Country church tour earns state award

Perry County Heritage Tourism’s Christmas Country Church Tour was the recent recipient of the 2021 Pathfinder Award presented at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism Oct. 13-15 in Branson.
The award recognizes the efforts of individuals and organizations that successfully target a specific niche tourism market. Accepting the award last week at the conference was Perry County Heritage Tourism Director Trish Erzfeld.
Erzfeld described the uniqueness of the annual tour.
“It’s authentic, it’s cultural,” she said. “We extended our daylight hours a few years back because the people that come into the community really enjoy traveling the country roads. It really has become a cultural event. We do try to promote and highlight all that’s special about each church.”
Mary Jane Buchheit said the idea for the tour stemmed from going on a Perryville home tour in which she saw the Catholic church decorated. She asked about decorating the church where she attends in Apple Creek. There were discussions about it, and, eventually, a new venture of opening up old, rural churches for visits as Christmas approached became a fixture of the many community activities around the holiday season.
“Everybody loves it, it puts them in the Christmas spirit,” Buchheit said.
“This will be the 17th year of the event,” Erzfeld said.
Initially, the church tour offered an inside look of parishes in Apple Creek, Biehle, Longtown, Uniontown and a couple on the east end.

“What we consider rural may not be what other people now that are coming from urban areas consider rural,” she said.
The event began with six rural churches and has grown to include nearly 40 churches in southeast Missouri, from Perry County, Ste. Genevieve County, Bollinger County and Cape Girardeau County, as well as Kaskaskia, Ill. The self-guided tour – featuring the art, architecture and history of the churches as well as holiday décor – attracts visitors from across Missouri and surrounding states.
Subhead: Two months away…
The event took place in 2020, though the participation was not as high as it typically has been. The 2021 version of the event is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Dec. 16 and 17, from 2 to 9 p.m. both days.
“Over the years, the church tour has been on every day of the week, and Thursday and Friday our are sweet spots,” Erzfeld noted.
While other events may be more weekend-oriented, that hasn’t been the case with the church tour, according to Erzfeld.
“Saturday and Sunday were the least attended out of all the other days of the week,” she said.
The Missouri Division of Tourism works to showcase Missouri experiences through compelling storytelling to inspire travel, support healthy communities and strengthen the state’s economy. In fiscal year 2020, Missouri welcomed 36.3 million visitors and saw a $14.5 billion economic impact.