On the trip south from Springfield, Mo. to the lakes, in town of fewer than 900, is a church known around the world.
If you paged through it's guest book, you'd see visitors from Australia and Japan. Open 24/7, 365 days a year, the Prince of Peace Cathedral welcomes anyone looking for a place to worship.
"We enjoy it. We really do. We just like to see the people come," says Larry Jackson, who now owns the cathedral.
"In this busy world, we need something like that. we need a place of serenity," says Dale Miller.
If you come, just don't bring a crowd.
"Don't take too long to look at it, you know," laughs Jackson.
Listed for 25 years in the Guiness Book of World Records as 'the world's smallest cathedral,' it measures fourteen feet by seventeen feet.
Compare that to St. Peter's Basilica: you could fit 686 Prince of Peace Cathedrals inside.
"It's a neat little building," says Jackson.
The building was once a wash-house for the original owner, Mable Campbell.
"She was the granddaughter of the Kentlings, who started Highlandville," says Jackson.
Then Bishop Karl Prater moved in.
"We learned to like him immediately, and he was really devoted to this place here," says Jackson.
A highly traveled man, Prater decided to bring his beliefs to the Ozarks in 1982.
"He always did a litany for peace on veterans day," says Miller.
"He was very dedicated and sincere in his beliefs," says Jackson.
Prater passed away two years ago. Before he did, he sold the cathedral to the Jacksons, with one stipulation.
"It had to stay a church," says Jackson.
The Jacksons agreed. There aren't regular services now, but Miller, who was a friend of Prater, holds at least one vigil every year.
"Kind of in remembrance of him," says Miller.
A litany for peace on veterans day.
"We believe in the beatitudes where it said 'blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called children of god,' and we believe we're supposed to be peace makers," says Miller.
In the meantime, the doors are always open.
"We told him, we would always be a church here as long as we was here, and that's the way it is," says Jackson.
The Jacksons plan to rent the cathedral out for weddings... small weddings, of course. CLICK HERE to check out their website
Contact: dmagditch@kspr.com
