About St. Teresa · Campbell, Missouri
St. Teresa Parish is a Roman Catholic parish of the Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau, with its mailing address in Campbell, Missouri, but its physical location in the small Bootheel community of Glennonville, Dunklin County, along State Highway JJ. The parish was founded in 1905 by Fr. Frederick (Fritz) Peters as part of Archbishop John J. Glennon's Catholic colonization project, which resettled immigrant families on 12,500 acres of cutover swamp and timberland. In 1978 it absorbed St. Mary Chapel in Campbell and Sacred Heart Parish in Wilhelmina, becoming the canonical home of Catholic life in this stretch of the Bootheel. Today it runs St. Teresa Catholic School (built new in 2005) and is renowned in the region for an extraordinary number of religious vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
- Established
- 1905
- Patron
- St. Teresa (of the parish's name — commonly understood in the Bootheel as St. Teresa of Avila or St. Thérèse of Lisieux; church was named by Fr. Fritz Peters in honor of his mother, Theresia Peters)
- Rector
- Very Rev. Victor Anokwute
- Diocese
- Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau
Why belong here
St. Teresa offers small-town Catholic community life rooted in an extraordinary 1905 colonization heritage — a parish that has produced numerous vocations to the priesthood and religious life (dozens of its members have entered communities such as the Ursulines, School Sisters of Notre Dame, and the Franciscans). The parish serves an extended rural area across Campbell, Glennonville, and Wilhelmina, runs its own Catholic school (built new in 2005), and provides weekday and weekend Mass in a setting where the founding pastor's legacy of faith, farming, and civic infrastructure remains visible. For Catholics in the Bootheel seeking an authentically rural, family-oriented parish with a strong devotional and educational tradition, St. Teresa is a compelling home.
Mass times at St. Teresa
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday: varies and by appointment (per diocesan listing)
Adoration times
- First Friday: 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
History & Founding Heritage
St. Teresa's story is inseparable from the 1905 Catholic colonization of Dunklin County. Archbishop John J. Glennon of St. Louis, through the Colonization Reality Company (incorporated January 5, 1905), purchased 12,500 acres of swamp and cutover timberland in the northern part of the county, east of the St. Francis River. He chose the 32-year-old Fr. Frederick (Fritz) Peters, then stationed in Jefferson City, as local manager. With two companions, Ed Bihr and Jim Hogan, Fr. Peters reached the abandoned sawmill town of Paragon on November 3, 1905, dug the mill out of the mud, and sawed more than one million board feet of lumber to build homes, a church, two grade schools, and a high school. The town was renamed Glennonville in the Archbishop's honor.
- Parish commissioned October 22, 1905 by Archbishop Glennon
- First Mass in the old Moss-Tie commissary building; first congregation of three: Fr. Peters, Ed Bihr, Jim Hogan
- 1910 lumber-frame church completed (plans drawn by Fr. Peters, lumber sawed by him)
- Archbishop Glennon administered Confirmation in Glennonville in 1910
- 1930 parish school opened, taught by Ursuline Sisters from Maple Mount, KY
- 1978 merger of Campbell (St. Mary Chapel), Wilhelmina (Sacred Heart), and Glennonville into one parish at St. Teresa's
- 2005 new St. Teresa Catholic School built
Monsignor Frederick F. Peters — Founder
Fr. Peters was the founding pastor of St. Teresa from 1905 until his death in 1956 — a tenure of 51 years, the longest of any American pastor of his era. He was every sort of pioneer at once: colonization agent, sawmill operator, carpenter, school superintendent, doctor, civic leader, and spiritual father. Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter rewarded him with the title of Monsignor in 1949. He died September 27, 1956, at age 83, and is buried in the parish cemetery in Glennonville. In 2003 he was among the first inductees into the Dunklin County Hall of Honor.
- Founding pastor, 1905–1956 (51 years)
- Elevated to Monsignor in 1949 by Archbishop Ritter
- Founding board member, Ozark Border Electric Cooperative (1938–1955)
- Played key role in construction of Wappapello Lake and Dam
- Tended to medical needs of Catholics and non-Catholics alike
- Inducted into Dunklin County Hall of Honor, 2003
Colonization & the Peters Family
Fr. Peters named the parish in honor of his mother, Theresia Peters (1834–1907), who migrated from Münsterland (Germany) to Missouri in 1888 and then to Glennonville in 1906 with her sons George (1863–1937), Henry (1868–1932), Hermann (1870–1958), John (1875–1955), and Fritz himself. She died in Glennonville within a year of arrival and is memorialized in the parish's name. Settlers followed from Cole and Howard counties in Missouri and then from as far as Kentucky and Indiana, founding a predominantly German Catholic enclave in the overwhelmingly Protestant Bootheel. A separate Dutch colony, Wilhelmina, was established nearby.
