Parish History

St. John the Evangelist

August 4, 1889

The first mass was celebrated in the home of James Motley, the mayor of the town of Harman.

1892

St. John the Evangelist Parish was officially established with Fr. William Morrin appointed as pastor. The first small wooden church was built on land donated by James Motley on the southwest corner of Third and Filmore for the cost of $1,000.

August 1892

Fr. Patrick J. Kelly was appointed Pastor and served at St. John’s until June 1896.

October 1896

Fr. Timothy O’Brien was appointed Pastor.

August 1907

Fr. Charles J. Carr was appointed the third pastor of St. John’s and remained there until death.

October 1908

The rectory was finished on ground just East of the church on Fifth Avenue.

September 3, 1924

St. John the Evangelist School was opened at East 6th Avenue and Elizabeth Street. The school was run by three Sisters of Loretto with Sister M. Stephana in charge. 56 pupils enrolled in the 6 grades offered.

September 1925

The second term of the school saw enrollment increase to 111.

August 13, 1932

Fr. Charles Carr died six-days after celebrating his 25th year as Pastor at St. John’s.

1932

Monsignor Gregory Smith was appointed the fourth pastor of St. John’s. Despite the Great Depression, both congregation numbers and school enrollment increased during the 1930’s.

1940

Fr. John P. Moran was appointed the fifth pastor of St. John’s and remained there until his death

1940

Fr. John P. Moran was appointed the fifth pastor of St. John’s and remained there until his death

January 13, 1952

Groundbreaking on the new church.

October 1955

Construction began on the new rectory on a site across the alley from the church.

February 8, 1961

Archbishop Vehr dedicated a $280,000 addition to St. John’s School, which included six more classrooms and a gymnasium/auditorium.

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St. Philomena's

June 21, 1911

Bishop Matz established a new parish that was called St. Philomena’s by its first pastor, Fr. Michael W. Donovan.

September 15, 1912

The first church was dedicated on the southeast corner of East 14th Avenue and Detroit Street by Bishop Matz after 6 months of construction.

October 9, 1915

The rectory was completed north of the church along 14th Avenue

September 27, 1919

Fr. Donovan (by then Captain Donovan) returned to the parish. Upon his return he took on the project of converting the small church into a school and building a larger church to accommodate the growing congregation.

September 1922

Fr. Higgins opened the first school in his rectory with 83 pupils in six grades taught by 3 Sisters of Loretto.

June 5, 1927

Five more rooms were added to St. Philomena’s school and an eighth grade was added.

1961

The beatification of St. Philomena was called into question and the parish had to consider renaming the church.

1965

Parking was expanded and a new entry to the south side of the church was constructed for access to the new parking lot.

1977

Fr. Dennis Dwyer was appointed as the final pastor of St. Philomena's.

Good Shepherd Catholic Church

September 1980

The old St. John's church was opened as a youth center for both St. John's and St. Philomena's members.

January 9, 1981

Archbishop Casey announced the merger of St. John's and St. Philomena's due to declining enrollment at the school's and parishes of both parishes. Fr. John Anderson was appointed as the first pastor of the newly formed Good Shepherd. It was decided that the St. John's church would be used for worship while both school buildings would remain open for use for the time being.

1981

Brother Caver Morris, a Franciscan brother, was appointed the first principle of Good Shepherd Catholic School. A number of Franciscan brothers move into the St. Philomena's rectory and make it home.

1984

Sister Alice Zwiefelhofer, S.F.C.C was appointed the new principle of Good Shepherd School with only about 35 students enrolled after the Spring registration. Sr. Alice provided leadership to parents who went out and began to recruit for the school. This included a big emphasis on the enrichment program and a focus on Good Shepherd as a school for working persons. Work also began at 620 Elizabeth to take it back as a school for the parish.

May 31, 1984

Archbishop Casey announces his final decision to raze St. Philomena's church (Higgins Chapel) in order to make way for a high-rise apartment building for the elderly. This decision was met with great controversy.

1985

Enrollment at the school began to take an upward turn and the decision was made to open the middle school at 620 Elizabeth. Eleven boys were the first graduation class from the middle school.

1986

Sr. Alice began Montessori at the elementary school.

1991

Fr. Anderson leaves Good Shepherd and Fr. O'Meara is appointed the new pastor.

1998

The church receives some cosmetic upgrades, including new fresh paint.

1999

Fr. Neal Pfister is appointed pastor of Good Shepherd.

2002

A new $6.4 capital campaign is launched to continue the legacy of the two great school that joined to form Good Shepherd. This project included extensive renovations and construction to the school on Elizabeth street to create a state of the art school building and new parish center. This project also joined the parish and school, creating a cohesive campus.

June 11, 2010

Fr. Pfister is granted leave of absence to care for his mother. Fr. James Fox is appointed pastor of Good Shepherd and Fr. Faustinus Anyamele is apointed parochial vicar.

2010

The "Legacy Campaign" was launched to raise the $1.1 needed to pay off the remained debt from the 2000 capital campaign project.

2017

The "Renewing Today, Building for Tomorrow" campaign was launched. This project would fund much needed upgrades to the church building including cosmetic updates, the creation of a new prayer chapel, new restrooms, updated bridal room, a new elevator to make the updated church hall accessible to all, and needed updates and renovations to the school.