About St. Stanislaus Kostka · Armstrong Creek, Wisconsin
St. Stanislaus Kostka is a small Polish-heritage Roman Catholic parish serving the village of Armstrong Creek in Forest County, northeastern Wisconsin. Founded in 1910 as a mission for Polish-speaking Catholic immigrants and their descendants in this northern Wisconsin lumber and farming community, the parish is one of two Catholic parishes in the immediate Armstrong Creek/Goodman area and is staffed together with neighboring St. Joan of Arc in Goodman. It belongs to the Diocese of Green Bay and continues to serve a tight-knit rural community with weekly Sunday Mass, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and traditional devotional life rooted in its Polish Catholic heritage.
- Established
- 1910
- Patron
- St. Stanislaus Kostka
- Rector
- Fr. Soja Joseph
- Diocese
- Diocese of Green Bay
Why belong here
St. Stanislaus Kostka is a small but devoted Polish-heritage Catholic parish that offers an intimate, traditional faith community in rural Forest County. Visitors and parishioners come for a solidly Catholic Sunday Mass (currently 10:30 a.m.) celebrated in a quiet, easy-to-reach setting, weekly Confession (Sundays before Mass), and a strong sense of continuity — many local families have worshipped here for generations and have roots going back to the Polish settlers who built the parish in 1910. With its Polish Mass, its outdoor prayer cross blessed by Bishop Ricken in 2025, and its shared life with neighboring St. Joan of Arc in Goodman, St. Stanislaus Kostka is a welcoming place for anyone seeking an authentically Catholic, small-town devotional home in northeastern Wisconsin.
Mass times at St. Stanislaus Kostka
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 9:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m. (30 minutes before Mass)
History of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish
St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish was founded in 1910 to serve Polish Catholic families who had settled in the Armstrong Creek area of Forest County, drawn to northeastern Wisconsin by lumber jobs and farmland. Diocesan records show the parish began keeping baptismal registers in 1910 and marriage and funeral registers in 1926, the year the present church was completed. The parish was named for St. Stanislaus Kostka, the young Polish Jesuit novice whose intercession was widely invoked by Polish immigrants across the United States. For its first half-century the parish was served by visiting and resident priests of the Diocese of Green Bay; in 1960 the diocese appointed Father Edward S. Nowakowski as pastor, beginning an extraordinary 44-year pastorate. The parish's identity remains rooted in this Polish-American Catholic heritage.
- 1910: Sacramental records (baptisms) begin
- 1926: Permanent church completed; marriage and funeral records begin
- 1960: Fr. Edward S. Nowakowski becomes pastor
- 1982: Fr. Nowakowski also assumes pastorate of St. Joan of Arc, Goodman
- 2004: Fr. Nowakowski retires after 44 years
- 2025 (Nov. 2): Bishop David Ricken blesses new outdoor cross and prayer benches
Polish Heritage and Identity
St. Stanislaus Kostka is one of several Polish-heritage Catholic parishes across Wisconsin, and Polish identity remains a defining feature of parish life. Each year the parish celebrates a Polish Mass that draws visitors and former parishioners; attendees hear Polish hymns and see ornate Polish costumes. After Mass the community processes in a parade from the church to the Armstrong Creek town park, where the day's festivities continue. The parish's longevity — over a century of continuous Catholic worship in the same small Forest County village — is a testament to the loyalty of its Polish-descended families and to the Polish Catholic devotional tradition they brought from the old country.
- Annual Polish Heritage Mass
- Parade from church to town park following the Polish Mass
- Traditional Polish hymns and Polish costumes
- Diocesan archives list ethnic background as 'Polish'
Sister Parish: St. Joan of Arc, Goodman
Since 1982, St. Stanislaus Kostka has been twinned pastorally with St. Joan of Arc Parish in Goodman, Wisconsin, about eight miles to the southeast. The two parishes share a single pastor and a single parish office phone number, (715) 336-2334, and operate a joint Facebook presence (facebook.com/stsjoanandstan). Together they make up the Catholic presence for the small rural communities of Armstrong Creek and Goodman in Forest County, with Mass and Confession offered at both church buildings across the week.
