Though I have family roots in Nemaha County, moving here in July of 2023 to be the pastor of these three small communities of Sabetha, Wetmore, and Fidelity has been my first opportunity to live in this beautiful, fertile land. After becoming accustomed to the fast pace of the city, I have found the slower rhythm and family-oriented culture of rural Kansas a welcome change and a source of peace and healing.

The Holy Spirit is on the move in our desperately hurting culture, and I can perceive His fire and healing being poured out in a special way here in rural northeast Kansas.

In our three parish communities, we strive to place Jesus in the Eucharist at the center of all we do. We as Christians are not meant to be merely good people; we are called to be transformed by the fire of Jesus’ love for us in prayer, sacrament, and community. 

We aren’t perfect, and we often make mistakes individually and as a community. Pope Francis has called the Church a "field hospital", and my hope is that rather than hiding our wounds, we continue to bring them into the light and to the Divine Physician to find healing. Hurt people hurt people, but healed people heal people.

We live in a culture of unprecedented anxiety, depression, and loneliness, and Jesus wants to draw us out of this isolation and pain into communion and healing. 

I hope that when you have the chance to “come and see" and stay with us here, you will find Jesus’ words to be true: “Come to me all you who are weary and heavily laden, and I will give you rest.”

In Jesus’ joy,

Fr. Joel Haug