Our History

Our beloved St. Paul's Church had its early beginnings in Silverton around 1888 when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered for the first time in the tiny community along the banks of Silver Creek. Father Adelhelm O.S.B., the founder of Mount Angel Abbey, traveled six miles on horseback to offer the Mass. For many years, he and other Benedictine Fathers of Mount Angel looked after the spiritual needs of the few Catholics here. They traveled to and from the Abbey as often as weather permitted.

The Catholic population was served in this manner until approximately 1910. By this time, Silverton had become a prosperous lumber town. It had grown to over one-thousand in population and its Catholic community had continued to swell in proportion. To better meet the needs of local Catholics, the Archdiocese of Portland employed the use of St. Anthony, a railroad chapel car built by the Catholic Church Extension Society of Chicago. This chapel car provided for the spiritual needs of people in western Oregon and the western United States. Its purpose was to not only reach Catholics in remote and unincorporated areas but also to expose non-Catholics to the faith.[i]

St. Anthony's visited towns and outposts throughout the West between 1909 and 1923. The railcar's only superintendent, George Hennessey, calculated that during those years the railcar completed 108 missions in the Oregon City Archdiocese (later the Portland Archdiocese), 64 in the Baker City Diocese, 73 in the Boise Diocese, 10 in the Salt Lake Diocese, and 13 in the Seattle Diocese.[ii] The abundance of missions employed by the Oregon City Archdiocese was especially effective in enriching the lives of many Catholics in western Oregon as well as converting many more over this territory.

St. Anthony's principal chaplain, Fr. Hugh McDevitt, was responsible for many of these missions, including the one to Silverton in 1910. His journeys here and throughout the region were lively encounters filled with warm spiritual instruction. Fr. McDevitt's vivacious and engaging personality helped bring many into the faith during his time on St. Anthony. His homilies were popular and his easy personality drew people to the railcar to listen and receive their sacraments. From his mobile church, Fr. McDevitt performed all of the rites and ceremonies of a brick and mortar church including baptisms, confessions, weddings and confirmations.[iii]

Fr. McDevitt's occasional presence in Silverton was a great source of spiritual leadership for local Catholics. He worked in conjunction with the Benedictine Fathers of Mt. Angel Abbey to serve Silverton's Catholic community. In 1910 their duties were alleviated in part when the Archdiocese of Portland sent Father A. Moore to occasionally pastor here in Silverton. Fr. Moore was assigned principally to the St. Joseph Church in Salem but came to Silverton a few times a month to hold services in private residences. However, by 1912, the Catholic congregation had grown to such a degree that homes could no longer accommodate the number of people interested in attending mass. For that reason, locals began looking for a larger and more formal meeting place.

For a time, the Catholic community rented and used the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall for church services. By 1914, mass was held in this temporary facility when visiting clergy came to town. As there was not yet any priest assigned to Silverton specifically, the local Catholics continued to rely upon the Benedictines, Fr. Moore, and St. Anthony's chapel car and another chapel car, St. Peter. However, visits by these clergy were sporadic, only occurring a few times monthly depending on weather conditions and road accessibility. Many of the faithful were still obliged to travel by horse or rail to Mt. Angel or Salem to participate in Sunday mass at other Catholic churches. Much to their relief however, in that same year Father William Cronin, assistant to Father Moore in Salem, undertook the building of the first Catholic Church in Silverton at the corner of Third and Jersey Streets.

Ordered by the Archdiocese of Portland, the founding of the first St. Paul's Church was in response to local demand for a permanent and resident place of worship. Its construction began in early 1914 and was completed later that year. To aid with the project, The Catholic Church Extension Society donated $1,000 and on August 2, 1914 our first Catholic Church was dedicated and put under the patronage of St. Paul. Father Francis Schebring, pastor of the Shaw parish fourteen miles distant, travelled to town twice a month to offer mass. On off-Sundays, locals continued to travel out of town for mass. [iv]

St. Paul's operated in the building on Third and Jersey Streets from 1914 until 1920. During that time, the congregation flourished and quickly outgrew their little church. Thus began their search for a larger place of worship. They found their answer in a large three-story structure two miles away on the corner of Grant and Pine Streets in Silverton. Under the guidance of Fr. Scherbring, St. Paul's purchased the three-acre plot with the structure for $5,000. The purchase was completed with a bequest of $2,000 made by parishioner Mary Ryan through the Extension Society.

