St. Lawrence Church began in 1859 as a mission church of Mother of Dolors in Vandalia.
Father Michael Weiss celebrated the first Mass in Greenville in 1868, at a private residence.
The first church was built in 1878. Father Longinus Quitter, pastor of Vandalia, said Mass there monthly.
In 1895 Fr. John Moroney became the first resident pastor.
Fr. John Enright became pastor in 1910. Shortly thereafter the church burned down. A new church was built on the same site. Fr. Enright was pastor of St. Lawrence for 47 years. He was a very dignified, demanding man who was very popular in the community. He taught religion classes after Mass. He was never shy in soliciting volunteers for needed projects. He died in 1957.
Fr. Michael Kearns was appointed as successor and undertook a major job of renovating the church inside and out. In 1969 he retired leaving behind an impressive record of stewardship.
Fr. Anthony Schmidt arrived and reactivated the chicken dinner as an annual event and steered the parish on a steady course. He organized a parish council, who in turn starting developing plans for major remodeling. In 1992 the Building and Grounds Committee decided on building a new church.
Fr. Victor Kaltenbach came to St. Lawrence in 1994 and continued his stewardship until his passing in 2013.