About St. Ann · Marienville, Pennsylvania
St. Ann Church is a small Roman Catholic mission church located at 101 Hemlock Street in Marienville, Forest County, Pennsylvania, in the Diocese of Erie. Established in 1893, St. Ann historically served as a mission of St. Mary Parish in nearby Crown. In October 2023, St. Ann was reconfigured along with St. Mary (Crown), St. Joseph (Lucinda), and St. Michael (Fryburg) into a four-parish partnership now known as the 'Watch 4 Deer Catholic' community, and St. Ann's status changed from a Sunday-mission to a secondary church without mission status. Today St. Ann no longer offers Sunday Mass but remains available for weekday Mass, funerals, and weddings, while the broader partnership sustains parish life in the rural Allegheny region.
- Established
- 1893
- Patron
- St. Ann (Saint Anne)
- Rector
- Very Rev. Brandon Kleckner, VF
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie
Why belong here
St. Ann is part of the Watch 4 Deer Catholic partnership, four rural parishes in Forest and Jefferson counties that share priests, faith-formation programs, and a unified bulletin. While St. Ann itself now offers only one weekday Mass (Thursday evenings), parishioners can attend Sunday Masses at St. Mary (Crown), St. Joseph (Lucinda), or St. Michael (Fryburg), and they remain served by the parish school, religious education program, and sacramental preparation led by the partnership staff. For Catholics in the Marienville area it is a familiar, generations-old worship space — founded in 1893 — still available for funerals, weddings, and Thursday Mass, and tied into the wider community life of the partnership.
Mass times at St. Ann
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday at 4:15 PM (older parish schedule for St. Ann Mission)
Adoration times
- Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament before morning Masses at 7:30 AM (at partnership parishes)
Overview & Identity
St. Ann is a small Catholic church in Marienville, Forest County, Pennsylvania, under the Diocese of Erie. Founded in 1893, it was for generations a mission of St. Mary Parish in Crown. Following a 2023 pastoral reorganization, St. Ann is now part of a four-parish partnership with St. Mary (Crown), St. Joseph (Lucinda), and St. Michael (Fryburg), together known as the 'Watch 4 Deer Catholic' community. St. Ann itself is used for Thursday evening Mass and for funerals and weddings.
History
St. Ann Church was established in 1893 to serve Catholic families in Marienville and the surrounding forest country of northwestern Pennsylvania. For more than a century it functioned as a mission of St. Mary Parish in Crown, sharing clergy and pastoral care with that larger rural parish. In October 2023 the Diocese of Erie formally partnered four Forest–Jefferson county parishes — St. Ann, St. Mary, St. Joseph, and St. Michael — into a single pastoral family. As part of this change St. Ann lost its mission status and ceased regular Sunday Mass, although it remains an active worship space for Thursday Mass, funerals, and weddings.
- Founded: 1893
- Original mother parish: St. Mary, Crown
- 2023: entered four-parish Watch 4 Deer Catholic partnership
- 2023: Sunday Mass discontinued at St. Ann
Sacraments & Devotions
Sacramental preparation (Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Marriage) and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults are coordinated across the Watch 4 Deer Catholic partnership. Confessions are heard on Saturday afternoons before the Vigil Masses. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is offered before the weekday morning Masses at the partner parishes.
- Confession: Saturday afternoons (3:00 PM at St. Joseph/St. Michael; 5:00 PM at St. Mary, Crown)
- Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: 7:30 AM before morning Masses
- Funerals and weddings can still be scheduled at St. Ann
Clergy & Staff
St. Ann is pastored by the priests of the Watch 4 Deer Catholic partnership, who serve all four parishes. Day-to-day parish operations are coordinated from the partnership office in Lucinda. Faith-formation staff serve the entire partnership.
- Pastor: Very Rev. Brandon Kleckner, VF
- Parochial Vicar: Rev. Chijioke (John) Nwankwo
- Pastoral Minister / Parochial Vicar: Rev. Cory L. Pius
- Deacon: Michael Dittman
- Business Manager: Lisa Carroll
- Parish Secretary: Julie Lencer
- Religious Education Leader: Sheila Martz
- Earlier pastors listed for the partnership: Rev. Michael Polinek; Rev. Christopher M. Barnes
The Watch 4 Deer Catholic Partnership
In October 2023 the Diocese of Erie united St. Ann (Marienville), St. Mary (Crown), St. Joseph (Lucinda), and St. Michael (Fryburg) into a single pastoral partnership known as Watch 4 Deer Catholic. The four churches share clergy, staff, religious education, a joint bulletin, and a common website at watch4deercatholic.church. St. Joseph School in Lucinda serves as the Catholic elementary school for the wider region.
- Partnership name: Watch 4 Deer Catholic
- Joint website: watch4deercatholic.church
- Member parishes: St. Ann (Marienville); St. Mary (Crown); St. Joseph (Lucinda); St. Michael (Fryburg)
- Partnership school: St. Joseph School, Lucinda
Contact & Location
St. Ann sits on Hemlock Street in the small borough of Marienville, in the heart of the Allegheny National Forest region. The parish mailing address routes through the partnership office in Lucinda. Visitors can find the church by taking Spruce Street west from Route 66.
- Street address: 101 Hemlock St., Marienville, PA 16239
- Mailing address: PO Box 9, Lucinda, PA 16235
- Parish office phone: (814) 744-9919; partnership office (814) 226-7288
- Email: [email protected]
- Legacy website: stmarycrown.com
- Current partnership website: watch4deercatholic.church