REV. WALSH returns to Amador County, but stays in Sutter Creek at Immaculate Conception and continues the care of St. Bridget.
1877 - A small church is built in the town of Clinton and named for Sts. Peter and Paul and becomes a mission church of St. Patrick Parish.

REV. THEODORE VAN SCHIE - Pastor of St. Patrick and mission of Sts. Peter and Paul in the town of Clinton.
1886 - Amador County is transferred from the Archdiocese of San Francisco to the Diocese of Sacramento under Bishop Manogue.
1894 - Church in Volcano is rebuilt and renamed for St. Bernard; however, it remains in Immaculate Conception Parish in Sutter Creek.

REV. RAYMOND ROLF - Pastor of St. Patrick Parish and mission church of St. Bernard in Volcano.

Through the flows of time many have gone before us. We hope that our faithful, sometimes “fearless” and always tireless Shepherds are all correctly named here.  If we have missed one, we are sure he will not hold it against us as we have done our best.  We hope our MISSION STATEMENT reprinted below reflects correctly what they hoped to leave behind:

WE THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY OF ST. PATRICK PARISH RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE IN CHRIST.  WE BELIEVE AND DECLARE THAT WE ARE CALLED TO CARRY OUT THE MISSION OF JESUS BY:

• Proclaiming the good news of Jesus.
• Continuing to grow and mature in faith as a parish community and as individuals.
• Emphasizing our commission as laity, religious and clergy.
• Reaching out to those in need.
• Supporting Ecumenism
• Making this a better world through prayer and love for one another.

SOURCES

AMADOR COUNTY HISTORY, by Amador County Federation of Women’s Clubs, Published by Amador County Federation, April 1927

HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, by J.D. Mason, Published by Thompson and West, Pacific Press Publishing House 1881

HALLOWED WERE the GOLD DUST TRAILS, by Henry L. Walsh, S.J., Published by University of Santa Clara Press, 1947

JOURNAL and LETTERS FROM THE MINES, by John Doble; Published by Volcano Press, Inc., 1999

LOGAN’S ALLEY – AMADOR COUNTY YESTERDAYS IN PICTURE AND PROSE, by Larry Cenotto, Published by Cenotto Publications 1988

ONE HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS OF GRACE AND FELLOWSHIP, the Story of the Jackson United Methodist Church, by Jane A. Bosworth, 1999

We gratefully thank Paul Garbarini who supplied us with valuable pieces of Catholic history in Amador County.  He gave us a look into the lives of the men and women who settled in our valleys, worked in our mines and built our early churches. He also provided us with information about their priests who gave them the connection between their old and new worlds.