About St. Michael · Central City, Nebraska
St. Michael's Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic parish in Central City, Nebraska, the county seat of Merrick County, serving the Catholic faithful of central Nebraska's Platte River valley. The parish belongs to the Archdiocese of Omaha and is currently grouped with other rural parishes into 'Rural Family J' (Southern Parishes), sharing pastoral ministry across multiple small-town churches. Located at 2402 20th Avenue, St. Michael's offers a traditional schedule of daily Mass, a Saturday Vigil, and one Sunday Mass, alongside Confessions, faith formation including the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and parish ministries supported by three permanent deacons.
- Established
- Late 19th century (parish established in the 1880s–1890s era; precise founding year not confirmed by a single citable source)
- Patron
- St. Michael the Archangel
- Rector
- Rev. William D. L'Heureux
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Omaha
Why belong here
St. Michael's is a welcoming small-town Catholic parish where the daily 8:00 a.m. Mass and Saturday Vigil at 5:30 p.m. anchor a faithful rhythm of sacramental life for the whole family. Parishioners benefit from a clustered model that pairs a resident pastor with three permanent deacons (Deacons Larson, Placke, and Benson), hands-on faith formation including the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium for children ages 3–6, and outreach through ministries like the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. For Catholics in Merrick County and the surrounding Platte Valley, it offers the full liturgical and sacramental life of the Church within a tight-knit rural community.
Mass times at St. Michael
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 5:00 PM (before Vigil Mass)
About St. Michael's Parish
St. Michael's Catholic Church is a parish of the Archdiocese of Omaha serving Central City, Nebraska, and the surrounding Merrick County farming communities. The parish is one of nine churches grouped as 'Rural Family J' (Southern Parishes) under the Archdiocese's Rural Southwest Deanery, a collaborative structure that shares pastoral clergy across small-town churches while preserving each parish's identity and liturgical life. St. Michael's offers daily Mass, a Saturday Vigil, one Sunday Mass, Saturday Confessions, faith formation for children and youth, and a Society of St. Vincent de Paul outreach ministry.
- Parish address: 2402 20th Avenue, Central City, NE 68826
- Parish phone: (308) 946-2855
- Diocese: Archdiocese of Omaha
- Deanery: Rural Southwest Deanery, Southern Parishes of Family J
Parish History & Catholic Settlement of Merrick County
The Catholic community that became St. Michael's grew out of the late-19th-century wave of Irish and German immigrants who settled the Platte River valley of central Nebraska. Priests from earlier Platte Center missions followed the Loup Valley and Cedar River corridors north into Merrick County, offering Mass in sod houses and dugouts before any church existed. By the 1880s and 1890s the Catholic population of Central City was large enough to organize formally as a parish dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. Through the twentieth century the parish adapted to the rise and gradual decline of Merrick County's agricultural population, and in the modern era joined the Archdiocese of Omaha's Family grouping of rural parishes to share clergy and administrative resources.
- Settlement era: 1870s–1890s — Irish, German, and other European Catholic families settled the Platte Valley
- Parish status: One of the historic anchor Catholic parishes of Merrick County
- Modern era: Joined Archdiocese of Omaha's 'Rural Family J' (Southern Parishes) cluster
Clergy & Parish Leadership
St. Michael's is currently served by Pastor Rev. William D. L'Heureux, who was appointed in the Archdiocese of Omaha's June 2023 priest assignments and simultaneously serves St. Peter Parish in Clarks and St. Peter Parish in Fullerton. He succeeded Fr. David Fulton, who had been pastor of the Central City–Clarks–Fullerton cluster and who in June 2023 was reassigned to senior associate pastor in Urban Family M parishes in Omaha. Three permanent deacons — Deacon Richard L. Larson, Deacon Donald Placke, and Deacon Patrick S. Benson — are assigned to St. Michael's, supporting the sacraments, liturgy, and parish outreach.
- Pastor: Rev. William D. L'Heureux (since June 2023)
- Previous pastor: Rev. David Fulton (until June 2023)
- Permanent Deacons: Richard L. Larson, Donald Placke, Patrick S. Benson
Faith Formation & Religious Education
St. Michael's offers religious education for the parish's children and youth, coordinated through the parish office. The parish is also a host site for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS), a Montessori-style Catholic atrium program that has spread through rural American parishes in recent years. St. Michael's CGS atrium serves Level I (ages 3–6) and is coordinated by Laura Poppe. The program introduces young children to the liturgy and Scripture through hands-on work in a specially prepared 'atrium' environment.
- Religious education for parish children and youth
- Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (Level I, ages 3–6)
- CGS atrium coordinator: Laura Poppe — (402) 920-3577 — [email protected]
Parish Ministries & Outreach
Beyond the sacraments and faith formation, St. Michael's supports a number of lay ministries and outreach efforts typical of a small but active Catholic parish. These include youth programs and the parish chapter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a worldwide Catholic network that serves neighbors in material need. Liturgical and pastoral ministries are supported by the three permanent deacons assigned to the parish.
- Society of St. Vincent de Paul — outreach to those in need
- Youth ministry
- Liturgical ministries (with deacon support)
- Faith formation catechists
Rural Family J — A Cluster of Central Nebraska Parishes
Because central Nebraska has fewer priests per Catholic than urban areas, the Archdiocese of Omaha groups most rural parishes into 'Family' clusters. St. Michael's in Central City is one of nine parishes in Rural Family J (Southern Parishes), which also includes St. Michael Parish in Albion, St. Anthony Parish in Cedar Rapids, St. Peter Parish in Clarks, St. Peter Parish in Fullerton, St. Rose of Lima Parish in Genoa, Ss. Peter & Paul Parish in Krakow, St. Lawrence Parish in Silver Creek, and St. Edward Parish in St. Edward. Pastors are assigned to minister across multiple parishes within the cluster; Fr. L'Heureux currently leads the Central City–Clarks–Fullerton sub-cluster.
- Albion — St. Michael Parish
- Cedar Rapids — St. Anthony Parish
- Central City — St. Michael Parish
- Clarks — St. Peter Parish
- Fullerton — St. Peter Parish
- Genoa — St. Rose of Lima Parish
- Krakow — Ss. Peter & Paul Parish
- Silver Creek — St. Lawrence Parish
- St. Edward — St. Edward Parish
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. David Fultonuntil June 2023
Pastor of St. Michael Parish (Central City), St. Peter (Clarks), and St. Peter (Fullerton); reassigned in June 2023 as senior associate pastor in the parishes of Urban Family M in Omaha.
- Rev. William D. L'HeureuxJune 2023 – present
Named pastor in 2023 Archdiocese of Omaha priest assignments; previously pastor of St. Edward Parish (St. Edward), St. Rose of Lima (Genoa), St. Lawrence (Silver Creek), and Ss. Peter & Paul (Krakow); took on additional duties as pastor of St. Michael (Central City), St. Peter (Clarks), and St. Peter (Fullerton).