WINFIELD – While some parishes across the Diocese of Gary are just beginning the process of merging, three churches in the Porter County Deanery have a head start, since they have been working together as One Catholic Family for several years.
Holy Spirit in Winfield, St. Helen in Hebron and St. Mary in Kouts began operating under the leadership of Father Thomas Mischler shortly after the death of longtime St. Mary pastor Father Thomas Tibbs in May 2020. Following the sudden death of Father Frank Torres, associate pastor at St. Helen, Father Ian Williams became a priest-in-residence at St. Helen, celebrating Masses at all three churches and leading several programs in support of Father Mischler, who called him “a godsend.”
The decrees issued by Bishop Robert J. McClory on May 31 confirmed that St. Mary, established in 1921, and St. Helen are merged with Holy Spirit and are acting as additional worship sites. At an appropriate time, and after the required canonical processes, St. Mary will conclude its time as a worship site and the community will be relocated to the other campuses for their spiritual, sacramental and pastoral care.
“After Father Tibbs passed away, we had an all-hands-on-deck staff meeting to figure out how we were going to make this work,” recalled Father Mischler. “We had the financial part covered with our shared business manager, so we worked on combining other staff and our parish councils. We had to come up with a (weekend) Mass schedule that one priest could cover, in case Father Ian was ill, and ended up with a 4 p.m. Saturday Mass at St. Mary and a 6 p.m. Saturday Mass at Holy Spirit. On Sundays, we have a 9 a.m. Mass at St. Helen and an 11 a.m. Mass at Holy Spirit, combining our former 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. liturgies.”
Father Mischler admitted that moving the Saturday Mass at Holy Spirit from 4 to 6 p.m. was not popular, so once grant funding became available for a visiting priest, the Saturday Mass was switched back to 4 p.m.
Deacon Thomas Maicher, serving Holy Spirit since his ordination, formed an integrated budget with the respective finance councils and identified areas for cost sharing.
The three parishes have continued to host their own ministries and activities, coordinating their schedules whenever possible. Some sharing has occurred, including Holy Week liturgies held on a rotating basis. A 40 Hours of Devotion mission earlier this year offered one evening service at each of the three parishes. “This year we’ve hosted a painting party at St. Mary, a St. Patrick’s Day reflection and dinner at Holy Spirit and a St. Joseph’s Day Table at St. Helen, open to all parishioners,” added Father Mischler.
One of the most successful collaborations has come thanks to St. Helen expanding its 19 years of support for Pine Ridge Reservation and its Red Cloud School in South Dakota to include all three parishes. There is an annual collection to supply backpacks to schoolchildren, a fundraising Everything Chocolate Sale, spaghetti dinners and summer mission trips to the reservation that included volunteers from all three parishes for the first time last year.
“Once they went to the reservation for a week and saw the importance of the school to the people there, it boosted our almsgiving from $17,000 in 2025 to $25,275 in 2026,” said Karen Yankauskas, pastoral associate for One Catholic Family, who spearheads the ministry. She organized a free dinner to thank donors and recap the mission trip last fall that sparked more support.
St. Helen has also hosted a taco dinner after All Souls Day Mass, a Valentine’s Day Brunch, and a Spring Ladies Tea, held May 2, featuring food, games, fellowship and a Best Hat Contest.
“When we held the brunch this year to welcome the Belles of St. Mary group, we didn’t ‘invite’ St. Mary women to join us, but asked them to become part of it; bring a dish or a case of water, or do something to help set up for the event. That’s my style. It’s a big thing with me to involve people, make them a part of it,” Yankauskas explained.
“We ended up with about 40 women – St. Helen women brought appetizers and St. Mary attendees came with desserts – and I saw smiles on their faces because everyone contributed.”
Yankauskas sees the distance between the parishes as the biggest obstacle to coming together. “It’s 17-20 miles from St. Mary to Holy Spirit, with Hebron somewhat between, and not a normal path. From Hebron, I could go either way, toward Crown Point or Valparaiso, but it’s more natural for Kouts residents to shop in Valparaiso,” she said. “We hope they will become part of our merged parish, but [I] understand” that some of the St. Mary families may gravitate to Wanatah or Valparaiso.
There is much sadness and some bitterness that the parish where generations of their families worshipped is closing, but Yankauskas stressed that Father Mischler “fought for St. Mary (to stay open). His heart was with them. St. Helen was founded in 1946 as an offshoot of St. Mary, with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton born of St. Helen in 1978 and Holy Spirit, the largest of all four in a growing Winfield community, an offspring of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1998.
“We all have a little bit different of a worship style,” the pastoral associate added. “It’s more quiet at St. Mary and St. Helen, while people are more social at Holy Spirit, and of course they have no kneelers,” she said.
