A Beacon on the Hill in St. Peters
All Saints Catholic Parish rises on a hill on McMenamy Road in St. Peters, Missouri, where its steeple has stood as a landmark along the I-70 corridor for more than a century. The parish formally took the name All Saints in 1856, and in 2023 it marked its 200th anniversary as a Catholic congregation in the area. Members and visitors alike know the church for its stained-glass windows, its high altar, and the simple truth captured in the parish's mission: Following Jesus, Forming Saints.
Part of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, All Saints is a parish that takes its long history seriously without resting on it. The current pastor, Fr. John Schneier, has set a renewed vision for the parish as it begins its third century. The work of the parish is rooted in the Eucharist, in sacramental life, and in forming every generation, from toddlers in the atrium to maturing adults in the Simeon and Anna ministry, as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Two Centuries on the Hill
Catholic families had been gathering in prayer along the Dardenne since 1815. By 1823, a congregation made up largely of French and French-Canadian settlers began meeting formally in a modest log house on the east side of the creek, calling their church St. Peters Church. Frequent flooding pushed the community west in 1834, and in 1835 land on higher ground was set aside for what would become the parish cemetery, the same hilltop the parish still occupies.
German immigrants arrived in the decades that followed and the congregation grew. A third, larger church went up in 1855 to 1856 on that high ground, and with the new church the parish took the name All Saints. By 1874 the community had grown to nearly 125 families and work began on the present church building. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1874; the first Mass was celebrated in 1876; and the interior was completed by 1882 under Fr. Nicholas Staudinger and Fr. Conrad Rotter.
The buildings that surround the church today reflect a century and a half of steady expansion. A rectory went up in 1903, a convent in 1915, and a steeple in 1916 that became the parish's signature silhouette along the highway. The school cornerstone was laid in 1919 on a building whose oldest section is still in use. New classrooms were added in 1959, 1962, and 1977. The Parish Center and gymnasium were completed in 1989, and a new rectory went up on the site of the old convent in 2008.
Several pastors have shaped All Saints in the modern era: Fr. Louis Kertz (1975 to 1981), Fr. Robert Argent (1981 to 1986), Fr. Ron Chochol (1986 to 1991), Fr. Michael Henning (1991 to 2005), and Fr. Donald Wester (2005 to 2024). Fr. Schneier began serving the parish as Parochial Administrator in 2024, just after the 200th anniversary.
Mass, Confession, and the Sacraments
The parish's worship life centers on the church on the hill, where Mass is offered every day of the week. The regular schedule is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 a.m.; Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 a.m.; Saturday Vigil at 5:00 p.m.; and Sunday at 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00 a.m. A parish Rosary is prayed publicly at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday and at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday afternoons from 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. Confessions can also be scheduled by appointment through the parish office. During Advent and Lent the priests lead communal prayer services followed by individual confessions.
Tuesdays also bring an hour of Eucharistic Adoration with Exposition at 7:00 p.m. and Night Prayer and Benediction at 8:15 p.m. Devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help is celebrated after the 8:00 a.m. Mass each Tuesday. Communal Anointing of the Sick is offered after the 9:00 a.m. Mass on the first Saturday of the month, and individuals scheduled for surgery or extended hospital care are encouraged to contact the rectory beforehand. Pastoral care for the sick includes weekly visits by Eucharistic ministers to parishioners who cannot attend Mass.
Infant baptisms are scheduled on Sundays at 12:30 p.m. outside of Lent and Easter. Preparation for First Reconciliation and First Communion ordinarily takes place during second grade, with First Reconciliation in the fall and First Communion in the spring. Confirmation is a two-year process beginning in seventh grade, with the sacrament usually celebrated at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis shortly after Easter. Engaged couples are asked to contact the parish at least six months before the wedding, and weddings are scheduled on Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons with a few parish exceptions. Marriage preparation uses the Fully Engaged Program.
Restore and Renew
All Saints has launched a capital campaign called Restore and Renew to care for its historic church building and to add a new gathering space. The campaign focuses on two efforts: restoring the interior of the 1874 church and building an attached gathering space that will add restrooms and room for fellowship, funeral visitations, and parish gatherings.
The interior work includes new flooring, pews, paint, lighting, confessionals, and the restoration of the altar rail. The pastoral team is also examining older paint schemes in the parish archives, since the church was once much more ornate and colorful than the beige tones familiar to many current parishioners. The campaign was preceded by an immensely positive feasibility study, and the parish has begun a quiet phase of one-on-one fundraising before engaging the wider parish in pledges during fall and winter of 2026.
Construction is expected to begin after Easter 2027, with the interior work taking roughly seven to eight months and the gathering space about twelve months. During the interior phase, weekend Masses will move to the gymnasium, while daily Masses and most funerals will take place in the Ministry Center auditorium. The campaign prayer asks God to bless the effort and to restore what is wounded, sinful, and broken, and to renew souls to serve with fidelity, humility, and love.
