Church, contents to go to auction
Friday, June 8th, 2007By Tracey Ludvik
Wausau Daily Herald
tludvik@wdhprint.com
TOWN OF JOHNSON — A small rural church and its contents will be auctioned Saturday in the Wuertzburg region near Edgar. St. John the Baptist, Wuertzburg, was built in 1905 by German settlers who farmed the area and named it for their home in Wuerzburg, Bavaria.
St. John’s closed in 2002 because of a dwindling community of parishioners who now live and work in nearby Medford, Marshfield and Wausau, said the Rev. Charles Hiebl, pastor of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Athens.
Auctioneer Ron Wilichowski said this is the first time he’s handled a church auction where the church, rectory and church contents all were sold at once. Church contents include crosses, pews, stained glass windows and candleholders.
“We’ve had people from Minnesota, Illinois, North Dakota and Michigan call,” Wilichowski said about those planning to attend the auction.
Hiebl said the Wuertzburg region was a thriving community when the church was built in 1905, noting the region once had a post office.
At that time, there were many large family farms where entire families lived and worked on their farms, Hiebl said.
Proceeds from the sale of the church, owned by the Diocese of La Crosse, will go toward upkeep and maintenance of the adjacent church cemetery, Hiebl said.
The estimated value of the church and rectory property is $85,000 to $90,000, Wilichowski said.