(Photos above, from left to right, Holy Innocents, Parmelee, before the fire; the remains after the fire; the first wall of the new building being installed.)
On Oct. 28, 2023, Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Parmelee, S.D., on the Rosebud Reservation, burned to the ground.
The church, which was built in 1890, was a total loss. All of the items inside either burned or melted from the intense heat. The church bell, which had come to Holy Innocents from Oak Creek, Dakota Territory (now North Dakota) in the late 1890s, crashed through the bell tower floor and was crushed by the iron yoke and other debris. The bell cracked at the top, and melted into an oval shape, and while it could be repaired, experts have warned that it could never be rung again. The altar, the brass crosses, the brass candlesticks, pews, chairs, books, artwork, banners, the piano, and two stained glass windows were all destroyed.
After the fire, Senior Warden Zollie Stone Moran vowed to do as much as she could to rebuild the church and declared, “We as a community, we will get it done.”
Two days after the church burned, Bishop Jonathan Folts visited with the people of Holy Innocents and proclaimed: “As followers of Jesus Christ, we are a people of hope. We are faithful, we are resilient, and we will persevere. … We will rise up from the ashes.”
In the future, he said, the fire can serve a reminder of resiliency. The people will be able to say, “back in 2023, the church building burnt to the ground but we didn’t let that defeat us.”
And now, his promise to Holy Innocents is coming true.
After more than a year of searching for a contractor and doing fund-raising, construction on the new Holy Innocents has begun.
• On May 2, the concrete foundation was poured on the site of the old church.
• On June 15, the pole barn kit arrived from North Dakota. (A pole barn is a metal building.)
• On June 17, Woableze LLC, under the leadership of Timothy Cross, began putting up the steel girders for the building.
• On June 25, the first wall was erected.
On the day after the fire, the Rev. Dr. Lauren R. Stanley, Canon to the Ordinary and former Superintending Presbyter of the Rosebud Episcopal Mission, declared that, “For seven generations Holy Innocents has stood on this hill, and we’re going to have it for seven more because that’s who we are.”
Now, as she watches the new building going up, she says every photo makes her heart sing. “It’s incredible watching this happen. It’s been 607 days since the fire, and there were times when we didn’t quite know how this was going to work, or whether we would have enough money. But now …? Now, every inch of progress makes me want to giggle with joy!”
The funds for rebuilding comes from the insurance payments from Church Insurance Corp., as well as multiple generous gifts from around the United States. Churches and individuals, in this country and in England, have sent donations, in both cash and gifts to be used in the church.
Within weeks of the fire in Parmelee, a partnership began between the South Dakota church and Holy Innocents, in Lahaina, Hawai’i, an Indigenous church that burned down in August 2023 in the devastating Maui fire. The commonality of the name of the churches and the loss to fire brought those two churches together; artifacts from each church were exchanged, and both promised to pray for the other church and its people.
“Losing a church to fire, especially a historic church that served as an anchor for a community, is especially painful,” Canon Lauren said. “I knew some of the folks in the Diocese of Hawai’i, but didn’t realize that Holy Innocents in Lahaina was an Indigenous church. It was founded in 1862 by Queen Emma and King Kamehmeha IV, and designated as a church for native Hawai’ians. So, naturally, we reached out to each other in our grief.”
A few months later, Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Atlanta reached out and joined the partnership as well. The Rev. Dr. Bill Murray, rector, began conversations with Bishop Jonathan when the bishop was visiting the church on vacation, and from there, the three churches created the new partnership.
“We reached out because there are precious few Holy Innocents' Episcopal Churches” in the United States, Fr. Bill wrote. “To see two locations that share the name burn in the same year was eye opening.
“Then, as I read about each community, it looks like all three churches were founded between (1862) and 1890, give or take a year or two,” he wrote. “We are happy to listen and help and get engaged in whatever way makes sense for everyone.”
(There are only six Episcopal churches named Holy Innocents in the United States, according to searches, Canon Lauren said. “It’s not the most common name for a congregation or bishop to choose.” The other churches by the same name are in Como, Miss.; Hoboken, N.J.; and Highland Falls, NY.)
Holy Innocents, Atlanta is working hard to help raise the funds necessary to build the new Holy Innocents, Parmelee, as are several dozen other churches and individuals who have donated cash and items.
In this three-way partnership, each congregation prayers for the other two. Holy Innocents, Lahaina, and Holy Innocents, Parmelee, exchanged debris from the fires that hopefully will be displayed at each other’s churches, once they are rebuilt. Holy Innocents, Atlanta, devoted its Pentecost Sunday forum to telling the story of the Parmelee church, and beginning a huge fund-raising operation.
Anyone interested in donating to the rebuilding fund or to give furnishings may contact Canon Lauren at the diocesan office at 605-494-2020, or at lauren@episcopalchurchsd.org
.The congregation and Diocese have tentatively set Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, as the consecration date for the new church. More details on that event will be released later in the summer.
The prayer for the Holy Innocents churches in partnership, composed by Fr. Bill Murray of Atlanta:
The new concrete foundation.
The completed frame, with the Guild Hall at the far west end.
The first wall ....