History of Saint Luke

OUR STORY

September 2, 1961, marked the official canonical establishment of the parish of Saint Luke by then Archbishop Paul C. Schulte. The parish roster at the official dedication ceremony on October 22, 1961, was 230 families. There were 180 children enrolled for school that autumn.

The original construction money was advanced to the parish by the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center. Although there were some very generous gifts for furnishing of the church, the parish debt amounted to almost $400,000 when the church opened.

In 1965, increased enrollment in the school required the addition of eight classrooms. (This raised the total number to 16 classrooms.) While the temporary church dedicated on October 22, 1961, was designed for subsequent use as the school gymnasium upon erection of a permanent church, parish growth made that plan impractical. Consequently, the Athletic and Activities Center was constructed in 1976-77. A special fund raising drive, the first in the history of the parish, paid for the one-half million dollar project.

In 1980, the parish had grown to approximately 1400 families and the parishioners decided that the temporary church built in 1961 was no longer adequate. The congregation voted to erect a permanent church and convert the original church into administrative offices and meeting rooms. The cost of this project exceeded two million dollars.

Since that time, the parish has grown to nearly 2,000 families. In 1994, based upon the growing needs of the parish community, a youth ministry and school addition was built. The addition includes a large facility for the parish teens; two kindergarten classrooms; a computer room for the elementary school; middle school science lab; and an additional meeting area.

In 1998, a small Perpetual Adoration Chapel was added to the west side of the main church entrance in keeping with the décor of the church and Blessed Sacrament Daily Mass Chapel. This project was funded by a small number of parishioners who had a particular devotion to this effort.

In 2000, the parish embarked on a large building project to renovate the existing building and add approximately 17,000 square feet of multi-purpose space. Space vacated in the older building was converted to provide the classroom space needed to move from a two to a three-classroom per grade level school. This included renovation and expansion of the school offices; addition of a third kindergarten and a third first grade classroom; renovation of the parish youth center into an office area; and building a new Parish Hall/Cafeteria, a combination School/Parish Library/Media Center, two multi-purpose music rooms, an art room, and a new (and larger) youth center for parish teens.

In 2008, a second gymnasium was added to service the expanding CYO athletic program and school physical education curriculum.

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ST. LUKE CATHOLIC CHURCH