Perry County Heritage Tourism and the Perryville Area Chamber of Commerce are offering a historic and sometimes spiritual journey as sort of a kickoff the Christmas season with the 16th annual Christmas Country Church Tour.
The church tour begins on Thursday, Dec. 17 and concludes on Friday, Dec. 18 from 2-9 p.m. on both nights. The event is a self-guided driving tour that allows participants the chance to visit a number of rural churches decked out in Christmas decorations.
But like everything else in 2020, there will be some changes this year. The number of churches has dropped from 38 churches to 21, and masks are required inside each church. Hand sanitizer will be available at each church and social distancing inside is encouraged. Refreshments will not be provided as in past years.
With all the precautions in place Perry County Heritage Tourism Director Trish Erzfeld is confident that everyone who participates in the tour will be safe.
“I left it up to each church as to whether or not they wanted to be part of the event this year,” Erzfeld said. “I believe that with all the precautions it was as safe as we could make it. Typically, people spend 15 minutes at a church and we aren’t expecting any buses this year like in the past. The majority of people will be families or couples.”
The churches are spread out among Ste. Genevieve County, Perry County, Cape Girardeau county and Kaskaskia, Ill. Each one of the churches on the tour have a great deal of history that visitors are often interested in. Most of the churches are over 100 years old. Some are rapidly approaching 200 years old. Brazeau Presbyterian Church and Old McKendree Chapel in Jackson celebrated their 200th anniversary last year. Some of them have also been key in bringing certain denominations and traditions to the region. For example, St. Mary’s of the Barrens Catholic Church Association of the Miraculous Medal was the first seminary west of the Mississippi River, the Lutheran Heritage Center and Log Cabin College in Altenburg led to the birth of the Missouri Senate Lutheran Church, and the Old McKendree Chapel was the first Protestant church to be established west of the Mississippi River.
Getting back to each churches historical roots is a big focus for Erzfeld each year during the event.
“If you think about it Ste. Genevieve is one of the oldest settlements west of the Mississippi River and along the way a lot of people set in their religious roots,” Erzfeld said.
Each church on the tour has a registry book that visitors are encouraged to sign. In doing this, can also tell where they are visiting from, giving Perry County Heritage Tourism and the Chamber of Commerce a better idea of how many people attended and where the attendees are from.
“Not everyone that attends the tour is from Perryville,” Erzfeld said. “We have people from all over the country that come and see the tour, many from metropolitan areas. It’s really a cool event and one that I’m always excited about.”
Everyone is welcome to go on the tour, and the Chamber of Commerce has maps available. Digital copies can also be found online at www.visitperrycounty.com or the Christmas Country Church Tour page on Facebook. Erzfeld urges all who plan on going on the tour to check back closer to the start for any updates on changes.