All Saints Catholic School
The parish school, All Saints Catholic School, sits just down the road at 5 McMenamy Road. The original building dates to 1919 and has served thousands of students over more than a century. The school today offers a full K-8 program, with preschool also offered. Dr. Melvin Bishop serves as principal.
Fr. Schneier has been open about both the challenges and the recent momentum of the school. Enrollment had dropped to 123 students in K-8 before climbing to 137, an increase of more than 13 percent, while preschool is full. The parish's ideal size for the school is 225 students, and school leaders believe 160 or more is realistic within four to five years if Kindergarten remains strong and retention continues to improve. Students participate in the Catholic Youth Athletic Association (CYC) for fall, winter, spring, and summer sports.
The school is intentionally Catholic in identity. The parish is developing a new Level I Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Atrium within the school building so that younger students can encounter Christ through the Montessori-style sacred space during the school day. Faith formation goes hand in hand with academics: more frequent confession times, a structured list of grade-level prayers, and regular participation in Eucharistic Adoration and the Rosary are all part of the plan. On the financial side, the parish subsidy for the school came in at 29 percent of the Sunday offertory this past year, within the healthy green zone, and the parish believes that stronger enrollment will keep driving that number down.
Faith Formation for Children and Youth
Faith formation at All Saints is described as the work of the whole parish rather than a single department, and it begins early. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is offered for toddlers through age twelve in dedicated Atrium spaces at the Ministry Center, using a Montessori-based approach developed by Sofia Cavalletti and Gianna Gobbi. Children ponder Scripture, learn the gestures of the Mass, and grow in a quiet, contemplative relationship with Jesus. Atria are organized into Toddler, Level I, Level II, and Level III, each leading children deeper into salvation history, the sacraments, and the moral life.
Sanctify, the parish school of religion (formerly PSR), gathers K-8 students on Wednesday evenings for prayer, classroom instruction, community, and sacramental preparation. Parents are recognized as the first and primary educators of their children, and the program exists to walk alongside families rather than replace them. Sacramental preparation for First Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation is built into the curriculum, with Reconciliation typically received in November of the second-grade year and First Communion in April.
Children's Liturgy of the Word is offered during the 9:00 a.m. Sunday Mass for children ages three to seven. Young worshippers are escorted from the church just before the readings to a sacred space in the school where they hear and discuss the Gospel, returning to their families as the gifts are brought forward for Consecration. Vacation Bible School is a summer staple, and the parish also sends children to the archdiocesan Totus Tuus summer program.
Youth ministry meets students where they are. EDGE is the middle school program, with regular Monday evening meetings and special social or service nights. Life Night is the high school program, gathering teens on Sunday nights from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Ministry Center for games, faith-sharing, and prayer. Eighth graders are invited to the annual Luke 18 retreat in April, which is led by the high school students themselves. Every summer the parish attends the Steubenville Youth Conference in Springfield, Missouri, and the Life Teen Leadership Conference at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, for high schoolers.
OCIA and Adult Formation
Becoming Catholic at All Saints begins with a conversation with Fr. Schneier. The parish runs the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), the Church's formal process for adults who are unbaptized, baptized in another Christian tradition, or baptized Catholic but uncatechized and in need of First Communion or Confirmation. The four periods of the process (Precatechumenate, Catechumenate, Purification and Enlightenment, and Mystagogy) are accompanied by the usual liturgical rites, including the Rite of Election at the cathedral on the first Sunday of Lent and the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil.
The parish has also developed OCIA adapted for children and teens who need to receive sacraments outside the usual grade-level sequence. The goal, the parish stresses, is never to make families feel behind but to walk with each one carefully so that every student is prepared with understanding, reverence, and joy.
Adult formation takes several shapes. Veritas is the parish's adult formation school, offering courses in theology, Scripture, liturgy, Church history, morality, prayer, and Catholic life. All Saints in the Word is the parish Scripture initiative, with Bible studies, reading plans, small groups, and reflections. Restless Hearts is a Catholic book and formation resource inspired by Augustine, designed to help readers rediscover the desire for God. The Faith Formation office is also developing a long list of upcoming titles on subjects ranging from the theology of the diaconate and Catholic beauty to grief, the Psalms, and parish renewal.
Young adults ages 18 to 35 are invited to join Theophilus, a ministry named for the lover of God addressed in the Gospel of Luke. The St. Lawrence Fraternity is a discernment and formation group for men considering the permanent diaconate or deeper service in the Church. The Evangelization Committee supports hospitality, outreach, and invitation across the parish, and the Fishers of Men podcast carries the parish's voice into conversations about vocations, priesthood, religious life, marriage, and holiness. A separate Simeon and Anna ministry serves maturing adults, while Hearts on Fire is an outreach ministry that brings prayer and companionship to residents of Clarendale and other senior living settings.
