History of St. Peter the Apostle Parish

St. Clement Parish, under the direction of its first pastor, Fr. Henry Stuecker, dedicated its church and school in 1957.

Our Lady Help of Christians Parish began in September, 1957 with its founding pastor Fr. Lawrence Boone.

Our Lady of Consolation Parish was created in 1959 and served by the Conventual Franciscans with Fr George Schroeder, OFM.Conv., as the founding pastor.

St Polycarp Parish began in July of 1960 under the leadership of Fr. AJ Schwabenton.

St Timothy Parish was established on July, 1963 and Fr Hubert Hagan was given the task of building a church, school and rectory.

In August of 2006, after a one year study, five parishes of the Archdiocese of Louisville along the Southwest corridor of lower Dixie Highway submitted their proposal of reorganization for the Archdiocesan Planning Process. The five parishes of St Clement, Our Lady Help of Christians, Our Lady of Consolation, St Polycarp, and St Timothy were granted permission to work toward merging into one single parish.

By June of 2007, a Pastoral Core Merger Team was formed from selected parishioners of the five parishes and worked to bring all the church ministries together and create one Administrative Staff. After parish involvement and prayer, the name of St Peter the Apostle was submitted to Archbishop Joseph Kurtz. On April 8, 2008, Archbishop Kurtz officially proclaimed the establishment of St Peter the Apostle Parish and designated Father Ron Domhoff as its first pastor.

St Peter the Apostle is the first five-church merger for the Archdiocese of Louisville and is one of a handful of mergers this size in the country. This parish creation came out of the sacrifice of its people to unite into one parish for the resourceful management of assets and a new spiritual direction for an already strongly established community of believers. At the time of merger there were 1,750 families registered, who worshipped at two sites, the former Our Lady of Consolation church on Deering Road and the former St. Polycarp church on Columbine Drive. Within three years the regional school of Saint Andrew Academy became the parish school of St. Peter the Apostle Parish.

Two years later, on the former St. Clement property on Johnsontown Road, a groundbreaking ceremony was held. Shortly thereafter, construction of the new church began. The new church was ready for dedication on December 2, 2011 with Archbishop Joseph Kurtz presiding.

The mission statement of St Peter the Apostle Parish says it clearly. We are “committed to announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ and thus forming its members into a community of disciples who make God’s love known.” Our four goals are to Generate parish unity, Live our faith joyfully, Nourish our faith continually, and Proclaim our faith through action.