St. Francis, Benson to celebrate 125 years!

Benson, MN - The parish community of the Church of St. Francis in Benson, MN will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the parish on the weekend of January 20- 21, 2007. A social gathering with photos, a power point presentation, entertainment and the sharing of stories and memories is scheduled for Saturday evening at the Benson Golf Course. Bishop John C. Nienstedt will preside at the Anniversary Mass on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. Following Mass a dinner is planned along with the showing of the power point presentation of our parish history at the Benson Bowler.

A bit of history:

St. Francis Church was organized in December of 1881 and was incorporated in early 1882. At that time the parish consisted of 17 members and gathered at the home of Mr. Firmin Bedard for Mass until the first church was built and completed in the summer of 1882. The parish was a mission of St. Malachy Church in Clontarf until the appointment of Fr. Patrick Shea as the first resident pastor in 1898. The present church structure was built in 1917 under the guidance of Fr. Shea and was dedicated on September 3, 1918. St. Francis Xavier School was built in 1952-1953 and began the first year of school in 1953-1954 with 140 students in grades 1-6.

Since July 1, 1978, St. Francis, Benson has been part of the Catholic Area Parishes. In cooperation with the parishes of St. Bridget in DeGraff, St. Malachy in Clontarf, Sacred Heart in Murdock and the Oratory of the Visitation in Danvers, the needs for the education of our children, youth and adults, outreach to the needy and the celebration of the sacraments are met through shared ministry and area councils and committees. Today, St. Francis Church is made up of 530 households, approximately 1,379 members.

The theme for the 125th anniversary is "We remember, We celebrate, We believe", taken from the refrain of Marty Haugen’s song; "We Remember", copyright 1980, GIA publications.

As a parish community we will remember our ancestors in the faith who made great sacrifices to establish and support our church through the ages.

As a parish community we will celebrate the countless lives that have been touched through prayer, the reception of the sacraments, the outreach to the needy and the education of our children, youth and adults.

As a parish community we will renew our belief that through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, the Church of St. Francis will continue to be a people known as the Body of Christ and a place we will always call home.