EFFINGHAM ? More than two years after a fire destroyed their 111-year-old church, members of a northeast Kansas Catholic parish have dedicated their new church.

Parishoners of St. Ann Catholic Church in Effingham gathered Sunday afternoon to officially dedicate the church. They had been meeting in a parish hall since the fire in April 2008. Investigators suspected arson but were never able to determine what caused the fire.

Duane Coder, co-chairman of the church building committee, says parish volunteers had been meeting once a week since the fire to get the church built.

The St. Joseph News-Press reports that Archbishop Joseph Naumann, of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, led the Mass on Sunday. He praised parishoners and other Effingham residents for their efforts to build the church.