The large structure that occupied St. Paul's new location was abandoned at the time of purchase. It had at one time been inhabited by students of the Silverton School for Liberalism, or Freethinkers University. This University, built in 1890, was sometimes dubbed the Atheist, Infidel, or Liberal College and was not in operation very long. Founded by John Earl Hosmer, Minnie Page Hosmer, and Pearl W. Greer, it consisted of a main building, a gymnasium, dormitory, library, and museum. It held courses in the departments of cosmology, biology, and sociology. Incorporated for $50,000, it was comprised of the three-story building, other outlying small structures, and a forty-four acre campus. By 1901 it served two-hundred students. Shortly thereafter, in 1903 a local paper announced the University's prospected removal and as foretold, later that year Silverton's Liberal College closed its doors.[v] Afterward, the structure was at times used as a sheep barn and temporary public high school.

When St. Paul's took possession of the land and former university in 1920, it was quickly transformed into a church, school, and convent. Following this quick order of events, the Archdiocese appointed Fr. Scherbring as St. Paul's first resident pastor on March 28, 1920.[vi] The first mass was offered on July 23rd of that year and Archbishop Christie subsequently dedicated the building to the service of God on November 11, 1920.

On that eventful day in November, Archbishop Christie converted what was once a college for those in opposition to Christianity into a house of God. Appropriately, a full day of thanksgiving and enjoyment followed. It began with a dedication at 10:30 a.m., followed by mass. Rev. Francis H. Scherbring sang and Archbishop Christie delivered a sermon to a crowd of twenty-seven priests, six Benedictine sisters from Mt. Angel, and two Sisters of Mercy from Portland, two Benedictine sisters from Shaw, and a large crowd of parishioners.

Following the dedication mass the ladies of the community served lunch in the hall at a price of .75 cents for an adult and .50 cents per child. The festivities continued with an afternoon of games and outdoor booths, including a fish pond and attractions for both "young and old". After this, St. Paul's hosted an address at 3 p.m. and a 5 p.m. evening dinner. It was not until evening that everyone went home "all well pleased with the happy event". [vii]

The celebration of St. Paul's dedication was undoubtedly a momentous event for the parishioners and local clergy. The congregation now had a much larger and permanent place of worship. This first mass and all those following it were held by Fr. Scherbring on the second story of the former Liberal University building turned St. Paul's. Within the same building was St. Paul's Catholic School which taught children from kindergarten through the eighth grade. Resident priests oversaw the administration of the church, and nuns taught the children in the school. They came from two orders, one from Dubuque, Iowa, then locally from the Sisters of Queen of Angels Convent in Mt. Angel.

The first of these were the four Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Family from Dubuque, Iowa. They came on August 17, 1921 and joined St. Paul's parish to become the first instructors at St. Paul's Catholic School. They opened the school on September 19th of that year with an enrollment of sixty children. The four sisters worked tirelessly to instruct and lead the schoolchildren at St. Paul's. Sister M. Felicitas, Sister M. Edwins, Sister M. Marta and Sister M. Doreta managed to live and work under a roof with leaks and drafts with little retribution except for a small paycheck and the intrinsic rewards of service.

The school operated out of the first and second floors of the building. The church was located on the second floor and the nuns' living quarters were across the hall. The Sisters also used a kitchen and parlor located on the first floor. They lived and worked here from 1921 to 1942, when the Benedictine sisters of Queen of Angels Convent in Mt. Angel took over instruction of St. Paul's School. These Sisters operated St. Paul's much as it had been previously, living and working in devotion to Catholic education.

