About St. Augustine · Footville, Wisconsin
St. Augustine Catholic Church is a small Roman Catholic parish in the village of Footville, Rock County, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of Madison. The parish was established in 1869 and has long served the farming and small-town communities of the area from its location at 280 Haberdale Drive. As of September 20, 2025, St. Augustine was canonically united with four neighboring parishes — St. Joseph in Edgerton, St. Paul in Evansville, Holy Mother of Consolation in Oregon, and St. Ann in Stoughton — to form the new St. Cletus Parish, named both for an early pope and for Bishop Cletus O'Donnell, Madison's second bishop. Today the Footville church continues to welcome worshippers with a weekly Sunday Mass and serves as one of five worship sites in the merged St. Cletus Parish.
- Established
- 1869
- Patron
- St. Augustine
- Rector
- Fr. David Wanish (Pastor of St. Cletus Parish, installed October 26, 2025; Fr. Wanish previously served as Parochial Administrator of all five merging parishes including St. Augustine, Footville)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Madison
Why belong here
St. Augustine offers a small, welcoming Catholic community in the heart of rural Rock County, with a single Sunday Mass that is the spiritual anchor of the week. As one of five worship sites of the new St. Cletus Parish, Footville parishioners enjoy the close-knit feel of a country parish together with the wider resources, clergy, and faith-formation opportunities of a five-church pastorate. Visitors will find a parish that has faithfully served the Footville area since 1869 — a place where Catholic life is lived simply, locally, and together.
Mass times at St. Augustine
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 8:00 AM – 8:25 AM (St. Augustine, Footville)
Adoration times
- Eucharistic Adoration is offered periodically; consult the St. Cletus Parish website for the current schedule at St. Augustine, Footville
Parish Identity and Patron
St. Augustine Catholic Church in Footville, Wisconsin, is named for St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430), one of the great Doctors of the Church and author of the Confessions and the City of God. His feast day is celebrated on August 28. As of September 20, 2025, the parish is one of five worship sites of the new St. Cletus Parish in the Diocese of Madison.
History of St. Augustine Parish
St. Augustine's was established in 1869 to serve the Catholic families of the small Rock County community of Footville and the surrounding farmland. A centennial history of the parish — "Our First 100 Years: The History of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Footville, Wisconsin, 1869-1969" by John B. Walsh, published by Journal Printing in 1969 — records a century of worship, sacraments and parish life. For many years the Footville mission was dependent on priests stationed in nearby Evansville, with the Footville parish sharing in the support of the Evansville rectory. The most colorful chapter of that era belongs to Father William McDermott (serving from 1911), who, lacking any train that could carry him between the two towns in time for Sunday Mass, was provided with a handcar by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad and pumped his way from the Evansville depot to the Footville depot each Sunday — a story still told in the parish's local memory. In the 21st century, the parish joined the multi-church St. Cletus Pastorate and the Diocese of Madison's Go Make Disciples initiative. On September 20, 2025, St. Augustine was canonically merged with St. Joseph (Edgerton), St. Paul (Evansville), Holy Mother of Consolation (Oregon) and St. Ann (Stoughton) to form St. Cletus Parish, and Fr. David Wanish was installed as its first pastor on October 26, 2025.
- Founded: 1869
- Centennial history published 1969: Walsh, John B., Our First 100 Years: The History of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Footville, Wisconsin, 1869-1969 (Journal Printing, 1969)
- St. Augustine historically served by priests of St. Paul's, Evansville (Father Fitzgerald, Father William McDermott and successors)
- Joined St. Cletus Pastorate, then canonically merged into St. Cletus Parish on September 20, 2025
St. Cletus Parish and the 2025 Merger
St. Augustine is now one of five worship sites of St. Cletus Parish, a merged Roman Catholic parish in Dane and Rock counties decreed by Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison and effective September 20, 2025. The other worship sites are St. Joseph in Edgerton, St. Paul in Evansville, Holy Mother of Consolation in Oregon, and St. Ann in Stoughton. The parish also includes St. Ann School in Stoughton. The name St. Cletus honors two figures: St. Cletus, the third pope (and a martyr mentioned in the Roman Canon), and Bishop Cletus O'Donnell, the second Bishop of Madison who served from 1967 to 1992. The pastorate's logo, designed in-house with Father Tom, features a martyr's palm frond and a crozier modeled on Bishop O'Donnell's.
- St. Joseph Parish, Edgerton
- St. Paul Parish, Evansville
- St. Augustine Parish, Footville
- Holy Mother of Consolation Parish, Oregon
- St. Ann Parish and St. Ann School, Stoughton
- Merged parish named for St. Cletus (third pope) and Bishop Cletus O'Donnell (Bishop of Madison 1967–1992)
- First pastor: Fr. David Wanish, installed October 26, 2025 at Holy Mother of Consolation, Oregon
Clergy
The clergy of the merged St. Cletus Parish — who together serve St. Augustine in Footville and the other four worship sites — are listed in the Diocese of Madison's priest-appointment announcement of September 20, 2025. They were installed in their roles on October 26, 2025 at Holy Mother of Consolation in Oregon, with Bishop Donald J. Hying presiding.
- Fr. David Wanish — Pastor, St. Cletus Parish (previously Parochial Administrator of the five merging parishes)
- Fr. Randy Budnar — Parochial Vicar, St. Cletus Parish
- Fr. John Bosco Pudhota — Parochial Vicar, St. Cletus Parish
- Deacon Mark Priniski — Parish Deacon, St. Cletus Parish
- Prior pastors of the constituent parishes and retired priests present at the installation included Msgr. Gerard Healy, Fr. Gary Wankerl, Fr. Kevin Dooley, Fr. Raymond Dischler, and Fr. Tom Kelley
Go Make Disciples — Evangelization Initiative
In 2021, Bishop Donald Hying launched Go Make Disciples across the Diocese of Madison to mark the diocese's 75th anniversary. The initiative is a response to the fact that in any U.S. diocese, roughly 70% of baptized Catholics are not at Mass on a given Sunday, and it seeks to evangelize with fresh boldness. Within the St. Cletus Pastorate (now Parish), five parish families host small groups, retreats and discussion courses on a variety of topics throughout the year. The offerings vary by season; parishioners are encouraged to contact the St. Cletus Pastorate Office at (608) 873-7633 or visit the Go Make Disciples page on the parish website for current opportunities.
- Diocese-wide initiative launched in 2021 by Bishop Donald Hying for the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Madison
- Five parish families across the St. Cletus Pastorate host small groups, retreats and discussion courses
- More information: St. Cletus Pastorate Office, (608) 873-7633
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Fitzgeraldcirca 1909–1911
Pastor of St. Paul's, Evansville, who also served St. Augustine and helped the Footville congregation build a new church around 1910; resigned in 1911 to continue studies at Catholic University, Washington, D.C.
- Father William McDermottfrom 1911
Succeeded Father Fitzgerald at St. Paul's, Evansville, and also served St. Augustine, Footville. Famously traveled the Sunday Evansville–Footville run on a handcar supplied by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.