History
Holy Spirit Parish was established in 1897.
- 1858 Catholics in the Centralia area were first served by Rev. John Hogan.•
- 1859 Rev, John Hogan celebrated sacraments at Allen, a small village north of Moberly.•
- 1860 to 1865 Rev. John Hogan celebrated sacraments in Sturgeon.
- 1869 Catholic church was built in Sturgeon . Was closed and parishioners worshipped at Centralia or Moberly.
- 1897 Centralia was established as a mission of Columbia.
- 1903 First Church was built through a generous donation opened in 1904.
- 1921-1923 Rev. Daniel Courtney, First parish pastor to reside in Centralia
- 1915 Church was listed for the first time as Holy Ghost in the official Catholic directory.
- Built present church in 1941 for $16,000.
- Church was dedicated The Holy Spirit, Sunday July 6, 1941.
- The windows in the church tell the gospel stories
- In 1943 404 S Rollins became the address.
- 1942 -1945 the parish operated a school with Sisters from O’Fallon
- The Parish has had one vocation to the priesthood: Fr. John Buchanan Ordained April 6, 1957
38 priests have served Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit in 125 years
- 1858 -1897 Rev. John Hogan
- 1897 -1898 Rev. P.F. O’Reily
- 1898-1900 Rev. C.E. Byrno
- 1900-1902 Rev. Aurthur O’Reily
- 1902-1904 Rev. William E. Randall
- 1904-1908 Rev. John B. Pleuss
- 1908-1915 Rev. Thomas J Lloyd
- 1919 Rev. Peter S. Dempsey assigned in caring for parish
- 1916-1920 Rev. Joseph Gilfillan
- 1921-1923 Rev. Daniel Courtney, First parish pastor to reside in Centralia
- 1938-1943 Rev. Aurthur B. Leibinger
- 1923-1931 Rev. Aloysius Canning
- 1931-1933 Rev M.J. Connor
- 1933-1934 Rev. William C Kunz
- 1934-1938 Rev. Karl Eineig Shot in Old Rectory June 9, 1938.
- 1943-1944 Rev. Lloyd Sullivan
- 1944-1946 Rev. Francis Hyland
- 1946-1949 Rev. Anthony J. Grellner
- 1949-1950 Rev. Jacob Noser
- 1950-1951 Rev. Francis X. Reker
- 1951 Rev. Francis Figil
- 1951-1957 Rev. Anthony Schmidt
- 1957-1959 Rev. William Berkel
- 1959 Rev. Henry Figge
- 1959-1962 Rev. William Savage
- 1962 Rev. William Forst
- 1962-1965 Rev. Michael O’Donovan
- 1965-1966 Rev. Robert Wiesmann
- 1966-1971 Rev. Gottieb Steinwacsh
- 1971-1979 Rev. Ray Weis K of C Council 7841 Ray Weise
- 1979-1984 Rev. Eugene Robl
- 1984 Rev. Patrick J. McMyler Never resided in Centralia
- 1984-1985 Rev. James Neimeyer
- 1985-1992 Rev. Msgr Charles H. Patterson
- 1992 Rev. Frank Westhoff
- 1992-1995 Rev. Russell Judge
- 1995-1999 Rev. Robert Fields
- 1999-2018 Rev. J. James Offutt
- 2018 to present Rev Mike Coleman
The parish has had one vocation to the priesthood: Fr. John Buchanan, ordained April 6, 1957