The Sisters from Mt. Angel who took over for those from Holy Family were Sr. Felicitas Schiedler (Superior), Sr. Theophane Reist, Sr. Margaret Mary Johnson, and Sr. Alberta Dieker. Of these, Sr. Dieker is the only remaining to recall these early days of St. Paul's School. She relates many stories from her time there. She taught first through fourth grade and tells how theirs was truly a labor of love for God and the children. She and the other sisters managed under poor housing conditions, with meager and unpredictable pay, and at times little respect from resident priests. However, her recollections are warm and she loves to talk about how much she and the other Sisters enjoyed their time teaching children and seeing after their spiritual and educational growth.[viii]

St. Paul's Catholic School was in operation until 1969 when its doors closed permanently. Many students passed through its doors in these forty-eight years and have fond memories of their childhood education under the Sisters' tutelage. Their education was the result of the Sisters' many sacrifices as well as that of the church and clergy who faced the ever-present logistical problems involved in funding and basic building maintenance. In this, the church and school suffered together, not only because of joint responsibility of care and education, but because for many years, the church and school were housed in the same facility. They managed for a long while, but by the 1940s the old building was no longer a viable structure in which to house St. Paul's Church and School. It was compromised structurally, and posed difficulty not only for the Sisters and priests, but for the elderly and physically unable parishioners who had to climb the church's thirty-three stairs to attend mass. To address these problems, beginning around 1945 the parishioners began raising funds for a new building. By 1947, they had raised enough money and found an opportunity to obtain and relocate structures from Camp Adair, an army post located near Corvallis.

The chapel and school structures on Camp Adair were disassembled, brought to Silverton, and reconstructed in the spring of 1947. St. Paul's parishioners donated labor and money to help the new church and school become a reality. Parishioner John Pfeifer was the contractor for the projects. He, along with other volunteers, was able to take down, clean, and haul the lumber and materials from Camp Adair to Silverton in only eight days. The collective effort allowed the project to be completed for a significant amount less money than it would have cost otherwise. In total, it cost $58,000 for the building of the school / convent, and $45,000 for the church. Without donated time and labor, the estimated cost at regular construction rates would have reached $180,000 at the time.

When the construction was complete on the exterior of the new separate church and school structures were covered in a veneer of brick. Then, to appropriately finish the project the bell that was donated in 1921, was removed from the old church and put on the new one. It rang upon the church's formal dedication on December 14, 1947. Archbishop Edward D. Howard was on hand for the occasion as well as several clergymen of the area, including Father Walsh, Fathers Scherbring and Sullivan. A year after the dedication, in 1948, the old church and school were razed.[ix]

The next big construction project came in 1966 when a new rectory was built to replace the priest's residence. In 1999 the Rectory was remodeled to become the Parish Center. Parishioner Mike Gasper oversaw and completed the project for under $30,000. This was a significant cost savings, as the plan was originally projected to cost $125,000. Once again, volunteer manpower and dedication saved the church valuable money and resources.[x] Today the Parish Center serves the congregation as a meeting place and boardroom and houses the administrative and priest's offices.

Clergy

Here, a special section devoted to the priests and other clergy of St. Paul's is in order as their time and dedication to our congregation has made St. Paul's much of what it is today. Their leadership has guided us in our journeys through our Catholic faith and given us support in good times and bad. We truly would not be who we are without them. And, although not much information is available on many of them, their service should not go without mention from what we do know.

Proceeding in chronological order, as mentioned, Fr. Scherbring was the first resident pastor at St. Paul's. He served the parish from 1920 to 1931. He laid the groundwork for all other resident priests and has the distinction of being St. Paul's founding priest. He came from a parish in Shaw, Oregon. Following Fr. Scherbring, Fr. Charles Raymond was assigned to St. Paul's in 1931.

Fr. Charles Raymond served St. Paul's from 1931 to 1933. He was a fine musician and did much toward choir work in his short stay.

Father John Dunn succeeded Fr. Charles Raymond in 1933. Assigned to St. Paul's during the height of the Great Depression, he was mindful of the need for marketable job training for the parishioners. He initiated a well-conducted and very popular night school for business courses and public speaking. He also sponsored a drama club which played to packed houses in its presentations to neighboring towns. [xi]

Father Arthur Sullivan pastored St. Paul's from 1935 to 1938. His study clubs were very successful and he reorganized the different parish societies. He also formed a very successful club for young married couples. During his stay, the old church building was given an exterior renovation and many improvements were made to the rectory and school.

