Shiner church celebrates centennial Sunday

If there's one thing the Rev. Bryan Heyer says he knows to be true, it's that members of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in Shiner know a thing or two about community service. They always have, and most likely, always will.

“Our church was literally built by the service of its members,” Father Bryan said. “In fact, even the building itself stands testament to that service. It’s tradition of serving that continues on strong still today.”

Anyone who might question that fact only need lay eyes on their beautiful landmark red brick church building in Shiner, each stone of it built from the ground up by the hands and backs of local parishioners, who spent the better part of two entire years, from 1920-1921, making sure every element of it was simply perfect.

And this coming Sunday, July 11, parishioners from all over, both past and present, will have the opportunity celebrate those many years of service, when Father Bryan and Victoria Diocese Bishop Brendon Cahill come together to ring in a birthday party like no other at KC Park following their 9:30 a.m. morning mass.

For that "testament to service," as Father Bryan put it, welcomes its 100th year.

Bishop Cahill will be leading that day's 9:30 a.m. services, and immediately after, at about 10:30 a.m., the entire congregation will be invited over to the Shiner Knights of Columbus Dining Hall, where Father Bryan plans to host a free turkey and dressing meal and get-together.

Meal RSVP’s are appreciated but not required, and other activities are also in the works. To reserve your place today, please contact the church office at (361) 594-3836.

Members of the congregation are urged to come out and celebrate the long history and stunning beauty of the landmark Shiner church building, as well as pay their respects to rich legacy that's always been part of the Shiner church family.

Father Bryan urged parishioners to bring any old photographs they may have kept of the church building itself on through the years. “The more items we can see, the better it will be for everyone,” he said.

The parish got its start in the 1890s when early German and Czech settlers in that part of Lavaca County began holding Catholic worship services in private homes or churches in Hallettsville or Moulton, the Texas historical marker reads. 

After a while, however, parishioners decided the time had come to have a church of their own, and that's precisely what they set their eyes on when the Rev. John Anthony Forest established a new mission in Shiner named for the 9th Century Greek missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, who converted many of the Slovakian and Moravian people of Central Europe to Christianity.

Those original parish members would go on to acquire two acres of land at the church site in 1891 and build a woodframe sanctuary that was completed in May of that same year.

“As soon as it was completed, it was already too small for its congregation,” Father Bryan said. “The parish was growing by leaps and bounds then.”

Less than a year later, however, in February 1892, a tornado struck Shiner, causing extensive damage to the original church building. So, parishioners agreed, it would be razed and another rebuilt in its place, only this time, they'd build to a much larger scale.

“Almost as soon that church building was finished, another storm came along and blew the church off its foundations,” the priest said. “Although the building remained, it was never quite right again after that.”

Designated its own parish in 1912, the growing congregation soon found itself needing even larger accommodations. Only this time, they would bring in the services of architect F. Wahrenburger, who designed the building that many are a familiar with today.

The Shiner church was built in 1920-1921 by a crew of volunteer laborers led by the Rev. F.X. Wolf, and would become the impressive example of the Romanesque revival style of architecture, featuring  stained glass windows imported from Munich, Germany, cut stone detailing in the pinnacles and buttresses, an arcaded front portico, and a soaring square tower with octagonal spire.

The church building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1983, it also features a magnificent painted interior, as one of the showpieces of the historic Painted Churches found across the area, where likewise many Czech and German immigrants would eventually locate during that final decade of the 19th Century.

Incidentally, that precise same building plan that Wahrenburger designed - minus some of the frills found only in Shiner's church building and on far smaller scale - was also used a couple years prior to build a new church building over in nearby Sweet Home, Father Bryan told us.

So, come on out and help the place celebrate its 100^th year. You’ll be glad you did! 

This story, written and photographed by Bobby Horecka, first published in the Thursday, July 8, 2021 edition of The Shiner Gazette, one of five South Texas newspapers where Horecka serves as managing editor.