St. Isidore Parish, Laingsburg at 310 Crum St, Laingsburg, MI 48848-9603 US - Our Church History

The first record of Catholics at Laingsburg is recorded in the St. Mary Lansing annual reports of 1868 and 1869. Rev. Louis Van Driss listed Laingsburg as a station he visited. After that it seems Fr. Van Driss convinced the Laingsburg Catholics to go to St. Patrick church in Woodhull Township, south of Laingsburg. When Rev. Anton Krams filled out the 1899 report for St. Joseph Parish St. Johns he included Laingsburg as a station visited by him. In February 1900 six lots on Crum Street were purchased for $300. In the summer of 1902 the cornerstone for the brick and stone church was laid. Christmas Mass that year was held in the basement of the church building. Since all the twenty-one families of the parish were farmers, Bishop John S. Foley of Detroit dedicated the church in October 1903 to St. Isidore, the patron saint of farmers. Land was purchased for a cemetery in 1905. The first resident priest was Rev. Edward J. Taylor. He arrived in December 1909 and remained ten years. His arrival necessitated the building of a rectory in 1910. Before his departure, Fr. Taylor saw the $3,000 mortgage discharged. Tragedy struck on March 9, 1966, when the church was destroyed by fire. The fire was more than Rev. John E. Martin could handle. He had pastored the parish since 1941. He retired in June to allow someone younger to oversee the building of a new church. Rev. Paul J. Cummings did that admirably. Bishop Alexander M. Zaleski dedicated the present church in March 1968. Since August 1977, Rev. Duaine H. Pamment has guided the St. Isidore congregation. In 1979 a parish hall, six religious education classrooms and a parish office were completed. A new parish hall, kitchen, ten additional classrooms and a new parish office were completed in 1997. On September 15, 2002, hundreds of parishioners and four priests joined Fr. Pamment in celebrating the parish centennial.

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