Father Richard E. Carberry, who served St. Paul's from 1938 to 1940, is of special historical note not only for his role at St. Paul's but for his military service and sacrifice. Born October 15, 1904 in Panora, Iowa, he attended St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado. He was ordained May 26, 1934 and it is speculated that his affiliation with Archbishop Howard prompted him to join the Archdiocese of Portland. He was subsequently assigned to our very own St. Paul's here in Silverton. After his appointment in 1938 he oversaw the building of sidewalks and several repairs to the rectory and hall. He remained at St. Paul's until 1940.

In 1940, as World War II was in the forefront of everyone's mind, Fr. Carberry felt a calling to serve in the United States Army as a chaplain. His enrollment in the army was almost curtailed by Archbishop Howard, however, because as it happened, Fr. Carberry's cousin, Father John J. Walsh who was also a priest within the archdiocese, desired to enter military service as well. Archbishop Howard said he could spare only one of them and chose Fr. Carberry. On January 28, 1941 Fr. Carberry began his assignment as a first lieutenant assignment at McChord Field in Tacoma, Washington. He was then transferred to Fort William McKinley in Manila, Philippines. There he cared for 2,000 Filipino soldiers and their families.[xii]

Fr. Carberry was later captured by the Japanese and taken as a prisoner of war. He survived the Bataan Death March, the bombing and sinking of a transport ship in Subic Bay, and the bombing of another ship in Tacawo Bay. He met his fate when he was on a Japanese P.O.W. transport ship en route from Maji to Tacawo on January 26, 1945. According to the Chaplain who administered last rights to Fr. Carberry, he died of "starvation, malnutrition, exposure, and neglect."[xiii] He was buried at sea. His cousin, Fr. John J. Walsh would later dedicate St. Paul's sanctuary to his fallen cousin.

In Fr. Carberry's absence from St. Paul's in 1941 to 1943, Fr. John Greene was the next regular pastor. During his appointment, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Family were recalled to Dubuque. The Benedictine Sisters of Queen of Angels Convent took over the school and stayed until 1969.

St. Paul Parish was administered on a temporary basis from 1943 to 1945 and during that time several Jesuit Fathers took charge. They were Revs. Andrew Deeman, Clifford Albutt, Charles Reger, Maurice Corrigan and John Van Hoomissen. After the service was completed, Fr. Walsh took over the assignment in 1945. He quickly began work caring for his cousin's former parish. He managed and organized the replacement of St. Paul's Church and School and became known as the "builder of St. Paul's" as he supervised the construction of the new church and school and deconstruction of the old ones. His dedication to our parish and his cousin is apparent in his efforts and improvements.

Following Fr. Walsh, Fr. Frederick Thiele served as pastor from the fall of 1952 until the end of February 1954.

Fathers Michael E. Fleming and John Cumminsky, O.S. B. served for several months until Fr. Thomas Gadbois arrived in February of 1955. During Fr. Gadbois' pastorate, the Legion of Mary was organized and alterations were made to the rectory as well as other improvements around the parish grounds.

Fr. Gadbois served St. Paul Parish from early 1955 until August 1960 when he was replaced by Fr. Pius Baur, who served the parish with religious fervor until his untimely death of a heart attack on June 23, 1964 aboard an airliner on his way for a visit in his native Germany. During his short stay in Silverton, he was instrumental in instructing many converts at St. Paul's. The Knights of Columbus Council No. 5416 is dedicated in his name.

Fr. James M. Harris was appointed as a pastor of St. Paul Parish on September 8, 1964. He oversaw the building of a new rectory, remodeled the sanctuary, and instituted the Parish Council. In addition, Fr. Harris facilitated many new ideas in relation to the interworking of the mass. His motivation for doing so came from The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), which was taking place at the time. It had a sweeping effect on the liturgy and how mass was conducted. It refined the mass in many ways, and the way Catholics related to it. Fr. Harris followed the tide of change with many changes to the liturgy. One of his greatest alterations was that he transitioned the liturgy from being read in Latin to being conducted in English. Other changes would come to St. Paul's, occurring incrementally over the next few years.

