St. Michael

Parish History

St. Michael's emerged in 1876 in rural Hume, Illinois, beginning as a farmhouse chapel served by visiting priests from Paris. The people of the parish built a white-frame wooden church, heated by a coal stove and lit by kerosene lamps, that remains the core of the building used today. Originally a mission of St. Charles in Charleston, the parish got its first resident pastor, Rev. Thomas M. Moore, in 1899, and has been continuously served by a long succession of priests ever since.

The Building and Bell

Between 1913 and 1917, under Father James Ahern, the white-frame church was brick-veneered, a steam heating system and electric lights were installed, and a brick rectory was added. The bell tower was repositioned to keep the bell from damaging the structure; the bell itself had been brought from St. Louis and donated by the Michael and Margaret (Tager) Smith (Schmidt) families, and was later programmed by Mrs. James Barrett to ring the Angelus. An old pedal-pump organ once provided the music.

Clergy and Pastoral Succession

St. Michael's is part of a cluster of parishes served out of St. Mary in Paris. The published succession begins with Rev. Thomas M. Moore (1899) and continues through the 20th and 21st centuries, including Father James Ahern (1912–1925) who oversaw the brick renovation, Father Joseph Kromenaker (from 1969), Father G.R. McCaughey (Administrator from 1971), and later Fathers Weerts, O'Shea, Kuse, Diezel, Jenkins, Mulcrone, and Skelton. After Father Paul Skelton's retirement in 2015 and a brief stint by Father Angel Sierra, Rev. Aloysius Okey Ndeanaefo, a Nigerian-born priest ordained for the Diocese of Springfield, was assigned on July 1, 2016 to Sacred Heart (Villa Grove) and St. Michael's, Hume.

• Rev. Thomas M. Moore — 1899–1905
• Rev. George Hensey — 1905–1909
• Rev. James Walsh — 1909–1912
• Rev. James Ahern — 1912–1925
• Rev. John Flaherty — 1925–1929
• Rev. William Wozniak — 1929–1931
• Rev. Joseph Kromenaker — from 1969
• Rev. G.R. McCaughey — Administrator from 1971
• Rev. Paul Skelton — through 2015
• Rev. Aloysius Okey Ndeanaefo — from July 1, 2016

Faith Formation and Religious Education

Children's Religious Education classes are taught at the parish and held in the classrooms inside the 1973 Parish Life Center. Phyllis Stone coordinates the children's program. Like most small rural missions, the program is parish-based rather than a separate school, and is intended to prepare the parish's children for the sacraments and continued Catholic formation.

• Children's Religious Education led by Phyllis Stone
• Classes held in the Parish Life Center

Parish Staff and Administration

Parish administration is shared across the cluster. The pastor, Rev. Aloysius Okey Ndeanaefo, ministers to St. Michael's as well as Sacred Heart in Villa Grove and St. Mary in Paris. Juliana Koutsoumpas serves as secretary, and Phyllis Stone directs the Children's Religious Education program. Mail for the parish goes through St. Mary Parish in Paris.

• Pastor: Rev. Aloysius Okey Ndeanaefo
• Secretary: Juliana Koutsoumpas
• Children's Religious Education: Phyllis Stone
• Mailing: c/o St. Mary Parish, P.O. Box 577, Paris, IL 61944

Cluster Parishes and Visiting

St. Michael's is a mission church within a family of parishes that includes Sacred Heart in Villa Grove and St. Mary in Paris. The shared website, sacredheartstmichael.com, and the Diocesan directory are the main sources of current information. Visitors and parishioners seeking weekday Mass or special services are generally directed to the cluster parishes.

• Sacred Heart, Villa Grove
• St. Mary, Paris (cluster office)
• Family of Parishes sharing one pastor