About St. Mary · Smith Center, Kansas
St. Mary Parish in Smith Center, Kansas, is a small Roman Catholic parish in the Diocese of Salina serving the Catholics of Smith County and surrounding north-central Kansas. It is pastored as part of an in solidum team alongside St. Theresa Parish in Mankato and Sacred Heart Parish in Esbon, currently under Fr. Charles Oppong. Though formally founded in 1959, Catholic life in the Smith Center area reaches back to at least 1892, when missionary priests celebrated Mass in settlers' homes. The parish is administered today through the Phillipsburg Catholic cluster site at phillipsburgcatholic.org.
- Established
- 1959
- Patron
- The Blessed Virgin Mary (parish name: St. Mary)
- Rector
- Fr. Charles Oppong
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salina
Why belong here
St. Mary Parish offers north-central Kansas Catholics a regular Sunday Mass in their own county seat, supported by the broader Phillipsburg Catholic cluster and the Diocese of Salina. The parish community is small enough that everyone helps — from clean-up days that draw two dozen parishioners of all ages to shared prayer across the Esbon–Mankato–Smith Center in solidum team — and newcomers will find the faith formation, Confession, and sacramental support they need close to home.
Mass times at St. Mary
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 20 minutes before Mass
- Sunday mornings before Mass (Logan)
- Anytime by appointment — contact the priest
Parish History
Catholic missionaries first celebrated Mass in homes near Smith Center as early as 1892, but the area was long the last county seat in the Diocese of Salina without its own Catholic parish. By 1959, growth in the local Catholic population led Bishop Frederick Freking to authorize the establishment of a parish, with construction beginning in 1960 and the first Mass in the new church celebrated on Christmas Day that year. Parish membership rose from around 50 to more than 200 within a few decades, and by the 1990s the original building had been outgrown. Catholic Extension Society donations again helped, and a new, larger church was completed in 1997, with the older structure repurposed as a parish hall that continues to serve the community.
- 1892 — earliest recorded Masses in local settlers' homes
- 1959 — Bishop Frederick Freking forms St. Mary Parish
- 1960 — construction begins; first Mass celebrated Christmas Day 1960
- 1997 — second, larger church completed; first church becomes parish hall
Clergy and Pastoral Team
Since the 2025 priest assignments announced by the Diocese of Salina, St. Mary Parish has been pastored by Fr. Charles Oppong, appointed to the in solidum team that also serves St. Theresa Parish in Mankato and Sacred Heart Parish in Esbon. Fr. Charles Oppong was appointed with the concurrence of Most Reverend John Baptist Attakruh, Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi (Ghana). He succeeds the previous in solidum members, Fr. Trinity Savariyar and Fr. Joshua Werth, who continue to pastor SS. Philip & James in Phillipsburg and St. John the Evangelist in Logan. Older parish directory listings (joinmychurch.com) also name Rev. Damian Richards, and 2023 cluster bulletins list Fr. John Schmeidler for the wider Phillipsburg-area grouping.
- Fr. Charles Oppong — Pastor (in solidum team, 2025–)
- Fr. Trinity Savariyar — former in solidum member (relieved 2025)
- Fr. Joshua Werth — former Moderator (relieved 2025)
- Rev. Damian Richards — listed as pastor on joinmychurch.com directory
- Fr. John Schmeidler — listed on 2023 cluster bulletin
Cluster Partnership with Phillipsburg Catholic
St. Mary Parish does not maintain a stand-alone parish website. Instead, it shares the phillipsburgcatholic.org website with SS. Philip & James Parish in Phillipsburg and St. John the Evangelist Parish in Logan. The cluster publishes a joint weekend Mass schedule (Saturday Vigil at 5:00 PM in Phillipsburg, Sunday Mass at 8:15/8:00 AM in Logan, 9:30 AM in Phillipsburg, and 11:00/11:10 AM in Smith Center) along with weekly bulletins and sacramental notices. The cluster also shares Reconciliation times and supports sacramental preparation across the four communities.
- Shared website: phillipsburgcatholic.org
- Sister parishes: SS. Philip & James (Phillipsburg); St. John the Evangelist (Logan)
- Office: 423 South 7th Street, Phillipsburg, KS 67661 — (785) 543-5367
- Cluster email: [email protected]
In Solidum Team with Mankato and Esbon
St. Mary is one of three parishes in north-central Kansas currently pastored together by an in solidum team of priests: St. Theresa Parish, Mankato; Sacred Heart Parish, Esbon; and St. Mary Parish, Smith Center. This canonical arrangement, common in rural dioceses, allows multiple small parishes to share pastoral care while preserving each community's own identity and Mass schedule.
- St. Theresa Parish – Mankato
- Sacred Heart Parish – Esbon
- St. Mary Parish – Smith Center
Parish Life and Community
As a small rural parish, St. Mary depends on the hands-on involvement of its members. A 2021 article in the Salina diocesan Register described a parish clean-up day on June 12, 2021, at which about 23 parishioners of every age — from toddlers to the much older — trimmed trees, cleared a thicket on the church grounds, and dusted the church. The piece used the day as a parable of spiritual growth, noting that the volunteers 'came together to plant those seeds and let the divine spirit guide its growth.' Such gatherings illustrate how the parish sustains both its physical buildings and its faith life through volunteer participation.
- Volunteer clean-up and grounds days (e.g., June 12, 2021)
- Multi-generational parish participation
Diocese of Salina
St. Mary Parish belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina, which covers much of north-central and western Kansas. The diocesan directory page provides the parish's contact information, brief founding history, Sunday Mass time, and Confession note, and lists Fr. Charles Oppong as the current pastor.
- Diocese of Salina — salinadiocese.org
- Parish page: salinadiocese.org/parish/st-mary-parish-smith-center/
Contact and Visiting
Parishioners and visitors can reach St. Mary through its listed mailing address and phone, or via the shared Phillipsburg Catholic cluster office in Phillipsburg, Kansas. The parish's internal communications are typically routed through the cluster office rather than a separate Smith Center email.
- Physical address: 403 US-36 (W Hwy 36), Smith Center, KS 66967
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 263, Smith Center, KS 66967-0263
- Parish phone: 785-378-3913
- Cluster office phone: (785) 543-5367
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Joshua WerthThrough 2025
Member and Moderator of the in solidum team that pastored St. Mary; continued on the Phillipsburg/Logan cluster in 2025 reassignments.
- Fr. Trinity SavariyarThrough 2025
Member of the in solidum team pastoring St. Mary; relieved in 2025 to continue at SS. Philip & James, Phillipsburg, and St. John the Evangelist, Logan.
- Fr. Charles Oppong2025–
Appointed in 2025 with the concurrence of Most Reverend John Baptist Attakruh, Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi (Ghana), to the in solidum team pastoring St. Mary alongside St. Theresa (Mankato) and Sacred Heart (Esbon).
- Rev. Damian Richards
Listed as pastor on the joinmychurch.com directory entry for St. Mary Parish.
- Fr. John Schmeidler
Listed on an August 2023 cluster bulletin as the priest for the Phillipsburg/Logan/Smith Center grouping.