When Fr. Cathal Brennan came to St. Paul's in 1971, he found a parish which still had many of the time-honored traditions and customs of many generations of Catholics as well as the new practices ushered in by Vatican II. Fr. Brennan carried on this continuum of change, and encouraged the renewal of energy and spirit that the Council intended. He prodded the congregation into engaging into a more active involvement within parish and community. His work on Silverton's Ministerial Association is evidence of this as this organization aimed to break down walls of denomination and have people see themselves as connected through service to God and their community. He wanted the parishioners at St. Paul's to envision themselves as part of a wider church community of believers.

Throughout his ten years of service at St. Paul's Fr. Brennan pushed for the congregation to broaden their identity as Catholics, much as Vatican II proposed. It was a time of social turmoil for many, and priests like Fr. Brennan sought to expand people's spiritual horizons and renew the energy of the Church. As such, Fr. Brennan instituted modifications to the interworking’s of the mass that he believed would make it a more relevant and personal experience. Working along the guidelines of Vatican II, he began having St. Paul's congregants receive communion in the hand and from the cup, participate as readers of scripture, and act as liturgical assistants. These changes were mostly well-received and have since become new traditions for our congregation.

Fr. Brennan left St. Paul's in 1981 but during much of his stay he was assisted by Sr. Mary Ann Gisler. Between 1971 and 1981 Sr. Mary Ann served as Director of Religious Education. As Director, she helped St. Paul's transition from the religious education in catholic school (which had closed some years earlier) to family-based religious education. Many also remember that she taught parishioners the importance of music in the liturgy by leading the singing of the Gloria and other parts of the mass.[xiv]

Fr. Jim Parker came to St. Paul's in 1981 after Fr. Brennan's departure. He combined scholarliness with pastoral sensitivity in a way that has permanently influenced the parish. He also encouraged the role of lay people in ministry at the altar and had a special love of the Easter Vigil liturgy. He led the congregation in a process of redesigning the sanctuary of the church and many in the congregation remember the indescribable drama of the first adult baptisms which took place there on the Easter Vigil. Many still recall the first joint Palm Sunday procession with several other local Christian congregations through the streets of Silverton.[xv]

During Fr. Parker's residence at St. Paul, he was assisted by Sr. Maureen Niedemeyer and Sr. Judith Bloxom. Together, they worked with adult catechists going through the RCIA program. It was also during his stay that St. Paul's "Super Sunday" was created. This was an effort on the part of the church to provide adult religious education for the congregation. At the same time, the former Parish Council was turned into the Pastoral and Administrative Councils. This occurred out of a time period of intense reflection and debate for the church's administration. Loris J. Buccola and Tom Unger, both with extensive backgrounds in business, provided leadership as parish administrators during these years and helped define the councils.

Fr. Don Durand came to St. Paul's in 1986. He came to a parish which had made many changes during the previous fifteen years. He was sensitive to the upheaval some of these changes had caused and instead of exploring anymore changes to the mass, he focused on getting the parishioners to look inward into their identities as Catholics. He was known to open the discussion amongst the parishioners as to how the message of Jesus could affect such sensitive areas as race relations, the politics of war and abortion, child abuse, sexual morality, marriage and family. His purpose was to deepen spiritual insights, strengthen religious maturity, and to have parishioners take responsibility for their own decisions.[xvi]

Fr. Durand remained at St. Paul's until 1992

Fr. Ed Coleman became pastor in July 1992 and served until June 1998. Fr. Ed was known for remembering everyone’s name after one meeting and there after always greeted them by name. However, he did not want to be called just “Father.” He preferred either Ed or Fr. Ed and would remind people of this. Fr. Ed began ministry to the Hispanic community. Initially he had Mass in Spanish every other week but soon it was every weekend. He also got catechists to teach baptism classes to the parents and prepared the children for First Eucharist. This ministry continued to grow rapidly. Fr. Ed worked with the parish to buy the house on Grant Street for the priest’s residence and then remodeled the old rectory into the Parish Center with offices and meeting rooms. Fr. Ed worked with other churches in Silverton and the highlight every year was the Palm Sunday procession through town and a joint ecumenical service. Fr. Ed rode his bike everywhere, including to the Hospital and to visit the homebound. He taught all the RCIA classes and was beloved by the participants. Fr. Ed was also remembered as having a superb Irish singing voice.

