San Pablo Mission to replace house with church

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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Currently, Mass is celebrated in this converted house on Highway 18 near Beryl Junction; plans call for a dedicated church building to be constructed alongside it.

BERYL JUNCTION — Driving past the long, low building in the middle of agricultural land along Highway 18, in Iron County, it would be easy to mistake it for a home. On second glance, the wooden cross on one side of the door and the painting of Saint Paul on the other indicate that the building is in fact San Pablo Mission.

“The building used to be a house, then it was converted to a bar, and now it’s a church,” said Fr. David Bittmenn, pastor of St. George Parish, which ministers to the mission. The building has a living room/dining room area where Mass is celebrated. There are three small rooms used for religious education classes, a kitchen, and two small bathrooms.

The Catholic community in the Beryl Junction community “has been going for at least 20, 25 years,” Fr. Bittmenn said, and although it’s not a fast-growth area, on Sundays the worship space is standing-room only.

Because of this, a permanent church will be constructed next to the house.

“A church building is a more permanent presence, a church building would be open to more people, a church building signals a certain amount of seriousness on the part of the community about their commitment and their faith itself,” the priest said. Once the church is constructed, the current building will be used for classrooms.

An anonymous donor has already given half a million dollars toward construction of the new church. Fr. Bittmenn said groundbreaking probably will begin in a year, when the supply chains issues are resolved and costs may drop