About St. Mary of the Lake · Silver Cliff, Wisconsin
St. Mary of the Lake – Silver Cliff Chapel is a small Catholic mission station in the unincorporated community of Silver Cliff, Marinette County, Wisconsin, in the heavily forested cutover region of northeastern Wisconsin. It is officially listed by the Diocese of Green Bay as a mission chapel of St. Mary of the Lake Parish in Lakewood, Oconto County, which supplies its priest and liturgy. The Diocese of Green Bay recognizes it among a handful of surviving 'station churches' in the north woods, simple chapels in isolated communities that grew out of the missionary tradition of visiting priests who once rode into logging camps and remote settlements by horseback. Mass is offered monthly at the chapel, with the rest of the parish's sacramental life centered at the mother church in Lakewood about fifteen miles to the west.
- Established
- 1918 (parent parish incorporation at Lakewood; Silver Cliff chapel served from it as a mission station — exact chapel founding date not confirmed)
- Patron
- Blessed Virgin Mary (under the title Our Lady / Mary of the Lake)
- Rector
- Rev. Fr. Praveen Kumar Pamisetti (Archdiocese of Hyderabad, India) — pastor of St. Mary of the Lake Parish, Lakewood, which serves the Silver Cliff mission; appointed September 2022
- Diocese
- Diocese of Green Bay
Why belong here
St. Mary of the Lake – Silver Cliff Chapel is one of a handful of surviving Catholic station churches in Wisconsin's north woods — a small mission chapel where Mass is celebrated on the First Saturday evening of each month for the scattered Catholic families of the Silver Cliff community and the surrounding forest. Belonging to or visiting this mission means sharing in a deeply local, generational Catholic life in the cutover: weekday Masses, Adoration, the Rosary, faith formation and a parish school program are all available at the mother parish in Lakewood, and the parish welcomes seasonal residents, hunters, campers and travelers who find their way to this quiet corner of Marinette County. For Catholics who value traditional devotional life, small rural chapels, and a connection to the missionary heritage of the Green Bay Diocese, the Silver Cliff station is a rare and authentic piece of Wisconsin Catholic history still in active use.
Mass times at St. Mary of the Lake
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Silver Cliff Chapel: Saturdays before 5:30 PM Mass (i.e., before the First Saturday Mass)
- Lakewood (mother church): Saturdays 3:30 PM; also First Fridays 9:00–10:00 AM (during the Holy Hour)
Adoration times
- Lakewood (mother church): First Friday Holy Hour, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (with Reconciliation from 9:00–10:00 AM and First Friday Mass at 8:30 AM)
St. Mary of the Lake – Silver Cliff Chapel
St. Mary of the Lake at Silver Cliff is a mission chapel of St. Mary of the Lake Parish, Lakewood, in the Diocese of Green Bay. It is listed by the diocese as one of five surviving 'station churches' in the north woods of Wisconsin. The mailing address for parish correspondence is the Lakewood rectory at 15232 County F, Lakewood, WI 54138-0219.
- Diocese: Green Bay
- Mission of: Parish of St. Mary of the Lake, Lakewood
- Type: Mission chapel / station church
- GCatholic Church ID: 31442
Mass & Liturgical Schedule
Because the chapel is a mission station, Mass is celebrated at Silver Cliff only once a month — on the First Saturday evening at 5:30 PM. The full weekly schedule, including the Vigil Mass, Sunday Mass, and weekday Masses, is offered at the mother church in Lakewood. The Silver Cliff First Saturday Mass is the regular monthly gathering for the local Catholic community of the Silver Cliff area.
