As soon as the pioneers arrived in Ringgold County, their thoughts turned toward establishing schools and churches. Worship services were held whenever the circuit riders came through. In some communities Sunday Schools and churches were organized even though finanical resources were quite limited.

Reverend W. C. WILLIAMS of Lorimor preached a sermon in the timber of Jefferson Township in 1853. In October of 1854, Reverend Mr. BELL, also known as "Iron Jacket Baptist," rode up from Fairview (Denver), Missouri to conduct services out of Henry MILLER's home. The following year, Mr. and Mrs. Luke SHAY returned home to find a Catholic priest waiting for them at the cabin. He later said the first mass in Ringgold County in the SHAY cabin.

Barton DUNNING, who kept the first store in Mount Ayr, started a Sunday school in 1856 and presented the organization with a Sunday School library which he had purchased one of his business trips to St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. SCHROBER, a Methodist preacher, became the superintendent of this Sunday School and preached the first sermon in the fledgling county seat of Mount Ayr.

Few groups, however, could not afford to erect even humble church buildings. Instead, members of the congregation met in school houses or their homes.

The Irish Catholics of Maloy held services in Luke SHAY's parlor until they built a chapel 1/4 of a mile north of town in 1875. Luke SHAY donated half of the construction cost.

The citizens of Liberty Township decided to erect a church on a tract of land donated by James A. DRAKE's heirs in 1874. With little financial resources and building materials scarce, the people garthered large boulders for the foundation and donated timber for the foundation sills. The Widow CALFEE donated an oak tree that was made into a 40-foot sill. Those who could not donate either materials or money, volunteered to haul logs to the sawmill, lime from a kiln in Decatur County, or shingles and lumber from Leon. Others helped put up the building. When the church was finally completed, it was done so debt free. Elder TODD dedicated the church, named High Point Methodist Church. S. L. THOMPSON noted in the April 21, 1914 edition of The Mount Ayr Record-News, "Those of us who were boys when the church was being built are now men with silver hair. . . High Point Church has now become one of the old landmarks of the early settlement of Ringgold County....standing as a monument to the memory of the loyal, hardy settlers of the surrounding country."

The Palestine United Brethren Church was erected three miles south of Delphos. With more and more people purchasing automobiles, the membership dwindled until the church closed its doors in 1918 when the remaining congregation transferred their membership to the Redding church.

Many of the country churches relied upon the services of circuit riders, clergymen who followed prairie trails from one congregation to another. The circuit riders lived on their horses furnished by the members of their circuit, going from home to home, community to community. Some riders reportedly wore out eight horses a year. Nearly penniless, they were "happy in God" as they attended to members of their flock scattered over the rolling hills of the prairie.

Camp meetings and tent revivals thrived in the southern part of Ringgold County from the 1870's until around 1910. The excitement and fervor of these revivals were a welcomed break from the daily routine of life on the farm and drew in large crowds. The strongest evangelist sermons drew the largest crowds. An annual camp meeting was held from 1872 to 1875 on the Isaac MARSHALL farm in Middle Fork Township. Later, these meeting were held on the Luther DENNIS farm, also in Middle Fork Township. Mrs. Anna DAVIS, an evangelist of the Evangelical Church, conducted tent meeting in August on a 40-tract of land John BUSH purchased specifically for religious purposes, then grazing the rest of the year. Old-timers declared that they could hear the amassed singing hymns from two miles away.

Before most of the outlaying villages and towns existed, five churches had been erected in Mount Ayr. The first, the Methodist Church was constructed in 1869 and followed by the United Presbyterian Church in 1870. The Baptist Church was erected in 1873; the Presbyterian Church in 1875, and the Christian Church in 1882.

A log church was erected in Bethel Cemetery, located south of the town of Goshen. This early church was replaced by a frame church which was constructed in 1881. Two loads of lumber for the construction of the new church arrived by rail. Later, the church was moved to Diagonal in 1890.

At one time there were four churches in Benton: the United Brethren, Seventh-Day Adventist, United Methoidst, and Christian Churches. There were two churches in Knowlton.

In 1890, there was a new Methodist Church erected in Benton and the Bohemian colony near Diagonal replaced their church situated on the DOLECHECK farm with a new church building. The Goshen church was moved to Diagonal in 1890. By 1895, there were 25 churches in Ringgold County with some of the smaller rural churches already closed with their membership transferred to other larger congregations.

The congregation at Kellerton held services in a schoolhouse. A Christian Church in Tingley was erected in 1882, the first in a group of towns platted out along sites by the railroad. In 1882, a Baptist Church was erected in Delphos; a Catholic Church in Kellerton; a United Brethren Church in Beaconsfield; and an Evangelistic Church at Wirt (later Ellston.) By 1895, two or three churches had been established in each of Ringgold County's villages.

Reverend William BROWN, pastor of the United Presbyterian Church of Mount Ayr, established a mission church at Eugene. The evangalistic spirit swept through the county with four young women stepping forward to dedicate their lives to missionary services abroad: Josephine STAHL went to Darjeeling, India; Helen GALLOWAY went to Chung King, China; Lydia WILKINSON went to Foo Chow, China; and Fannie PERKINS went to Rangoon, Burma.

In 1971, Bishop Maurice DIGMAN established a team ministry of three priests to serve the combined parishes of St. Patrick's of Grand River. These parishes include St. Brendan's Church, Leons, Iowa, both of Decatur County; St. Joseph's Church, Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa; St. Bernard's Church, Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa; Immaculate Conception Church, Maloy, Ringgold County, Iowa; Corydon Catholic Community, Corydon, Wayne County, Iowa; St. Mary's Church, Woodburn, Iowa; and in 1978, Sacred Heart Church, Chariton, Lucas County, Iowa, joining the Leon Region of Catholic Community.

SOURCE:

Ringgold County History
Complied and written by the Iowa Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Iowa, Sponsored by Ringgold County Superintendent of Schools, Mount Ayr, Iowa. 1942.

Written & Submitted by Sharon R. Becker, 2008

St. Joseph Catholic Church of Mount Ayr, Iowa  
    Father Thomas DOOLEY (2009); Father Glen WILWERDING (2010)

United Methodist Church, Mount Ayr Larger Parish
    Pastor Skip RUSHING

Wishard Chapel, Methodist Episcopal, Tingley
    Reverend Dan FERNANDEZ (to 2011)
    Wishard Chapel Community Church, Pastor Thomas RUTAN, 2012

Ministers, Pastors, & Spiritual Leaders of Ringgold County
    An on-going project

"Steeple" photograph by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2009

Many Ringgold County families and residents are included in Decatur County IAGenWeb-site's A History of the Catholic Church: Decatur County, Iowa" by Rev. Edward J. HARKIN, pastor, 1956, and transcribed in January & February, 2002 by Nancee (McMURTREY) SIEFERT. This work includes genealogical information, obituaries, and family information. This transcription covers five webpages:

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