ST. MICHAEL PARISH HISTORY

Yost’s pool hall was used a few times for Mass, as was the old courthouse. The first church was a small white frame building. First used to house the 1st and 2nd grades, the building was sold to the city for a library when the new school building was built. Saint Michael Parish in Craig was established in 1920. Father Michael O’Beirne was the first pastor of Saint Michael’s with living quarters in the back of the church.

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The church has a small steeple with a bell. Father Francis J. Brady, pastor of Saint Mary’s in Rifle, supervised the building of the new church in 1923. The church was dedicated in 1925. Father Paul Slattery became the first resident pastor in 1935. He persuaded the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad to give him a free pass enabling him to minister to the faithful all along the line in private homes and section houses as well as at Saint Brendan's in Grand Valley (now Parachute), Saint Mary’s in Rifle and at the community hall in Silt.

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In 1953, the parish erected a rectory and basement parish hall. Father Robert Syrianey also remodeled the 1920s brick church. Father John V. Anderson, assigned to Saint Michael’s in 1958, found that there were at least 15 Catholic families living in a camp 63 miles northwest of Craig. He wrote to Archbishop Vehr, seeking permission to take a portable altar out to the oil field workers at the camp in Powder Wash. By 1983, Saint Michael Parish had grown into a congregation of about 400 registered households. In 1983, Father McGrath, pastor from 1972-1984, built a new church which is still standing today. Rev. Cathal (Carl) Longwill from Galway in Ireland was the pastor of Saint Michael from 1984 to 1998.
 
Father Roger Lascelle arrived as pastor in 1998, while still maintaining his position as pastor of Saint Ignatius Parish in Rangely and Holy Family Parish in Meeker. Until 2003, Father Lascelle functioned as pastor of all three parishes, when a series of parochial vicars began to be assigned. In 2004, Father James R. Fox was appointed pastor of Saint Michael Parish in Craig, Holy Family Parish in Meeker and Saint Ignatius of Antioch Parish in Rangely, along with another series of parochial vicars.