Dear Friends in Christ,

               Thank you for visiting our website.  We hope you find the information valuable.  We have six churches in this cluster.  Five of which reside in Lewis County, and one resides in Pacific County.  Each church community is unique and has its own personality.  All are fairly small in the number of parishioners, which is one reason why this cluster was formed.  We also have a school, and a rather large Hispanic community that we serve. 

               St. Francis Xavier Mission church in Toledo and Sacred Heart church in Winlock are two of the oldest churches in the Pacific Northwest.  St. Francis Xavier was founded in 1838, and has the distinction of being the first one founded in this part of the country.  Both churches were run for many years by the Franciscans, and each church building has a Franciscan feel about its architecture. 

               St. Joseph church in Pe Ell, and Holy Family church in Frances have Polish and Swiss ties.  Holy Family church was built by the Swiss families of that area in 1892.  There is still a strong Swiss influence in the Frances area. 

               St. Mary church in Centralia and St. Joseph church in Chehalis are the larger (number of parishioners) of the six churches, mainly due to being located in towns along the I-5 corridor.  St. Mary’s church building has been recently renovated and is quite beautiful.  Our main office for the six parish cluster is located in Chehalis, as is our school.  St. Joseph’s School is the only Catholic school located in this area.  We are proud to provide a Catholic education for our children in this part of the Archdiocese. 

               Our rather large and growing Hispanic community is vibrant.  We have many cultural celebrations and devotions, which are mainly celebrated in Centralia and Chehalis.  Our Spanish Mass is in Chehalis.  Perhaps as many as 50% of the Hispanic community is 18 years of age or younger, so one can probably imagine the high level of energy that exists here.  There is never a dull moment.  We also have a small Hispanic community at our church in Winlock, and we celebrate a bilingual Mass there. 

 

Sincerely in Christ,


Rev. Tim Ilgen
Pastor