Fr. Cathal Brennan again became Pastor in July 1998 and served for one year. Fr. Brennan was well known in the parish from when he served earlier. He took seriously his role as Pastor even though he knew he was just filling in until a permanent Pastor would be named.

Fr. Cosmas White, OSB, came to our parish in late August, 1999. Fr. Cosmas was the first Benedictine to be named pastor at St. Paul. Mt. Angel Abbey exchanged with the Archdiocese, St. Agatha parish in Portland for St. Paul Parish in Silverton. This allowed the monk pastor to be closer to the Abbey and also allowed the parish to be more of a pastoral training place for seminarians. Fr. Cosmas jumped in immediately, wanting to get to know everyone at St. Paul's. He enjoyed going to the homes of parishioners for meals. He loved his big orange cat, Damien, who used to come into the church during Mass. He would slowly walk up the aisle, and then lie down in front of the altar. At first it was surprising, but then we all became used to his presence.

Fr. Cosmas introduced the Disciples in Mission program in the parish. A very large number of parishioners were involved in small faith sharing groups and helped many people get to know one another and grow in their faith. Fr. Cosmas was pastor for less than three years.

Fr. Joseph Wood, OSB, was named priest in residence in June 2002. Fr. Joseph was the retired abbot of Mt. Angel Abbey but he was in good health and wanted to be involved in pastoral ministry. His only stipulation was that because he was retired he would not attend meetings, and so Fr. Dave Zegar, pastor of St. Luke’s Parish in Woodburn, was named Administrator for one year, overseeing the finances and administration of the parish. Fr. Joseph was deeply loved by the parishioners. He was a great story-teller and had a very infectious laugh. People liked his homilies because he often made them personal with stories from his own life. Fr. Joseph also was very involved in visiting the sick and homebound. He remained in the parish until December 2011.

Fr. William Hammelman, OSB, was named pastor in July 2003. He actually arrived in the parish at the beginning of August after spending some time in Mexico learning Spanish. Fr. William soon became aware that Silverton was growing very rapidly. He worked with the parish councils to talk about where we were going as a Parish. It was decided to form a Task Force to look at long-range planning. Some experts were brought in to help in the process, especially to look at the demographics of the area and the city plans for the future. During the process the Archdiocese said we needed to have a Master Plan, and so a plan was developed and presented to the parish. Most people thought it was too elaborate and expensive. It was finally decided to present the idea of a new Parish Hall / Center to the parish. Most people seemed to be in favor, however when a feasibility study was conducted it was determined that there was not enough support to finance the facility. The task force then looked to expanding the Church, hoping there would be more support for this project. Plans were drawn up but there continued to be substantial opposition, especially because of the cost. At this same time the economy collapsed and almost all building in Silverton came to a halt.

Fr. William was instrumental in reviving the Silverton Ministerial Association, and the local pastors have been working together. The First Christian Church began a community meal program when the economy collapsed and this weekly meal program has continued with several churches helping out.

Fr. William has worked closely with both parish councils during his tenure. Through the work of the Administrative Council and a maintenance committee many improvements and upgrades were done in the parish. The parking lot was paved and expanded, the church was painted and a new roof was put on the Church, Parish Center and School. The Pastoral Council has continued to look at improving our ministry to the youth and adults. It is now involved in future planning.

Appendix:

Deacon Loris Buccola:

Loris Buccola was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by Archbishop Robert Dwyer in January 1974 and assigned to St. Paul Catholic Church in Silverton. Loris was the first Permanent Deacon in the Archdiocese and that remained true for many years. Besides serving in the parish, Loris taught at Mount Angel Seminary. In 1983 he received a Master’s degree in counseling psychology from Lewis and Clark College. Loris provided counseling for many people both in Silverton and Salem. He was instrumental in establishing the Salem Pastoral Counseling Center. In January 2000 Loris was diagnosed with ALS, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” Loris had a famous line about the disease: it is “deadly but not serious.” Throughout the progression of the disease, Loris continued to teach and do counseling in his home. Loris was able to accept with a generous heart the many people who helped in his care. This proved to be an incredible spiritual experience both for Loris and all those caring for him. Also in 2003 he began a weekly reflection on the Sunday readings. These were published in the Parish Bulletin and sent to numerous friends by email. Most of the reflections were done with a voice activated computer. Loris actually completed the full three year cycle and had begun a second edition. These reflections were later published in a book Eternity is the Reality. Loris died on December 7, 2006.

