Three Catholic churches that serve residents in the west part of Jefferson County will remain open and will not merge with other churches. However, they all will see changes in leadership, according to the All Things New plan the Archdiocese of St. Louis recently announced.
The pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace in House Springs is retiring, so the church will get a new one and will share that pastor with St. Anthony of Padua in High Ridge. In addition, St. Paul in Fenton will get a new pastor.
On May 27, Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski announced the All Things New plan and how parishes throughout the Archdiocese will be affected by the initiative.
Approximately 70,000 parishioners from across the Archdiocese took part in the planning process, which took about two years to complete, he said in a written statement.
The Archdiocese, which covers the city of St. Louis and 10 counties – Jefferson, Ste. Genevieve, St. Francois, Franklin, Lincoln, Perry, St. Charles, St. Louis, Warren and Washington – includes 483,911 Catholics among a general population of 2,259,000.
The plan, which starts to take effect Aug. 1, calls for 178 parishes to be reshaped into 134 with 35 parishes closing and 15 parishes merging to create five new parishes.
The Archdiocese said the restructuring plan, which will take about three years to fully implement, was needed because of a smaller pool of priests over the past 10 years, a decline in the number of Catholics attending Mass, a shift in where Catholics live and a drop in donations.
According to the Archdiocese, the COVID-19 pandemic hurt participation even further.
Our Lady Queen of Peace
The Rev. Dennis Schmidt, 69, pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace, is retiring after serving 43 years as a priest, the past six at Our Lady Queen of Peace.
The new pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace will be the Rev. Thomas Miller, currently the pastor at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in New Melle. Miller also will be the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua.
The Rev. John Reiker, the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua, will be the part-time senior associate pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace.
Schmidt was raised in south St. Louis and is the second oldest of four children. He graduated from Cardinal Glennon College and was ordained in 1980.
While Schmidt served more than half a dozen ministries in Missouri, he said the St. Thomas More Newman Center in Columbia stands out as a high moment in his service. While there, he helped organize the Awakenings retreat program for college students, which is still held every year.
“I had a sense of calling to serve the Lord and to serve his people,” Schmidt said. “It’s a been a great opportunity to do that. My placements have all been enriching in serving the Lord.”
Judi Oliver, the office manager at Our Lady Queen of Peace, said she is excited about and looking forward to the changes the All Things New plan will bring.
Our Lady Queen of Peace experienced a 19 percent drop in weekend Mass attendance from 2019 to 2022. The church also saw a 23 percent drop in registered parishioner households.
St. Anthony of Padua
The Rev. Thomas Miller, who will take over as the new pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace, also will be the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua.
The church’s current pastor, the Rev. John Reiker, will remain at St. Anthony of Padua, but instead as the senior associate pastor. Reiker also will serve as the senior associate pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace.
According to the Archdiocese, St. Anthony of Padua experienced a 38 percent drop in enrollment in the Parish School of Religion.
St. Paul Catholic Church
The new pastor at St. Paul Catholic Church will be the Rev. John Nickolai, currently the pastor at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Parish in Florissant.
In addition, St. Paul’s new senior associate pastor will be the Rev. Mark Whitman, the current part-time senior associate pastor at St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in St. Charles and part-time senior associate pastor at St. Cletus Parish in St. Charles.
The Rev. Monsignor Kevin Callahan, St. Paul’s current pastor, will be reassigned as the senior associate pastor at the Seven Holy Founders parish in Affton.
In addition, St. Paul’s associate pastor, the Rev. Scott Scheiderer. will be the pastor of the newly comprised parish made up of the former St. Elizabeth, Mother of the John Baptist, Our Lady of the Holy Cross, St. Matthew and St. Augustine parishes.
“The transition is always difficult,” said Scheiderer. “I will miss St. Paul so dearly It’s a difficult process, a mourning in a sense. I’m going to give (the new parish) everything I have.”
St. Paul saw a 24 percent drop in weekend Mass attendance from 2019 to 2022. Its school, which enrolls children in kindergarten through eighth grade, saw a 9 percent decline in enrollment, the Archdiocese reported.
Any parishioner who claims to have been aggrieved by the Archbishop’s decisions has the right to appeal. Per canon law, the request must be made in writing, postmarked no later than June 12 and addressed to the Archbishop at 20 Archbishop May Drive, St. Louis, 63119. The Archdiocese said it cannot accept emails or phone call requests for appeal.