St. Cecilia Catholic Church
Thiensville, Wisconsin
1919-2005

Although Thiensville was founded in 1831, the small community did not have a neighborhood Catholic Church until a small group of German and Irish families established St. Cecilia Parish in 1919. St. Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians and martyrs. How or why the name of Cecilia was chosen by the organizers of the parish in 1919 is not recorded. Perhaps the name was selected because the feast day of the saint is observed November 22, the day prior to the first Mass at the new parish in Thiensville.

In the beginning St. Cecilia’s was a mission church built on land donated by Peter and Josephine Ellenbecker, with Father Albert E. Darnieder as pastor. The first church was a simple wooden structure located on the top of the hill on what is now Orchard Street where, decades later, parishioners continue to worship, learn and serve. In 1928, the church added a choir loft and steeple.

As Thiensville slowly grew, so did the parish. By 1940, St. Cecilia Parish grew to 85 families and built a new church to accommodate its growing numbers. The lannon stone structure, which now houses the church offices, was built in 1940. St. Cecilia received its first full-time pastor, Father Peter A. Bronner, in 1946.

Even though membership was small, the parishioners of St. Cecilia Parish took on the building of a school. A two-story school – presently the northern two-story section of St. Cecilia and James School – was built and opened in 1956. The teaching staff consisted of three Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother and one lay teacher. Over 160 children were enrolled in grades one through eight.

The school building included quarters for the Sisters on the upper floor, six classrooms, and a gymnasium. The purchase of a house in 1961, to serve as a convent, made additional classroom space available, but classrooms were still crowded. The present church building and more classrooms under the church were added in 1963. The lannon stone church was converted into the parish center in 1976.

The first parish council was elected in May 1971, after Vatican II recognized the role of the laity.

In 1984, the St. Cecilia School joined the neighboring St. James School becoming the Sts. Cecilia and James Catholic School, Inc., a corporation separate from each parish but sponsored by both. This joint effort on the part of both parishes resulted in one of the first successful school consolidations in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Late in 1988 Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland officiated at the dedication of the renovated and reconstructed church.

In 1991, the St. Cecilia Christian Formation program merged with the St. James Christian Formation program. Following Father Gerald J. Dominiak and Fr. Dennis Andrews, a parish administrator was assigned, Fr. Thomas D. DeVries. Under the current pastor, Fr. Thomas D. DeVries, St. James Catholic Church, St. Cecilia Catholic Church, the School and all programs merged to become one...Lumen Christi Catholic Church, on July 1, 2005.

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