About Saint Stanislaus Church


At the beginning of the Catholic community in Perham there were a number of Polish families that attended St. Henry’s church along with the majority of German ancestry. At that time all masses where conducted in German.  In June 1877, then again four years later, Father Schulak conducted a mission for the Polish speaking members of the church. He came at the invitation of the St. Stanislaus society, founded in 1876 under the leadership of John Karsnia. In 1883 these Polish families decided to build their own church under the direction of Father Joseph Buh. It was dedicated the following year under the patronage of St. Stanislaus, whose name was already borne by the group.

The parochial school was opened in 1902 but closed shortly after.  Father Stanislaus Kuzniak re-opened the school in 1912 and secured the services of the Polish speaking Felician sisters from New York to staff the school.  Fire destroyed the school in 1918, but they rebuilt a two story brick building.  Declining enrollment forced the school to close in 1933.

On August 7, 1885 the parish received their first resident pastor, Father Peter Choweniec. The present rectory was built in 1914 at a cost of $750 and throughout the years has undertaken many renovations. From 1885 to 1994 the parish had 39 priests serve for various amounts of time.  After July 1994 the parish no longer had resident priests, and was served by the priest from St. Henry’s.


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