Parish Pride - St. Jude the Apostle

Its patron, St. Jude, handles hopeless cases, but this parish is full of hope as it moves towards its 50th anniversary in 2007.

An empty barn served as its first church in 1957. By the next Christmas, Mass was celebrated in the modern stone church designed by architect Joseph Bartolomeo. Vibrant stained glass windows, each a work of symbolic art created in the Daprato Rigali Studios 15 years ago, accent the interior.

Today’s 1,000 families meet the challenge of diversity—and work on it 24/7. St. Jude’s Ethnic and Racial Ministry holds workshops with neighboring parishes to build understanding. Incoming African-American families, many “cradle Catholics,” have accepted leadership responsibilities. The Millennium Campaign saw original parishioners and newcomers digging deep to underwrite remodeling work as well as the addition of a new digital Johannus organ from the Netherlands.