St. James Rejoins Holy Family Community

As our faith family continues to move forward in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are blessed to once again have St. James in Dawson officially be a part of our Holy Family Area Catholic Community.

“I am looking forward to being pastor to the St. James parishioners again,” says Fr. Paul Timmerman. “I had a good rapport with them when I was their pastor the first time, so I look forward to picking up where we left off.”

Beginning July 1, St. James joined Holy Family Area Catholic Community. St. Clara is now part of Jesus Our Living Water Area Faith Community, which currently includes St. Mary in Willmar and Our Lady of the Lakes in Spicer. St. James was a part of Holy Family Area two years ago, for about two years.

“I am glad we are going back to the familiar,” says Joann Evjen, a parishioner at St. James for more than 40 years.

The Faith Formation program has been combined with St. Joseph in Montevideo for three years, and that arrangement will also continue.

Founded in 1898, St. James initially consisted of seven families. In 1902, St. James welcomed Fr. James Kline as Pastor, and he taught catechism classes and held Mass each Saturday morning. Sunday Mass was held once a month and Fr. James would travel back to his home in Granite Falls by train. From 1910 to 1938, no Masses were held because of the low number of Catholic families in the area.

In 1938, Fr. William Murphy started holding Mass in the home of William Schacherers. In that same year, a white wooden church was purchased from the Methodist Society.

The current church, where construction began in 1955, had the first Mass on April 29, 1956. St. James in Dawson and St. Andrew in Granite Falls were built by the same contractor. In 1981, a remodeling project was completed. Today, St. James has about 100 families.

Joann has always loved St. James. She says people are always friendly and welcoming to each other and visitors.

“Many parishioners have family at the other parishes in the Holy Family Area,” Joann says. She and her husband, Mark, have a daughter, Asha Godfrey, who lives in Montevideo with her husband, Dan, and three children. They also have three sons — Dan, and his family in Honolulu, Hawaii; Taylor, and his family in Brandon, Minn.; and Clayton, and his family in Alexandria, Minn. St. James holds their big fundraiser each year during harvest season. The Fall Festival, complete with a turkey dinner, is held the first Sunday in October. Because of the COVID-19 precautions, this year’s festival will be a takeout only meal.

“We always serve 700 to 800 people,” Joann says. “One year, we served just over 900.”

A soup and sandwich meal is held each March through Catholic United, along with a monthly breakfast that benefits the education fund.

Joann wants to invite current parishioners at St. James to step forward to volunteer for the various ministries, whether that be helping with the Fall Festival or serving as a lector. She also invites anyone in the Holy Family Area Catholic Community to attend Mass at St. James for weekday Mass on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. or Sunday Mass at 8:30 a.m.