- St. Joan of Arc, 6th & Main Streets, Goodman, WI 54125
- Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:00 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc
- Thursday Mass: 9:00 a.m. at St. Joan of Arc (3rd Thursday with adoration and confessions)
- Shared phone: (715) 336-2334
- Shared Facebook: facebook.com/stsjoanandstan
Pastorate of Fr. Edward S. Nowakowski (1960–2004)
Father Edward S. Nowakowski's 44-year pastorate is the defining chapter of the parish's modern history. Born May 18, 1923, in Chicago to Casimir and Antoinette (Ziemba) Nowakowski, he attended Holy Trinity High School in Chicago and SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan, before being ordained on May 22, 1948, by Bishop Stanislaus V. Bona at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay. After brief assignments at Our Lady of Lourdes in Marinette and SS. Peter and Paul in Green Bay, he served as assistant pastor at St. Mary in Manitowoc from 1948 to 1960. He arrived at St. Stanislaus Kostka in 1960 and quickly became the heart of the Armstrong Creek Catholic community. In 1982 he also took on the pastorate of St. Joan of Arc in Goodman, faithfully serving both small parishes for the next 22 years. He retired in 2004 and spent his final years at Grellinger Hall and the McCormick Memorial Home in Green Bay. He died on January 29, 2017, at the age of 93.
- Ordained May 22, 1948 by Bishop Stanislaus V. Bona
- Pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka 1960–2004 (44 years)
- Also pastor of St. Joan of Arc, Goodman, from 1982
- Retired 2004; died January 29, 2017
Outdoor Prayer Cross and Prayer Garden
On Sunday, November 2, 2025, Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay joined the faithful of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish for the dedication of a striking new outdoor prayer space at the rear of the parish campus. The gift was made possible through a generous donation from parishioners Larry and Marlene Lotto. The aluminum cross, standing between 20 and 30 feet tall, is flanked on each side by benches, creating a peaceful prayer space adjacent to the church. The dedication reflects the parish's continuing devotion to outdoor and Eucharistic prayer traditions common in Polish Catholic culture.
- Outdoor aluminum cross, 20–30 feet tall
- Flanked by prayer benches
- Donated by parishioners Larry and Marlene Lotto
- Dedicated November 2, 2025 by Bishop David Ricken
Sacraments
St. Stanislaus Kostka offers the normal range of parish sacraments in conjunction with its sister parish, St. Joan of Arc in Goodman. Baptisms, marriages, and funerals are celebrated in the parish church, and Sunday Confessions are heard before Mass. Funeral Masses (Masses of Christian Burial) continue to be a regular part of parish life in this rural community, with visitation typically held at the church before the funeral liturgy and burial in the local Pine Hill Cemetery in Armstrong Creek.
- Baptism
- Marriage / Nuptial Mass
- Funeral Mass / Mass of Christian Burial
- Reconciliation (Confession) — Sundays before Mass
- Burials commonly at Pine Hill Cemetery, Armstrong Creek
Visiting and Contact
St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish welcomes visitors and travelers at its Sunday Mass at 10:30 a.m. The parish office can be reached by telephone at (715) 336-2334, the same number used for St. Joan of Arc, Goodman. Up-to-date Mass and event information, including the annual Polish Heritage celebration and the outdoor prayer garden, is shared on the joint parish Facebook page at facebook.com/stsjoanandstan.
- Address: 521 US Highway 8, Armstrong Creek, WI 54103-0039
- Phone: (715) 336-2334
- Sunday Mass: 10:30 a.m.
- Facebook: facebook.com/stsjoanandstan
- Located in the Diocese of Green Bay
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Edward S. Nowakowski1960–2004
Longest-serving pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka (44 years). Born May 18, 1923 in Chicago; ordained May 22, 1948 at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Green Bay, by Bishop Stanislaus V. Bona. Briefly assistant pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes, Marinette and SS. Peter and Paul, Green Bay; then assistant pastor at St. Mary, Manitowoc 1948–1960 before becoming pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka in 1960. In 1982, he also became pastor of St. Joan of Arc, Goodman, serving both parishes together. Retired in 2004; died January 29, 2017, aged 93.
- Fr. Albert Balderascirca 2022
Officiated a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Stanislaus Kostka in June 2022.
- Fr. Soja Josephcirca 2024–present
Officiated funerals at St. Stanislaus Kostka in 2024–2025 and was present with Bishop Ricken for the outdoor cross dedication on November 2, 2025.