ST. SABINA CATHOLIC COMMUNITY HISTORY
HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE: On March 3, 1868, Fr. John J. Hogan was made the bishop of the newly formed Diocese of St. Joseph, which comprised about a fifth of the State of Missouri and included Cass County. Bishop John J. Hogan wrote to the Archbishop on April 16, 1879, and recommended that he make Kansas City a See and that he be transferred to Kansas City, and be made Administrator of St. Joseph. His request was granted in 1880, with Kansas City now a Diocese which stretched from the Missouri River to the Arkansas Border. Bishop Hogan moved to Kansas City on September 10, 1880, and set up a mission circuit, traveling by horse, carriage or railroad in all sorts of weather, enduring hot, brutal summers and cold, frigid winters. At that time there were 42 churches, 30 priests, and 12,000 Catholics. In August of 1956 the Diocese of Kansas City and the Diocese of St. Joseph were combined into the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO and just a month later Archbishop O’Hara died on September 11, 1956, and Bishop Cody became the Bishop.
Belton had been part of a mission area served by Fr. Donnelly and Fr. Kennedy out of Independence, MO since the 1860’s. Bishop O’Hara started building some 21 mission churches in 1943. Most were given a $5,000 chapel, partly funded by the Extension Society of Chicago. Belton never got a mission chapel and the faithful leaped from building to building as follows: Sep. 10, 1944 Closed Conoco gas station owned by Dan McGrew on Highway 71 (now Hwy 58)
Nov. 1, 1944 White Way Café and Liquor on Highway 71 (now Hwy 58)
Mar. 9, 1945 Parish named Saint Sabina; Msgr. Crowell as pastor
July 15, 1945 Purchased 6 lots at 3rd & Herschel for $600
July 7, 1946 Belton Public school auditorium
Aug. 8, 1948 Dedication of Army barracks church on Herschel by Bishop O’Hara; Msgr. Crowell as pastor.
1973 Diocese sold 13.9 of the 15 acres in Lacy Estates intended as site for church and school to Roger Maier
1973 Diocese bought 5 acres at 700 Trevis for $12,000 for church and rectory from Roger Maier
May 12, 1974 Dedication of Trevis Church and rectory by Bishop Helmsing, pastor Fr. Roger Miller.
April 10, 1989 Bishop Sullivan dedicated Gym and Education Wing; pastor Msgr. John F. Huhmann
1992 Began planning for new 2003 Church building with pastor Fr. Joe Matt
May 29, 1995 Purchased 10.2 acres ($127,500) from Lee and Gertrude Willimetz on west side of Church
June 9, 2002 Bishop Boland and Fr. Joe Matt broke ground for new Church
July 3, 2003 Bishop Boland dedicated new Church with pastor Fr. Joe Matt
Harrisonville, MO obtained mission status in 1884, with Mass said whenever a priest was available, sometimes only once or twice a year for all of the Cass County Catholics. As families moved from Harrisonville, leaving only 4 families by 1931, Catholics from Belton and Raymore went to Pleasant Hill to St. Bridget’s for Mass or St. Catherine’s in the Hickman Mills area of Kansas City. Fr. Stanley Loncaric of Holy Rosary in Wea, Kansas wrote to the Kansas City, MO Chancellor to request ministerial services for 4 Missouri families, 3 of whom had been attending the Kansas church for 40 years. Harrisonville became a parish in 1941, but didn’t dedicate their new $5,000 mission chapel until 1946. Bishop Edwin R. O’Hara assigned Monsignor Thomas J. Crowell to begin a mission church in Belton, MO in 1944, only 3 years after Harrisonville became a parish. Msgr. Crowell continued to live in Harrisonville until 1951 when he was transferred.
Belton’s First Mass: The first Mass in Belton was held on September 10, 1944, in a closed Conoco Filling Station on old 71 Highway (now 58 Highway) at Walnut, owned by Dan McGrew of Harrisonville. With 60 congregants from some 13 families, the service station space was quickly outgrown. On November 1, 1944, the fledgling church moved down the street to the White Way Café/tavern/liquor store/beer joint/honky-tonk at old 71 Highway and Chestnut, owned by Mrs. William Black. Equipped with pews, they were ready for Mass on Sunday, November 5th. The Altar Society was started in the home of Mr. & Mrs. W.O. Hassler on September 9, 1944, with 14 women present.
In the early part of 1945, the Old City Hall at 512 Main Street was considered as a potential church home, but there were too many repairs needed to justify the sale price. That same year Henry Mucke, who owned a blacksmith shop at 511 Main, began a campaign to raise funds to purchase land on which to build a church. Both Catholics and non-Catholics contributed to the fund. A very generous donation came from James Green, with the request that the church be named in honor of St. Sabina, which was also the name of his late wife. Bishop O’Hara granted the patronage of St. Sabina to the mission church on March 9, 1945.
Sacraments: Baptism records start October 22, 1944, with the baptism of Robert Earl Foote, who was baptized at Wea, KS. The first baptism in the mission church of Belton was of Linda Ann Plunkett on December 16, 1945, who is the daughter of current parishioner, Betty Arnold. The first Confirmation was on April 1, 1946, for Vernon Mucke, James Mucke, and T.J. Schmedding. The first choir director was Mrs. F.L. Hellings in 1949, and choir members were Donna Mucke, Maxine Mucke, Florence Blanton, Patty Hellings, and Mary Ann Hellings. The original First Communion class received First Communion on April 29, 1951. The children who received their First Communion were Julius Bax, Phillip Blanton, Barbara Mackendanz, Frank Mackendanz, and James Hellings. The first marriage recorded was between Kenneth A. Webber and Ruth A. Miller on January 15, 1946.
The Diocese purchased 6 vacant lots at Third and Herschel from Ruby Nell Liter for $600 on July 21, 1945. Bishop O’Hara visited the site on January 15, 1946, and ordered the erection of a basement church. Before the structure could be completed, the café owner needed the full use of her building. Two non-Catholics, Russell Turk, owner of Turk’s Grocery at 320 Main, and George Spear, editor and publisher of the Belton Star-Herald, and later, Mayor of Belton, helped the growing mission get permission to start using the Belton Public School auditorium on July 7, 1946. By then there were 29 families in attendance.