St. Mary Magdalene church  Johnson creek

The first Mass ​of what would become the St. Mary Magdalene parish was celebrated on November 1, 1906 at Daly's Hall in Johnson Creek.  The celebrant, Fr. Joseph Schroeder, traveled from St. Coletta in Jefferson by horse and buggy to celebrate Mass. 

When the decision was made to build a church, the design chosen was in the ​Gothic ​style, with a 100-foot spire.  The 40-family parish was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1907.  The church was built with two classrooms in the rear, each 20x39 feet.  The school was open from 1907 to 1964.  Nuns lived in the upper classroom until a home was built for them in 1923.  
 

St. Mary Magdalene became a mission church of St. Francis Xavier in 1946 with ​the inception of the Madison Diocese.  After 1964, sisters from St. Coletta came once a week to lead religious education.  At the time of the 75th anniversary celebration of the church in 1981, there were 140 families in the parish.  Noted at the church centennial in 2006 was the fact that the monstrance, donated by the Peter Spangler family in 1907, was still being used.  Then pastor Fr. Robert Hughes wrote, "We ardently thank God...for the love for their parish of the people who worshipped and gathered and labored here.  From the beginning down to the ​present day, it is they who have breathed life into St. Mary Magdalene Parish."

In 2015, St. Francis Xavier and St. Mary Magdalene ​were merged to become St. Gabriel Parish.  As of October 1, 2024, St. Francis Xavier and St. Mary Magdalene were no longer merged as St. ​Gabriel and St. Francis Xavier and St. Mary Magdalene ​merged with St. Bernard and St. Henry in Watertown to become St. Therese of Lisieux Parish.