- Parish named for Theresia Peters, mother of founder
- Original settlers: German Catholic immigrants from Cole and Howard counties, plus Kentucky and Indiana
- Companion Dutch colony established at Wilhelmina (later merged into St. Teresa, 1978)
Parish Mission & Vocations
St. Teresa Parish has long been recognized as a remarkable seedbed of priestly and religious vocations. A Global Sisters Report feature documented that 28 women from St. Teresa's and Sacred Heart entered nine different religious communities and collectively served more than 1,912 years. Vocations cited from the parish included Ursuline Sr. Diane Marie Payne (56 years), Franciscan Sr. Ursula Siebert (58 years), School Sisters of Notre Dame Sr. Mary Rebecca Peters (55 years), and SSND Sr. Augusteen Marie Peters (69 years). The parish continues to mark its vocation heritage through prayer and formation.
St. Teresa Catholic School
St. Teresa Catholic School, the parish's parochial school, is located at 40648 State Highway JJ, Campbell, MO 63933-9148 (phone (573) 328-4197). A new school building was constructed in 2005 to replace earlier school facilities tied to the 1930 Ursuline-staffed school. The current principal is Kim Lynn, and the school continues the parish's century-long commitment to Catholic education that began when the Ursuline Sisters of Maple Mount, Kentucky, first came to Glennonville.
- Address: 40648 State Hwy JJ, Campbell, MO 63933-9148
- Phone: (573) 328-4197
- Principal: Kim Lynn
- New building completed 2005
- Teachers historically Ursuline Sisters of Maple Mount, KY (from 1930)
Parish Staff & Leadership
The parish is led by Very Rev. Victor Anokwute, who also pastors St. Ann Parish in Malden and serves as Dean of Deanery Seven in the Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau. The parish Administrative Assistant is Cletus Weidenbenner.
- Pastor: Very Rev. Victor Anokwute
- Administrative Assistant: Cletus Weidenbenner
- Parish Office: (573) 328-4544
Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau
St. Teresa Parish is part of the Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau, one of the Catholic dioceses serving southern Missouri. The parish belongs to Deanery Seven and is geographically paired with St. Ann Parish in Malden, sharing a pastor in the 2023 and 2025 pastoral assignments.
- Diocese: Springfield–Cape Girardeau
- Deanery: Seven (Fr. Anokwute appointed Dean, 2025)
- Companion parish: St. Ann, Malden
Visiting & Practical Information
Visitors should call (573) 328-4544 to confirm Mass and confession times, which the diocesan listing notes are subject to change. The parish sits along rural State Highway JJ in the Missouri Bootheel; the closest town with a Campbell mailing address is several miles away. The church complex is accessible by car only, with parking on the parish grounds.
- GPS: N36° 34.995' W090° 09.260'
- Office Hours: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- All schedules subject to change; confirm with parish office
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Frederick F. (Fritz) Peters1905–1956
Founding pastor; commissioned Oct. 22, 1905 by Archbishop John J. Glennon; first Mass in the old Moss-Tie commissary; built the 1910 lumber church himself; promoted colonization, schools, Ozark Border Electric Cooperative (board member 1938–1955), and Wappapello Dam; elevated to Monsignor in 1949 by Archbishop Ritter; died Sept. 27, 1956, age 83; buried in parish cemetery, Glennonville; inducted into Dunklin County Hall of Honor 2003.
- (Pastors 1956–1978)1956–1978
Successor pastors between Monsignor Peters's death in 1956 and the 1978 merger of Campbell (St. Mary Chapel), Wilhelmina (Sacred Heart), and Glennonville into a single parish at St. Teresa are not enumerated on the diocesan listing or other publicly indexed pages. The parish's 2006 commemorative volume 'History of St. Teresa's Parish, Glennonville, Missouri' (Acclaim Press, ed. Darrall R. Hirtz) is the primary source for that succession.
- Very Rev. Victor Anokwute2023–present
Assigned Pastor of St. Teresa Parish, Glennonville, and St. Ann Parish, Malden, in the 2023 pastoral assignments; also serves as Dean of Deanery Seven (per 2025 pastoral assignments).