Sept. 11, 2017 – Barton, WI – Hundreds of people filled the pews at St. Mary’s Parish in Barton on Sunday for a Mass with Archbishop Jerome Listecki as the church on Jefferson Street celebrated its 160th anniversary.
Dressed in green vestments with a violet zucchetto the Archbishop talked about “coming together as a community” and “trust.”
“What we have today is because of the sacrifices made by so many in the past,” said Listecki.
Whitey Uelmen has been a member at St. Mary’s since 2000 and his family has been part of the parish since 1969. “This was really a neat celebration and Rev. Nathan did a great job putting this together,” said Uelmen. “We were really, truly honored to have the Archbishop attend this ceremony and put his blessing on the church.”
Hannah Helmbrecht, an eighth grader at Badger Middle School, was one of six servers at the Mass. “We signed up and had a few practices,” said Helmbrecht. “I was really honored to be able to serve with the Archbishop. This was just really, really cool.”
Rita Dricken, 89, was baptized and married at St. Mary’s Parish. “There was a lot of community feeling when I started with the church,” Dricken said. “The Archbishop had a wonderful understanding of why we’re celebrating and he gave a lot of credit to the founders.”
During Mass the altar at St. Mary’s was crowded with familiar faces including Rev. Enrique Hernandez, Rev. Justin Lopina, Rev. Nathan Reesman and Rev. Patrick Heppe from Holy Angels Parish in West Bend.
During communion the choir sang “One Bread One Body.”
After Mass the Archbishop thanked everyone for their participation including the servers, ushers, choir and the Knights of Columbus.
