Dear Friends and Parishioners,
On June 30, 2021 at around midnight, a fire started at St. Ann’s Church in Mud Lake, Jefferson County, Eastern Idaho (pop. 385). The local fire department responded, and no one was hurt. The fire is under investigation and the cause of the fire has not been determined, although a strong weather event and lightning strike took place around the time of the fire. It is presumed that the building is a total loss.
St. Ann’s was built in 1963 to serve the needs of a growing population of farmers and migrant workers in the rich Mud Lake Wildlife Management area. Although the Church is only 800 square feet it is the second largest building in Mud Lake after the Mormon Church. There is a small kitchen and social area in the basement with a restroom, which served as a social gathering spot for the town regardless of denomination or whoever needed to use it.
When I was Pastor in Idaho Falls, I would go to Mud Lake to celebrate weekly mass and other activities. The lawn was perfectly manicured, the church was immaculate with starched linens on the altar and the choir ready to go. Great care and love for the Church was always evident. People from all over the area came to the Church for Sunday Mass, Confessions, Weddings, Baptisms, Funerals and Quinceaneras.
Please keep the people of St. Ann’s in your prayers. Fr. Ron Wekerle and the Pastoral Team in Idaho Falls have been working to arrange Sunday Masses elsewhere and will be with the St. Ann’s community this Sunday, doing all they can to tend to this tragic situation.
If there is anyone interested in putting money in a Fire Relief Fund for St. Ann’s in Mud Lake, please let me know. St. Ann’s is a blessed community, and they will rise from the ashes. St. Ann, pray for all of us.
In Peace,