Lois Marks, active at St. Mary as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and Sunday collection counter, admitted the St. Mary closing was not unexpected, “but we are still very sad. A rural parish becomes a family.” She said that while she plans to stay with the merged parish and attend Mass at St. Helen, “I don’t know much about it.”
One thing Marks does know about is the support for Red Cloud School, which she finds “very positive. It’s an important cause and I’m happy to be part of it.”
Donna Martin, a St. Mary parishioner, is trying to make the best of the merger. “I’ll be joining the new parish and attending St. Helen,” she said. “My grandpa helped start St. Helen, so I have that connection.”
Betty Starley, of St. Helen, agreed that the hardest part of the merger will be the closing of St. Mary. “I truly hope the (Kouts people) will come to St. Helen. Everyone here is waiting to welcome them.” One year from now, she added, “I think we’ll be fine; I’ve met some of the women from St. Mary, and I think we will mesh very well,” she said.
Debbie Lara, of Holy Spirit, considered the three parishes “already merged” as One Catholic Family, although the closing of St. Mary will be very difficult for its people. She said she has helped with the Everything Chocolate Sale, calling it “a great fundraiser” for Red Cloud School.
Father Mischler agreed that each parish is “a unique entity with a different vibe and different history,” which will be a challenge to bring together. “I’ve used the concept of a blended family, with three kids - one who favors athletics, one who is bookish and one who is into music. These kids don’t get along, but they are now in the same family, so it’s important that they recognize that.”
Traditionally, he added, St. Mary is much more independent, “rising out of a farming community where they are more self-reliant,” and St. Helen has been “kind of on their own” to define itself. “Holy Spirit was born out of (the late) Father (Joseph) Murphy’s style. Holy Spirit still doesn’t have a permanent church, using a converted hall, kind of like the new kid on the block compared to St. Mary, built more than 100 years ago, with deep roots.”
As he prepared for retirement on July 1 and helped new parish administrator Father Steven Caraher get settled at Holy Spirit, Father Mischler developed a merger manual, based on what took place in Merrillville (five parishes merged into one, with two worship sites). “How do we brand ourselves? What we’ve done so far could be considered Round 1; unless we get more seminarians, we may need to consider more mergers in our diocese in the future,” he noted
In five years, Yankauskas hopes “that we will be one parish, instead of looking at it as ‘I belong here and you belong there.’ We will all belong to one parish and can work together on special Masses and Easter worship, with St. Helen still hosting All Souls Day. We need new ideas and events to find things we can do together.”
Father Mischler said Father Caraher is uniquely poised to lead the people of the new Porter Deanery parish, since he is studying for a college degree in the New Evangelization.
After five weeks of studies in Detroit this summer, Father Caraher arrived at Holy Spirit the weekend of Aug. 8-9 and was officially welcomed at the Annual Parish Mass and Picnic hosted by St. Helen on Aug. 16. “I’m glad to have the chance to meet more of my new parishioners,” said Father Caraher, who spent the past two years as the associate pastor at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Merrillville after his priestly ordination in 2024.
“I’m a young priest, 30 years old, and leading a parish can be a humbling thing, but I can see that we have great people willing to listen to the Lord and make the journey with him, and I’m looking forward to making that journey with the people.
“As I’m beginning my time as administrator, I’m keeping a heart that is open,” Father Caraher added. Asked if he has any ideas for Holy Spirit, he said: “The only idea I have so far is prayer, to Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus will help us navigate this mission.”
He said he has not been surprised by anything he has encountered, but has been “overwhelmed by the great attitude” of the parishioners. “It is always encouraging to get the kind of warm welcome I’ve experienced from absolutely everyone.”
Having arrived at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in the midst of the Merrillville merger, Father Caraher agreed that the experience will be helpful, “even if just to recognize that there’s life on the other side of a messy process.
“Father Ted Mauch (the Merrillville pastor) gave me a good example of merging faith families, an example of bowing to the Word of God, and it was wonderful to see the buy-in from everyone,” Father Caraher said. “ I have seen so many blessings.”
A parish committee has submitted the suggestions for a new parish name and is awaiting Bishop McClory’s choice following a delay mandated by the IRS. “The bishop put us together because of the nature of One Catholic Family,” Father Mischler noted, “which was already established as a way to bring our three parishes together. Now we are one parish.”
Caption: Holy Spirit in Winfield held just one Mass on Aug. 16 at its worship site, St. Helen in Hebron, to welcome new administrator Father Steven Caraher (left), who greets Carol Lee and Judy Fidcher outside the church. The Annual Parish Mass and Picnic drew a large congregation as it also incorporated an official welcome for Father Caraher, who previously served as associate pastor at Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs in Merrillville, another combined parish, following his ordination to the priesthood in 2024. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