Hispanic Ministry

Hispanic Ministry at St. Paul’s began in 1992 when Fr. Ed Coleman became pastor and decided to have a Spanish Mass every other weekend. It soon necessitated a change to every week. He asked Juanita Constante to help pass the word. Juanita at the time was a volunteer at St. Mary’s parish in Mt. Angel but she agreed to assist. Juanita also recruited some seminarians to help with music. When Fr. Cosmas became pastor in 1999, he hired Juanita to organize the Hispanic ministry. She started a religious education program and did preparation for all the sacraments. She also established and headed a Hispanic youth group. Juanita went to all the conferences in the area and usually brought others with her so that soon she had some trained catechists. In 2003 Sr. Rocio Moreno was in the process of joining the Benedictine Sisters in Mt. Angel. Sr. Rocio was a teacher and principal in Mexico but felt called to work with the Mexican community in the United States. Juanita recruited her to help here at St. Paul parish while she was learning English. Sr. Rocio volunteered for two years and then was hired by the parish to work in Religious Education and Hispanic Ministry. Sr. Rocio made great progress in training Catechists and seeing to the on-going education of adults. The community has grown rapidly and now makes up more than a third of the parish.

St. Paul's Cemetery

St. Paul's Cemetery is located along Hobart Road just outside of Silverton. It was obtained by Father John J. Walsh in 1951. It began in 1947 when he asked parishioners Winfield and Gertrude Brandt to donate a 4.10 acre piece of land for that purpose. At the time, it was used by the Brandts as pastureland. They willingly donated it and a survey was quickly undertaken. Once the survey was accomplished, a problem with the lawyer delayed the making of a deed until August 1951. Then, due to discrepancies on the deed and the original survey, a new survey was made in 1953 and a new deed made. Finally, in 1953, the Cemetery's deed was made out and recorded in the Marion County Courthouse.[xvii] Today, it remains a final resting place for the faithful members of St. Paul's congregation.

The Future

We are proud of our one hundred year history and we look forward to the future with great hope. Silverton is again experiencing growth with many new houses under construction. Also, many young families are taking up residence here. The challenge for both the Administrative and Pastoral Councils will be planning for the future and all are excited about this. So we give thanks to God for our past and ask God’s blessings for the future.

[i] "Chapel Car Goes to Silverton" The Catholic Sentinel, 16 June 1910: 1.

[ii] Mark Bliven, "A Priest for All Seasons: Fr. Hugh McDevitt Part II", Oregon Catholic Historical Society 24 no.2 (2011): 9.

[iii] Bliven, 3-11.

[iv] "New Church Dedicated" The Catholic Sentinel 2 August 1914: 8.

[v] Emily Scott, Early Silverton (Silverton: Mark Twain Press, 1975), 13.

[vi] Bishop Leipzig, The Catholic Sentinel, 5 August 1920: 1.

[vii] "Dedication of St. Paul's Church" Silverton Appeal, 19 November 1920: 1.

[viii] Sr. Alberta Dieker, personal interview, 10 April 2013.

[ix] Loris A. Buccola and Gertrude Brandt, "Short History of St. Paul Parish" St. Paul's Church archives, 3.

[x] Patrick Fogarty, "St. Paul's Catholic Church" St. Paul's Church archives, 12 January 2005, 2.

[xi] Buccola and Brandt, 8.

[xii] "Chaplain Recalled in New Shrine" Catholic Sentinel, 2 June 1989: 1.

[xiii] "Notre Dame Alumnus" University of Notre Dame Press, 24, no. 1(1946):10.

[xiv]Buccola and Brandt, 11.

[xv] ibid.

[xvi]ibid.

[xvii] Miss Patricia Brandt to Fr. William Hammelman, O.S.B., personal correspondence, 29 December 2004.