St Peter Interparish history

The history of St Peter Church and Catholicism in Jefferson City can be traced back to just ten years after the founding of the capital city in 1821.

The first Catholic Church in Jefferson City was then constructed in 1845 & 46 under Father Helias, on the present site of St Peter School.

In 1854, St Peter School was established with the construction of a small brick school near the church.

The structure was a 30 by 22 foot oaken-board building built by 18 men from the forest wilderness that comprised Jefferson City at the time. It was built of brick and dedicated in 1856 on a plot of land purchased for $600.

The first four sisters arrived on January 6, 1868 and the following Monday school opened with an enrollment of 38 pupils.

In 1872, a boy's school was constructed where the current school stands, but as enrollment grew rapidly, a larger facility was planned.

The brick church served its function until 1881 when Msgr.

2, 1883, when Monsignor Hoog celebrated the first Mass.

The baptismal font, purchased in 1888, was restored to its original beauty.

In 1902, three years before the hospital opened, Msgr.

In 1911, during the fire at the State Capitol building, which sits literally across the street from our parish home, the Missouri State House of Representatives used St Peter’s School library to conduct business for the remainder of that legislative session.

The foundation stone shows the year 1915 and is plainly seen by the steps as one enters the church.

The temporary structure was razed after the new Capitol Building was completed and occupied in 1924.

In 1931, St Peter High School was started and, shortly thereafter, the Christian Brothers arrived.

After the Selinger Centre was constructed in 1937, the assembly hall on the second floor of the school that had been called St Peter's Hall was converted into a large library and two classrooms, and in more recent year a computer lab was added.

The high school served until the founding of Helias Interparish High School in 1955.

When Helias Interparish High School was completed in 1956, St Peter High School closed.

Another history making event for St Peter took place in 1962 when it became the church of departure for the first group of diocesan missionaries to Peru commissioned by Bishop Marling.

Anthony J. O’Connell, who was ordained here in 1963, would become the first priest of the diocese named a bishop.

Vogelweid in the 1950's and was named in his honor in 1983. Thus in September, 1964, the Vogelweid Learning Center began.

Still another historical event for St Peter Church was being the site, on Holy Thursday, 1965, for the first Concelebrated Mass in the diocese.

The old church became a social hall for the parishioners until it was destroyed by fire in 1969.

The parish hall was built in the early 1970's during the pastorate of Fr.

The baldachin, which originally hung over the ambo, but was separated from the pulpit in the 1982 renovation, was moved from the wall on which it hung to the pillar which is directly next to the ambo, thus restoring the original unity of the baldachin with the ambo.

St PETER PARISH MUSEUM, begun 1983

Central air conditioning and a restroom were added, and a new roof was installed.On July 1, 1985 by assignment of Bishop Michael F. McAuliffe Father John Fischer, a native of Tipton, Missouri, became the new (the thirteenth) pastor of St Peter Parish.

Also in 1995 the Franciscan Sisters of Mary celebrated the Ninetieth Anniversary of the founding of their hospital here in Jefferson City, Missouri.

There is no substitute for an ecclesiology which is both ancient and modern in the fullest sense (Built of Living StonesUSCCB, 2000). The values of beauty, mystery, and awe guided the work of the Liturgical Design Consultant, Mr.

The work of the newly completed renovation was celebrated in a mass with Bishop Gaydos on December 21, 2002.

In 2005, a large addition to the school was begun, including several classrooms, a cafeteria, multipurpose facility/gymnasium, elevator, band room, art room and restrooms.