About Sacred Heart (Greenleaf) · Greenleaf, Kansas
Sacred Heart Parish is a small Roman Catholic parish in Greenleaf, Kansas, situated in the rural Washington County cluster of the Diocese of Salina. The parish was founded in 1890 and is one of three linked Catholic communities in the county, alongside St. John the Baptist in Hanover and St. Augustine in Washington, which operate as the Washington County Catholic Community. Sacred Heart is served by Fr. David Metz as pastor with Deacon Wayne Talbot assisting. The parish gathers for Mass on Tuesday mornings and Saturday evenings, offering a quiet, traditional rhythm of rural Catholic life in north-central Kansas.
- Established
- 1890
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Fr. David Metz
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salina
Why belong here
Sacred Heart is the historic Catholic heart of Washington County, Kansas, where Mass has been celebrated since before 1880 and the parish has ministered continuously since 1890. As part of the three-parish Washington County Catholic Community, it offers the rhythm of a small-town Catholic life: a Saturday Vigil Mass at 4:30 pm, a Tuesday morning weekday Mass, and confession before each Mass or by appointment. The parish shares Fr. David Metz and Deacon Wayne Talbot with sister parishes St. John the Baptist in Hanover and St. Augustine in Washington, and gathers for community programs such as Totus Tuus summer youth catechesis and First Saturday devotions — a faithful place for rural families to belong and worship.
Mass times at Sacred Heart (Greenleaf)
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 15 minutes before each Mass
- By appointment
History of Sacred Heart Parish
Catholic worship in the Greenleaf area began in 1868, when Father Joseph Rimmele, a missionary priest based at St. Mary's Indian Mission in Pottawatomie County, began visiting settlers' homes. In 1880 local Catholics bought a schoolhouse that had been moved into Greenleaf in 1877 and remodeled it as their first church, dedicated to St. Mary of the Rosary. By 1889 the congregation had outgrown the schoolhouse and began building a new church, which they named Sacred Heart. That building — repaired after a 1902 lightning strike, refaced and enlarged in 1922, and given a hand-dug parish-hall basement in 1934 — remains the parish's spiritual home. Sacred Heart became the mother parish of Washington County, with missions that eventually grew into St. John the Baptist in Hanover and St. Augustine in Washington.
The Building and Parish Hall
The Sacred Heart church building has been continuously shaped by its parishioners across more than a century. Construction began in 1889; the church was repaired and remodeled in 1902 after being struck by lightning. A rectory was built in 1904 and replaced in 1916. When the brick veneer was found unsafe in 1922, parishioners enlarged and refaced the structure. Then in 1934, during the Great Depression, parishioners themselves dug a 30-by-70-foot basement beneath the church to create a parish hall — a remarkable testament to rural Catholic self-reliance.
Clergy and Staff
Sacred Heart is served as part of the Washington County Catholic Community, a three-parish cluster. The current pastor is Fr. David Metz, who also serves St. John the Baptist in Hanover and St. Augustine in Washington. Assisting him is Deacon Wayne Talbot, who serves as Pastoral Assistant across the cluster. Sacramental records (baptisms, funerals) continue to be celebrated at Sacred Heart by Fr. Metz and Deacon Talbot.
- Fr. David Metz — Pastor
- Deacon Wayne Talbot — Pastoral Assistant
Washington County Catholic Community
Sacred Heart is one of three parishes in the Washington County Catholic Community, a rural cluster in the Diocese of Salina. The community shares clergy, faith-formation programs, and special devotions across the three parishes.
- Sacred Heart — Greenleaf (founded 1890)
- St. John the Baptist — Hanover
- St. Augustine — Washington (mission founded 1946, became parish 1961)
Devotions and Special Programs
Across the Washington County Catholic Community, several seasonal and devotional programs enrich parish life beyond the regular Mass schedule.
- First Saturday Masses — held at St. John the Baptist, Hanover, 8:20 am, May through September
- Totus Tuus — diocesan summer youth catechesis program, hosted in the cluster (typically Hanover) for one week each summer
- Mass Intentions — available for the living and deceased; suggested stipend $10 per intention
Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
A Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery is associated with the parish in Washington County. Long-time parishioners of the Greenleaf community are buried there, including members of multi-generation Catholic farm families who have worshipped at Sacred Heart for more than a century.
Contact and Visiting
Sacred Heart Parish is located at 143 Main Street in Greenleaf, Kansas (ZIP 66943). The parish shares its website and bulletins with the Washington County Catholic Community at washcountycc.net (sites.google.com/view/washcountycc), where current Mass times, bulletins, and announcements for all three parishes are posted.
- Address: 143 Main St., Greenleaf, KS 66943
- Cluster website: http://washcountycc.net
- Diocesan listing: https://salinadiocese.org/parish/sacred-heart-parish-greenleaf/