Eucharistic Adoration, Pilgrimages, and Devotions
The parish has long had weekly Eucharistic Adoration on Tuesday evenings, but a major new chapter opened recently with the inauguration of a permanent Adoration Chapel. The chapel exists because our hearts long for Jesus' presence in the Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian life. The chapel is intended to deepen Eucharistic devotion among parishioners and school students alike, and to foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
The chapel also anchors the parish's broader devotional life. The annual Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus invites the parish, families, homes, and ministries to be placed under the merciful love of Christ. Forty Hours of Adoration is observed during Corpus Christi weekend. Christkindl Abend, the German Evening of the Christ Child, is celebrated during Advent, with small white lights adorning the parish grounds and the historic grotto bathed in blue.
That grotto, Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, is more than a century old and sits between the Parish Center and the cemetery. Children gather there to pray the Rosary during the school year, and many leave a candle burning after they finish their prayers. Surrounded by greenery in the warmer months, with seating for quiet meditation, the grotto is described as a four-seasons place for prayer.
The parish also organizes Catholic pilgrimages, inviting parishioners to walk in the footsteps of saints, visit sacred shrines, and participate in timeless religious practices alongside fellow pilgrims. Pilgrims can listen to reflections on past trips through the parish's Taking Sacred Steps podcast series.
Cemetery, Columbarium, and a Place for Grieving Well
All Saints Cemetery sits west of the church on the higher ground first set aside for burial in 1835 to protect graves from the flood waters of the Dardenne. More than 1,200 people are buried there, and a Crucifixion Group statue on the north side serves as the setting for outdoor Masses on special occasions. By the early decades of the twenty-first century, the cemetery was near capacity, so the parish completed the Mother of Sorrows Meditation Garden and the first columbarium structure in 2019. Two additional columbarium structures went up in 2022, bringing the total to 300 niches, each of which can hold two urns.
The Stabat Mater Retreat supports mothers, fathers, couples, grandparents, and anyone else carrying the grief of miscarriage, infertility, stillbirth, or infant loss. Standing with Mary beneath the Cross, the retreat creates space for prayer, mourning, remembrance, healing, and hope in Christ.
Parish Life, Giving, and Communications
Beyond its sacramental and educational ministries, All Saints supports a wide range of parish activities and committees. The parish calendar is filled with weekly, monthly, and seasonal gatherings, including an annual Ministry Fair, Fabulous Fall Festival, Ethnic Potluck Dinner, Cemetery Walk, Choir Concert, Trivia Night, Daddy Daughter Dance, Mother and Son Bowling Event, ACTS Pancake Breakfast, and the 43rd Annual Craft Bazaar. A parish Blood Drive, Alleluia Baskets Trivia, and a Ladies Auxiliary fundraiser are also part of the rhythm of the year.
Two parish fundraisers deserve particular mention. The Barefoot Children's Ministry supports teaching volunteers who travel to nine elementary schools in Belize to provide lessons; parishioners can support the effort through Dine to Donate nights and other events. The RaiseRight program (formerly SCRIP) lets parishioners purchase gift cards and prepaid cards for groceries, gas, restaurants, and retail stores, with a percentage of each purchase going back to All Saints at no additional cost to the buyer. Proceeds can be directed to the school, the parish school of religion, or the general parish fund.
The parish posts homilies online, offers a livestream on YouTube, and shares homilies and other reflections through a podcast. The Fishers of Men podcast focuses on vocations, discipleship, priesthood, religious life, marriage, and holiness, with stories of ordinary people being called into extraordinary lives of grace. The weekly Faith Formation Letter, written in tandem with the parish's pastoral letter, walks through the Sunday Scriptures and applies them to the parish's mission.
Safe Environment is taken seriously at All Saints. All adults working with minors or vulnerable adults are required to register with the archdiocesan Prevent and Protect program, attend a Protecting God's Children live workshop, complete background checks, and adhere to the archdiocesan Code of Ethical Conduct.
Joining All Saints
Becoming a parishioner begins with the parish registration form, available online. Visitors and newcomers are warmly welcomed by Fr. Schneier and the parish staff: Whether you've just moved to the area, been around for years, or are interested in a relationship with God, our parish family welcomes you and invites you to discover the person of Jesus Christ through the Catholic faith.
The parish offices are open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The school office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. With more than two centuries of history, a K-8 parish school, a full slate of faith formation programs for every age, and a renewed commitment to the Eucharist at the heart of parish life, All Saints continues to live out its one and only mission: Following Jesus, Forming Saints.