History

The founding pastor of St. John the Baptist was Father E. E. Gelhof. He met with a group of men from the Perryopolis area on June 26, 1904 and plans were developed for the first church. Father J. V. Vrana became pastor in May of 1905. A cemetery was acquired that same year. By 1906, there were two hundred families in the new parish. A rectory was built and a parish school for about one hundred students was conducted in the church basement. Financial problems forced the school to close in 1908.

By 1935, Father A. J. Suran became pastor, a post in which he served for thirteen years. During this time, a parish debt was liquidated and a banquet was held in 1938 to celebrate the burning of the mortgage.

St. John the Baptist continued to grow. Father Stofcik arrived in January of 1948. Under his direction a parish school was built and a convent constructed to house the sisters. School Sisters of St. Francis in Bellevue staffed the parish school and brought about religious instructions for 200 children.

During the period from the early 1960's to the mid-1970's, the parish worked hard to maintain its school and also begin plans to build a new church. The Diocese of Greensburg initiated a debt forgiveness program in 1975, offering to match any money raised up to $150,000. A program was conducted under the leadership of Fr. Francis Lesniowski and Fr. (now Msgr.) Lawrence Kiniry, and the dream of a new church was realized in the fall of 1976.

The Western Pennsylvania area suffered the effects of economic downturn in the late 1970s through the 1980s with the closing of steel mills and mines. Growth slowed and the number of school children began to decline. Debts lingered from the building of the new church and the rising cost of education.

The Diocese of Greensburg was faced with the prospect of closing many of its schools. Closure was the difficult prospect also for some parishes. By the mid-1990s, the Diocese was beginning plans for regionalization, encouraging creative ways for parishes to share resources. St. John the Baptist School closed in 1994 and students of the parish were sent to other Catholic grade schools.

A succession of pastors provided guidance for the hard-working people during these challenging times. A debt reduction program from 1994 to 1998 reduced the debt in half. Debt reduction preoccupied Father John Euker when he assumed leadership in January of 1991. Even so, many improvements were made. New roofs were placed on every building, all parking lots were repaved, a new cemetery was opened up and a tenant was found for the vacant school building. The former convent now serves as a center for religious education and has office for St. John the Baptist's Director of Religious Education and the Youth Director. It also houses St. John the Baptist's Pre-School.

In 2004, St. John the Baptist Parish celebrated 100 years as a parish community in Perryopolis. The climax of the celebration was a Centennial Mass with Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt as the main celebrant.

In the summer of 2007, Father John was transferred to St. Mary, Mother of God in Freeport and Father Bob Lubic was installed as the new pastor of St. John the Baptist. In the fall of 2008, St. Hedwig and St. John the Baptist were named as partner parishes as part of closings and mergers throughout the Diocese of Greensburg. Together as one community of faith, we look back on our history and forward to the future as we continue to spread the Good News in northwestern Fayette County.