History

At a time when ethnic parishes were established to accommodate the surge of immigrants to the area, a small group of German-speaking Catholics living in Shrewsbury Park requested and received permission to form St. Michael the Archangel Parish. Permission was granted May 31, 1895. The Murdoch Mansion and its surrounding land were and remain the location of the parish buildings.

Father F. Brand was named the first pastor of St. Michael the Archangel and immediately Mass was offered July 28, 1895, on the parish grounds. On Sept. 2, 1895, the Ursuline Sisters opened the parochial school with 46 students. One Aug. 30, 1909, the School Sisters of Notre Dame arrived to teach in the school and remained with the parish until July 2016.

In 1897, a new frame church was dedicated and, in spite that the number of families remained small (35 in the next 12 years), the people of St. Michael the Archangel supported the parish generously. On July 11, 1900, Father Charles Einig was appointed pastor. Despite a meager congregation, Father Einig greatly reduced the debt of the parish, and school attendance grew to 75 pupils.

March 3, 1909, Father Joseph Preuss was appointed pastor by Archbishop John J. Glennon, and he remained pastor until his retirement in 1953. Many additions were made during that time. By the end of 1909, a rectory was built, and by July 1910, the expansion of the wooden church was complete. In 1916 a new four-room brick school building was completed and dedicated by Archbishop Glennon.

The old stone mansion was the home of the School Sisters until June 21, 1920, when lightning struck a telephone wire, igniting the roof of the building on fire. A convent was built and completed by Holy Week 1921, and the Sisters took possession on Easter Monday. Over the following 10 years, two additional classrooms, a boiler room and modern washrooms were added, and the parish continued to grow.

The parish broke ground for a new stone church on Nov. 3, 1939. It was dedicated by Archbishop Glennon on Sep. 29, 1940, which today remains our present church. Louis Preuss, the architect and brother of the pastor, traveled to Shrewsbury, England, to authenticate his vision of a church that would be appropriate for Shrewsbury, Missouri. Not only was he successful in designing and building our beautiful church, but his plans have been used to build other churches in St. Louis.

As the student body grew to 800 students, a new school was built and dedicated by Archbishop Joseph Ritter on Dec. 4, 1955. A new convent was built in 1962, and the parish center, with gymnasium was added in 1966. Keeping with the tradition of Catholic education as an integral part of St. Michael the Archangel, beginning in the 2012 school year, St. Michael the Archangel School became a part of Holy Cross Academy.

As part of the centennial celebration of St. Michael the Archangel, a time capsule was buried at the northeast corner of the church, encasing updated history of the parish, including the year 1995.

Today, St. Michael the Archangel boats some 1,500 parishioners from 550 families. In 2020, we celebrated our 125th anniversary of the parish. We continue to have the same vision as our founding mothers and fathers. Though we have long since become an all-inclusive parish, we maintain the same goals of those in the past. Our mission is to “enhance the spiritual growth of our parish community, reach out to in welcome to others and share the vision of the Catholic Church.”