Parish notes 175th

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard celebrated Mass at St. John the Baptist Church in Schenectady on Sept. 18 to mark its 175th anniversary.

Established 17 years before the founding of the Albany Diocese, the parish was originally part of the outlying territory of the Archdiocese of New York.

The first services were conducted in 1829 in a rented broom factory near the old Mohawk River Bridge. About 20 Irish immigrant families formed the nucleus of the first parishioners.

Rev. Charles Smith, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Albany, visited Schenectady to conduct services until Albany's first bishop, John McCloskey, assigned Rev. John Kelly as St. John's pastor.

Affectionately known as "old St. John's" by locals, the parish operated until 1920 as one large Catholic community. Then it was split into three separate parishes by Bishop Edmund Gibbons: St. John the Evangelist, St. Anthony's and St. John the Baptist.

The church, built in 1838, sustained heavy damage from a fire in 1967. It was one of the oldest buildings in Schenectady and one of the first Catholic churches in the area. The interior was completely restored by dedicated parishioners.

The parish school, the first in Schenectady, began in 1865 and operated for 104 years. It started as a two-room school under the direction of the Sisters of the Holy Names.

St. Joseph's parish, also in Schenectady, was first a mission of St. John's. It was established in 1862 for German immigrant families. Today, the two parishes have a combined religious education program for nearly 90 students from pre-K through high school.

According to Rev. Michael Hogan, pastor, parishioners are actively engaged in community service, particularly to the homeless, aged and needy of inner-city Schenectady.

"Our parish has a history of commitment to this community. We are a faith-filled, joyful, mission-minded parish family," he said.

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