Cleaned the car a bit in Paxton.
Into a town called Piper City to get some food, but first posting a card for mum. Outside was Nancy R Stamm (she gave me the full name). She was VERY chatty. Followed me in a said the person in the post office MUST talk to me, as much as said she really didn’t have to. She also followed us/was going to the same place to eat as us. Jane declined her offer to pay for our food and she then refused to speak to her. She carried on talking to me. After eating we went to the library, and Nancy was spending the afternoon there too so the talking continued. Bookmarks from Debbie. The library had a framed double-sided quilt made for the town’s bi-centenary.
Through rural landscapes. We stopped at a place called Cabery and took a photo of the church. I found the following article on it. The article is from Apr 28, 2021, and it’s still there.
Temporary Reprieve for Cabery’s St. Joseph’s Church
The majestic St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, completed in 1904, sits at the village’s highest point next to the town’s newest structure, the township shed.
Early pioneers first established a mission there in 1867. Faithful parishioners built the first wooden church on this location in 1892.
St. Joseph’s current stone church has been the site of countless weddings, baptisms, funerals and masses.
However, due to disrepair, the church building has been on the chopping block since the Diocese of Joliet closed the church in 2015.
St. Joseph’s Preservation Society, led by Cheryl Weaver of Cabery, has been granted chapel status twice before.
However, that status has been revoked both times.
The mission statement of the Society is to retain chapel status of the building and financially take care of the property.
The plan is for the St. Joseph’s Preservation Society to refurbish it, and utilize it as a chapel for private prayer, weddings, funerals and baptisms.
Brody Hale, attorney for the Society, has even gone as far as the Vatican to beg for the church building to be maintained by the Society - to no avail.
The demolition of St. Joseph’s had been slated to take place any day now. (The rectory was razed in May of 2019, despite the Society’s offer to purchase it.)
However, on April 21, as a Hail Mary effort to keep the church intact, an injunction was filed against the Joliet Diocese by Weaver.
The injunction maintains that there are human remains under the church and to disturb them would violate the law.
The injunction ensures that the church will not be demolished at least through July.
Religious items from inside the church were removed on April 19 and taken to St. Margaret Mary Church in Herscher where they will stay until a final decision is rendered about the fate of the church.
The objects will be returned in the event that Weaver and the St. Joseph’s Preservation Society win the suit.
Hale stresses, "Churches are not just buildings. They are sacred spaces."
The Society has funds to purchase the church as well as a committed benefactor who will fund needed repairs along with providing upkeep costs in perpetuity.
A St. Joseph’s preservation supporter writes on the Society’s Facebook site, “St. Joseph's is a beacon of hope, a refuge, a sign of continuity of the faith in spite of demographic changes. Keeping the church as a sacred space shows respect for those who built it out of love and sacrifice. Tearing it down would be an affront to all the hardworking faith-filled families who sacrificed personal wealth to establish a place of worship.”
It is the goal of the Society to purchase, restore, and maintain St. Joseph’s church as a chapel for personal reflection and family events, as well as a religious landmark for Cabery’s future generations.
If the church is to be saved, it may be due to the site being a burial ground.
But, it will also be due to the tireless work of the church’s current supporters. — herscherpilot.com
Through a town called Lincoln.
To town Dwight and bookmarks from Kim.