- Silver Cliff: First Saturday, 5:30 PM
- Lakewood: Saturday Vigil 4:00 PM
- Lakewood: Sunday 8:30 AM
- Lakewood: Tuesday–Friday 8:30 AM
Pastoral Leadership & Parish Staff
The cluster of St. Mary of the Lake (Lakewood), Silver Cliff Chapel, and Crooked Lake Chapel is led by one pastor with parish-office staff based in Lakewood. The current pastor, Rev. Fr. Praveen Kumar Pamisetti of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad, India, was appointed to the parish in September 2022; he was ordained a priest on 11 May 2011. Parish administration, including bulletin publication and sacramental records, is handled at the Lakewood office by the administrative assistant.
- Pastor: Rev. Fr. Praveen Kumar Pamisetti (since September 2022)
- Administrative Assistant: Kendra Yingling
- Parish Office: (715) 276-7364 — [email protected]
Parish Council, Finance Council & Cemetery Committee
Parish governance is shared between the Pastoral Council and the Finance Council, both of which include representatives from Lakewood and from the Silver Cliff and Crooked Lake mission sites. A separate Cemetery Committee oversees the parish cemetery. Trustees, treasurer and secretary roles are filled from the three worship sites.
- Pastoral Council members from Lakewood, Silver Cliff and Crooked Lake
- Finance Council — Chairman (Lakewood), Treasurer/Trustee, Secretary/Trustee
- Cemetery Committee
Faith Formation & Religious Education
Faith formation for parish children and youth, including preparation for First Communion and Confirmation, is carried out at the Lakewood mother church. Programs are scheduled in the evenings to accommodate families who drive in from Silver Cliff, Crooked Lake and other rural parts of the cluster.
- Faith formation: grades 7–12, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM at Lakewood
- Baptism, Marriage and First Communion preparation by arrangement with the pastor
Sacraments
The parish offers the full range of Catholic sacraments. Baptisms are arranged through the pastor; marriages require a six-month preparation program and should be booked well in advance; the Anointing of the Sick is available on request. Confession is heard both at Silver Cliff (before the First Saturday Mass) and at Lakewood (Saturday afternoons and during the First Friday Holy Hour).
- Baptism — contact the pastor
- Marriage — six months preparation; contact the parish office
- Reconciliation — see confession times
- Anointing of the Sick — by arrangement
- First Communion & Confirmation — parish preparation program
North-Woods Station Churches of the Diocese of Green Bay
The Diocese of Green Bay officially recognizes a small handful of 'station churches' in the forested northern part of the diocese — tiny mission chapels that began as places where visiting priests celebrated Mass for scattered Catholic families in logging camps, river towns and isolated settlements. Silver Cliff is listed as one of the stations that 'has grown over the years,' alongside the Crooked Lake Chapel (also served from Lakewood), St. Michael (Chute Pond) at Suring, the Chapel in the Woods near Caldron Falls in Marinette County, and St. Hubert at Newald.
- Silver Cliff & Crooked Lake — served from St. Mary of the Lake, Lakewood
- St. Michael (Chute Pond) — Suring
- Chapel in the Woods — Caldron Falls, Marinette County (served from St. Mary, Crivitz)
- St. Hubert — Newald (served from St. Leonard, Laona)
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Visiting missionary priests (late 1800s–early 1900s)
Before 1918 the Catholic families of the Silver Cliff area were served sporadically by missionary priests riding out from parishes along Green Bay (Peshtigo, Oconto, etc.), following the north-woods missionary tradition. The Diocese of Green Bay formally does not list a continuous succession of resident priests for the Silver Cliff mission, because it has always been a 'station church' served from Lakewood rather than a parish in its own right.
- Pastors of St. Mary of the Lake Parish, Lakewood (mother parish of Silver Cliff)
A complete named succession of Lakewood pastors was not located in any single online source. The parish itself was incorporated on 12 February 1918 and celebrated its centennial in 2018. The current pastor (since September 2022) is Rev. Fr. Praveen Kumar Pamisetti of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad, India; a former administrator referenced in the parish bulletin (saintsdepere.org) was assigned for a time as administrator of 'St. Mary of the Lake in Lakewood with mission sites in Silver Cliff and Crooked Lake' along with St. Ambrose in Wabeno.