (1924-2022), was the first to be baptized in the now century-old St. Mary Church.
Mr. Dimmitt is convinced she would be delighted both with the church as it now looks and the parishioners who worship there.
“These are very good people,” he said.
Lifetime St. Mary parishioner Kayl Gough, a nursing student at Truman State University in Kirksville, considers it a privilege to work at a local nursing home, where people who have been St. Mary parishioners for many decades share their recollections with him.
“I took care of the woman who was the first person to be baptized in this church,” he said. “And hearing her stories and those of so many others about the church and what it was like, you hear a lot of the same things about the community aspect of it.
“It’s really neat to compare their stories to what we’re experiencing here today,” he stated.
Joy of serving
Mr. Gough likes how his parish feels like a tight, extended family.
He appreciates coming home on weekends whenever he can and spending time with his family and the people of his parish.
He was active in the St. Mary Parish youth group from kindergarten through his senior year in high school. He attended a Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) weekend in Quincy, Illinois, which helped reinforce for him the joy of actively serving others.
He serves as a cantor at Mass once a month and has been teaching in the religious education program for several years.
“I do it because it brings me joy,” he said.
He’s noticed an influx of young families into the parish and of children and teens getting active in the youth group and PSR.
“I think of them not as the future of our Church but as the young Church today, and they can be active in it and learn to love God and serve other people, and I like seeing that,” he said.
Above and beyond the sacramental grace of Mass, Mr. Gough is most aware of God’s presence in the parish “in seeing everyone come together to be a part of fellowship or serving people.”
He pointed out that the parish youth group unites students from the county’s two public high schools.
“I know people from the other high school who a lot of my classmates didn’t know, and the parish brings us together a lot, because we can all go to Mass on Sundays and PSR and youth group together and not be rivals,” he said.
“A God thing”
Glen Eagan and his wife, Cathy, moved to Shelbina about 45 years ago.
He loves living in a rural community and being part of a rural parish.
“You’ve got a lot of families who come together and do all kinds of different events in town,” he noted. “And when we have a church function, they bring all the kids and get them involved.”
People also step up to do things such as visit local nursing homes, organize pilgrimages and mission trips and teach classes for young people.
“I’m sure it’s a God thing,” he said. “The community takes to heart their religion and the need to bring the kids up in it and do so many good things for everybody.”
He noted that God wants people not only to worship him at Mass on Sunday but also to celebrate and honor him throughout the week.
“We have to visit the elderly and take care of the sick and teach the young people and pray for the dead,” he said. “These are all very important things.”
Mr. Eagan observed that Fr. Peckman has been working to draw his parishes in Shelby and Macon counties into closer collaboration with one another.
“St. Mary’s tries to reach out in both directions to help out with whatever we can,” said Mr. Eagan.
Influx of youth
Eulynn Keller sees more than a fresh look and a resplendent worship environment when she goes to Mass in the renewed St. Mary Church.
“I see that our church is full!” she said. “I absolutely love full! It’s so full of babies and kids, and we’ve always been very fortunate to have priests who are very supportive of children in church.”
Mrs. Keller did not grow up Catholic, but encountered Catholicism in college when she met the man she would marry.
“It felt like coming home,” she said.
She’s still actively growing in faith and has been working especially hard on that since she became a mother.
“Right now, my big focus is on getting my kids and family to heaven someday,” she said. “I definitely feel like at St. Mary’s, there are so many people in your corner for doing that.”
Mr. and Mrs. Keller work a farm in Shelby County.
“It isn’t easy, and there are a lot of sacrifices our kids make for us to be able to raise them in that environment,” she said. “During planting and harvesting, our Sundays at church are our time as a family because during the rest of the week, we’re passing each other coming and going.
“Not one of us would trade it for anything!” she added.
When the couple moved to Shelbina about a decade ago, Mrs. Keller wondered about the future of the parish and the local community at large.
“But I feel like the world as a whole has changed a lot since then, and people are now looking for these small communities and needing more of that ‘village’ we talk about to make it through life in general,” she said.
“It seems like all of a sudden, there’s quite a movement of people starting young families here, and people reaching out to each other to get adult groups going and get our kids involved in the Church at even-younger ages,” she stated.
Many of these young parents openly encourage their children to consider whether God is calling them to be a priest or religious sister or brother.
Mrs. Keller pointed out that every community has its struggles and that too many people paint individuals in rural communities with the same brush.
“You actually have to advocate for the faith just as much as you do in places with larger populations,” she insisted. “It really starts with your neighbors, and you do have to work at it.
“We’re convinced this is one of the easier places to do that,” she said.
Creating family ties
Lifelong Catholic and Shelby County resident Amanda Durbin noted that the statues of St. Patrick and St. Rose of Lima and the icon of St. Michael the Archangel are placed in St. Mary Church according to the relative locations of Clarence, Lakenan and Hagers Grove.
She pointed out that the first weekend after the renovations at St. Mary’s were complete, a full slate of weekend Masses, a wedding and a funeral were celebrated in the church.
“The excitement of having that all back is hard to describe,” she said. “We are so grateful.”
Teens and young adults are accepting leadership and service roles in the parish.
Kindergartners through high school seniors in the parish youth group meet once a week in Macon or Shelbina — kindergarten through sixth grade right after school, followed by sixth through 12th grades.
Both groups occasionally take part in service projects or a trip.
The current youth group model at St. Mary began around 2011, after Carolyn Saucier, former diocesan associate director of religious education, visited the parish and talked about how many young Catholics fall away from practicing their faith shortly after Confirmation.
“Helping them feel like they’re part of a family was what we were missing,” said Mrs. Durbin. “Because having them together for an hour on Sunday at Mass wasn’t enough. Of course, it’s important to be here for Mass, but in terms of growing as a family, they have to have more time together.”
She regularly observes children and teens at non-church events seeking each other out “like cousins.”
“They’re tight even outside of church because of the bond that they’ve formed together,” she said. “Because they don’t just study together at CCD, but there’s a specific night that they get together to pray for each other, break bread together and play.”
Emerging role models
“We have a lot of key people in our church who really, strive to give back and keep giving more of who they are,” said Mrs. Keller.
She recently spoke with a group of wives and moms at a women’s spirituality gathering in the parish hall.
“They asked me to do a little talk about how to bring prayer to your family and kids,” she recalled. “A few other women spoke ahead of me. They talked about the women they grew up looking up to at church.
“In my talk, I reminded them that ‘you are those ladies now, and we’re all looking up to you. Never underestimate yourself or how much you do bring to the Church,’” she said.
Mr. Gough is confident that even more young people can be drawn into the Church through patient listening and everyday Christian witness.
“What we believe doesn’t necessary appeal to people right off the bat,” he noted. “But I’ve seen how if you give people enough to think about and enough time to think, you start to get rid of all the false beliefs they may have about the Catholic Church and actually come to appreciate what it truly teaches.”
It’s often a slow process, mostly of listening and some responding.
“It’s also a process of you, yourself, getting out of the way and letting the Holy Spirit act through you,” he said.
Her children’s children
Mrs. Durbin is confident that St. Mary Parish will still be a thriving, God-centered, service-oriented community of faith when her infant granddaughter is old enough to want to raise her own children there.
“I honestly think it will be stronger than it’s ever been,” she stated. “I’m seeing a lot of young families coming back or new families moving in. And to those who are arriving, babies are being born.”
“The young people are going to pull through to the next 100-year celebration, and it’s going to be a big one!” she said.
But, will the church be big enough for all of them to fit?
“Hopefully, not!” she said. “And hopefully, we’ll have more than enough priests by then to add Masses to the schedule.”
