Building Community . . . Building Faith

Dear Members of St. Jude Parish and Friends:

We are reminded in Sacred Scripture that without vision the people will perish (Prov. 29:18). The original founders of St. Jude Parish were people of vision, gathering in 1946 to establish a community to meet the spiritual needs of the growing Londonderry Catholic community. As a mission of Blessed Sacrament Church, and having gathered for weekly Mass at the Mayflower Grange Hall for nearly nine years, the faithful moved into the newly constructed St. Jude Church in 1953 as a mission of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Goffs Falls. The church accommodated 350 people, was served by two priests and celebrated two Sunday Masses. Much has happened since those humble beginnings.

In 1981, as a result of growth in North Londonderry and increased membership, St. Jude Parish was split and a new parish, St. Mark the Evangelist, was established in South Londonderry. In 1986, faced with continued growth, St. Jude began construction on the existing addition, which provided much needed classrooms for religious education and worship space. Today, our existing church seats 425 worshippers, with 100 faithful sitting in folding chairs behind a wall watching Mass on closed circuit television, celebrates four weekend Masses and is served by one priest. The existing parish boasts of 1700 registered families, nearly the same number of families as when the parish split to form St. Mark the Evangelist in 1981. There is on-going development of single-family homes and condominiums in North Londonderry, all of which is located within our parish boundaries. Our existing facilities can barely meet our current requirements and certainly will be unable to provide for the future of this rapidly growing community. Now it is our turn to be faith-filled people with vision.

Last year, we retained Kirby-Smith to conduct a feasibility study to determine the level of support within the parish toward the goal of building a new church to meet current and long-term needs. An overwhelming majority of those who participated in the study (77%) stated that a new church was necessary and 78% said they would support the building of a new church. It is to that end we now embark on a new and exciting journey - a journey which will not only benefit ourselves, but our children, our children’s children and those yet to settle in Londonderry.

After years of study, our Strategic Planning Committee has formed a Building Committee and a Steering Committee – charged with designing a new church and much needed office space and providing the means by which these goals will be achieved. We have retained the services of Sheer, McCrystal, Paulson Architecture, Inc. of New London, New Hampshire to design the new church and related space. Also, we have once again retained Kirby-Smith Associates, Inc. Ministry of Church Finance of Quarryville Pennsylvania to execute a Capital Fund Drive designed to raise the needed finances to achieve our goal.

How will we accomplish our goal? First and foremost it is essential that we have the prayers and support of everyone in this parish family. Without prayer, we can never succeed. Without support, the task will fail. We will be explaining our project and asking for your financial support at large and small group gatherings, receptions, open meetings and home visitations when we launch this important project this spring. We are called to build on our small and humble beginning, to pass on our legacy of a strong and vibrant faith for the future members of this parish. We are called to bolster our resolve to deepen our own experience of faith and to share that faith with those yet to come. Together we can make this dream a reality. I ask for your support and your help – and most importantly, I ask for your prayers.

In Jesus and Mary,

Fr.Bob

Rev. Robert Couto

CLICK HERE for the sketch plans of our new Church and facilities.